Your questions - and our answers (FAQ)
What do experts say? Can a HANDHOOD protect against infections?
Infectious diseases doctors say: touching surfaces with a sleeve or glove instead of touching them with bare hands can protect us from infections with certain pathogens. We just should not touch our face with our glove or sleeve shortly afterwards. But of course that can quickly happen unconsciously. We say: With the HANDHOOD, the risk is significantly lower here. It is rolled back immediately after its use. The contact side is turned inwards.
What kind of infections can the HANDHOOD protect against?
Many infectious diseases can not only be transmitted via droplets through the air we breathe, but also from your own hand into your mouth, eyes and nose. For example, when someone else coughs or sneezes into their hand and shortly afterwards takes hold of handles on the bus, which we then take hold of too. Or when aerosols from the air sink onto surfaces. Even if there are no more secretion droplets floating in the air, viruses and bacteria can linger on surfaces for hours, sometimes days or weeks, depending on the type of pathogen.
Other germs are even predominantly tranferred by "contact infections", traditionally via unclean hands - for example after contact with unclean surfaces.
In both cases, a fabric protective screen like the HANDHOOD can help reduce the risk of infection.
Can the HANDHOOD also be used to protect against Corona?
According to the current state of science, SARS-CoV2 is essentially transmitted via the air we breathe. But that Robert Koch Institute in Berlin says SARS-CoV2 stays infectious on surfaces for up to several days. And as soon as the droplets from the breath have sunk to surfaces or have been transferred to surfaces by contaminated hands of infected people, it could be that we still pick up "active" pathogens with our hands from the surfaces and bring them into the mouth, nose or eyes. The HANDHOOD can helpt to prevent from that within two seconds. If you drag the HANDHOOD over your fingers before touching the surfaces, your hands will stay cleaner.
Can I use touch displays with the HANDHOOD?
Many of them yes. Various smartphone displays, ticket machines, car sharing sat navs, ATMs. We tested it and were thrilled: Most displays react without any problems to touching with the HANDHOOD. Just signing with your finger to confirm - for example with the parcel carrier - doesn't work so well. But you usually do that at home anyway, where there is water and soap directly.
What is better about the HANDHOOD than a glove?
The answer: The unbeatable flexibility!
If you touch an unclean surface with a glove, you then have to pluck finger by finger from the hand in order to benefit from your clean fingers. And where do you go with that thing? Into the pocket. In order to then pull it out at every doorknob or handle. That takes time and is annoying. The HANDHOOD is always ready for use on the wrist in two seconds. And you'll expose your clean fingers in two seconds. Without rummaging around. Neatly turned inside out. This will increase your motivation, without exception, to touch buttons, handles and displays even more securely.
What about the contact side of the HANDHOOD?
Experts consider textiles to be not particularly germ-friendly because of their relatively good ventilation. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that the corona virus will persist on textiles for a while.
You can therefore roll up the contact side afterwards: turn it inwards and "hide" it.
If you then touch the HANDHOOD, then you touch the side that was not in contact with the surfaces. This is the great HANDHOOD advantage compared to gloves made of fabric or the sleeve of your sweater.
Can I hold a pen with the HANDHOOD?
Yes, even if it is unfamiliar at first: with a few seconds of practice, you can also write like this. For example, when filling out Corona contact lists in restaurants and cafes, you no longer have to touch pens that have been used by hundreds of others with bare fingers. That makes going out safer for you.
How do I take care of my HANDHOOD?
The HANDHOOD can be washed at 60 degrees Celsius. That is enough for most pathogens in our latitudes. "Even at the lowest temperatures of washing machines (30 degrees for wool, delicates), the addition of detergent leads to the reliable 'death' of the new SARS coronavirus 2", writes the Austrian agency for health and food safety Ages. The hygiene expert Franz Daschner told ZEIT: "60 degrees in the washing machine is foolproof."
Some other pathogens can only be defeated at over 60 degrees. With the exception of towels and bed linen, modern textiles cannot withstand this in the long term. Neither does the HANDHOOD because of its elasticity. But there is a trick that also works with jeans and sweaters: Let time go by.
The Noro virus, for example, which is responsible for gastrointestinal diseases, survives washing at 60 degrees (and can even withstand many hand disinfectants). However, it becomes inactive after seven to 14 days in the air. So if you want to be on the safe side, you can do it like many doctors with their FFP2 mask: leave your HANDHOOD for a long time and wear a second one on you. Like your socks. You usually have more than two of them, right?
Is the HANDHOOD a medical product?
No. It is a sensible accessory that allows you to spontaneously shield your hands with a textile layer when you touch surfaces. According to experts, a layer of textile like a sleeve is one way of reducing the number of pathogens on the hands. So that we all like to wear the HANDHOOD, it is made of a material that is comfortable to wear over a long period of time and - we think - also looks good. This material cannot offer the safety of surgical gloves. But who likes to wear surgical clothing all day? You can always wear the HANDHOOD on the go. And wash at 60 degrees.
Who invented the HANDHOOD?
We are a start-up from Berlin and also from the up-and-coming start-up paradise Bielefeld in Germany next to Hannover.
The idea for the HANDHOOD came from Marcus, who as a journalist often dealt with the topic of infectious diseases such as Corona, and at some point was so disgusted with touching buttons and handles in public that he said to himself: It can't go on like this.
And Germany's best young custom tailor in 2019 has the HANDHOOD to the millimeter refined: our teammate Cassian Zobel.
The HANDHOODS are sewn in the European Union. Namely in Portugal.
Overview: which germs are active on which surface for how long?
The SARS-CoV2 corona virus can "survive" on smooth surfaces such as cell phone displays and ATMs for up to 28 days, i.e. remain functional, according to The Australian science authority Csiro (October 2020).
The following were tested by other experts on dry, lifeless surfaces *:
Flu virus: up to 2 days
Noro- and rhinovirus: up to 7 days
Rotavirus: up to 8 weeks
Streptococci: up to 6 months
Salmonella: up to 4 years (proven on a sample of dust that was regularly enriched with nutrients)
So you see: It is always clever to have a HANDHOOD with you.
* Source: BMC BioMed Central - Infectious Diseases, Quarks WDR (Western German Television)