Wiping with a tissue can reduce as much bacteria as a disinfectant wipe: study

Results from a new study out of the University of Alberta shows that swiping objects with a tissue can be just as effective as using a disinfectant wipe.

A research team looked at studying what would be the best way to reduce bacteria on a plastic object, testing the number of swipes and different wipes.

For two months they worked with plastic petri dishes, putting to the test whether a tissue moistened with salt water or saline solution could be effective in reducing bacteria.

"If you have time to swipe three or more times, the salt water on a tissue is just as effective as those disinfecting wipes," said researcher Dr. Sarah Forgie with the U of A.

Forgie and the research team concluded that if a plastic object is swiped at least three times by a tissue with salt water, bacteria on the object is reduced by 88% — which is about as effective as the average disinfectant wipe.

"It’s really encouraging," Forgie said.

"Because when you use the disinfecting wipes the worry is that you start contributing to antimicrobial resistance, so if we can find something that works as effectively that isnt doing that, that would be great and much more cost effective as well."

They also found that the more times an object is wiped, the more bacteria is reduced.

However, Forgie says if someone doesn’t have the time to swipe at least three times with the tissue, disinfectant wipes is the most effective bacteria-reducing tool.

The team plans on taking their research to the next level by testing more types of tissue-moistening liquids, as well as testing objects that aren’t plastic.

"We would like to look at actual items that people use like cell phones and pagers and looking at removal with not only the wipes that we looked at, but also just with water on a tissue because that’s something people would have ready access to," Forgie said.