This short film shows how to wash your hands thoroughly at home. This will help to prevent spread of infection.

Your hands may look clean but it is still important to wash them regularly. This applies to the person who had the stroke and the carers.

In this demonstration, a special liquid has been used to highlight areas which are difficult to clean and could be missed. The liquid glows blue in the dark box.

Before you wash your hands remember to:

• Keep nails fairly short.
• Free from nail polish.
• Remove jewellery before washing hands.

First wet your hands thoroughly.

Apply soap and rub vigorously to work up to lather.

Make sure you don’t miss your wrists, palms, thumbs and fingertips.

If possible wash and rinse under running water.

Rinse well remembering the same areas as before, wrists, palms, thumbs and fingertips.

Dry thoroughly with a clean towel. If necessary you could now put on disposable gloves if you have to empty a catheter for example.

Even with a good hand washing technique you can still see areas of blue where washing has not removed all traces of the liquid.

You should repeat hand washing again after you have used disposable gloves or when your hands are visibly dirty.