Germstar Products

Germstar Touchless Hand Sanitizer

The Germstar Touchless Dispensing System is the finest, most innovative infection control system available. The patented system consists of a touchless dispenser (eliminating the risk of cross infection) in conjunction with a sealed solution “cartridge.” The Germstar touchless dispenser is gravity-activated, has no moving parts and is virtually maintenance free. Its batteries last for up to 50,000 washes. The flow can be adjusted from 0.7ml up to 5.0ml, depending on the desired application. Each refill cartridge of Germstar hand sanitizer provides approximately 1400 individual washes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 80% of infectious diseases are spread by the hands. Recent studies have shown that even in Intensive Care Units, proper hand washing is performed less than 50% of the time, due to time pressure and long distances to washing stations. Since consistent hand hygiene is the most important health care practice to prevent the spread of infection, hand sanitizing with alcohol-based hand sanitizers is recommended. Unfortunately, ingredients found in most gel-based hand sanitizers represent 20 year-old technology and cause drying of the skin and residue build-up. These factors undermine efforts to increase compliance to infection control protocols.

Germstar contains only four natural ingredients and is markedly different from other hand sanitizers in that it will not dry the skin. In fact, our proprietary emollient moisturizes the skin, which actually softens and heals with regular use, increasing hand hygiene compliance.

Ingredients of gels and foams remain on the skin and create barriers for the alcohol to kill the germs. Germstar represents a new paradigm in infection control: it is a broad spectrum anti-microbial without the negative drying effects which impact compliance. With Germstar, use of a complementary hand lotion is not necessary. In many cases, the use of hand lotions is counter-productive to proper hand hygiene, since hand lotions leave a residue coating on the skin which must be removed with soap and water before further use of alcohol sanitizers is advised. The lipids in hand lotions can deactivate the anti-microbial effects of alcohol hand sanitizers. Germstar does not require hand lotion because Germstar does not dry the skin.

Germstar is an environmentally friendly product. Where hands are free of visible soiling, Germstar can be used without water or paper towels and gloves can be donned immediately after sanitizing. Many non-alcohol chemical-based hand sanitizers remain active on the hands long after application. While this persistence may seem, at first, to be beneficial, it is in fact a contributing factor in bacterial resistance and environmental damage. Chemical antimicrobials are introduced into the waste water system through normal hand-washing and remain active even after they have been processed and discharged back into the environment. The anti-microbial properties of these chemicals (triclosan, triclocarban, CHG, benzalkonium chloride, quaternary compounds) deteriorate over time, increasing bacterial resistance to many of these chemicals. There has been no demonstrated bacterial resistance to pharmaceutical grade alcohol. Germstar continues to make every effort to minimize environmental impact. All packaging and plastic components of the Germstar system, including the consumable sanitizer cartridge, are completely recyclable.

In summary, Germstar meets or exceeds the following criteria for hand sanitation: • Leaves no stickiness or residue and will never dry the skin • Broad anti-microbial spectrum. • No requirement for water or paper towels. • Innovative and efficient dispenser design is a décor enhancement. • Hands sanitized and completely dry within 15-20 seconds of application. Germstar solutions are also available in a wide variety of bottle products, where mobility is required or space confined.

For more Germstar product information please check out our catalogue section.