Puddy: “Oh, germ-o-phobe. I know what that’s about.”
Elaine: “Huh?”
Puddy, showing her his necklace: “I’m a recovering germ-o-phobe. Ten years.”
Elaine: “What is this symbol?”
Puddy: “It’s a germ.”

From Seinfeld, Season 9, Episode 9, “The Apology”

Maybe we’re not all card-carrying germ-o-phobes like David Puddy, but I’d bet that most parents want to minimize unnecessary exposure.  I remember visiting amusement parks as a child, where my parents would routinely hiss: “Don’t touch that!  Don’t touch that either!  Do NOT put your hands in your mouth!”

We didn’t have hand sanitizer.  We washed our hands when we had the opportunity and used wet wipes in the interim.

Now hand sanitizer is everywhere - public restrooms, supplied by management at workplaces, in our handbags and diaper bags - but there’s a new worry:  Development of highly-resistant bacteria that are immune to the antiseptic chemicals used in hand sanitizer.

CleanWell is a company dedicated to finding a better way to clean.  Ingenium(TM) is the active ingredient in their hand sanitizer, and it’s created from essential plant oils - most notably thyme, which is a natural antiseptic.  CleanWell’s Chief Technology Officer is Dr. Larry Weiss - a Stanford Medical School graduate and a former NIH (National Institutes of Health) fellow.  On the CleanWell web site, he explains in detail the benefits of Ingenium(TM) over traditional alcohol-based sanitizers.  He also has a blog - A Better Way To Clean - which functions as a consumer forum.

For the next two weeks, the Parent Bloggers Network will put CleanWell hand sanitizer to the test - or rather, our children will.  We’ve got a family heading to Disney World, another family that’s so high and dry they refuse to use alcohol-based sanitizer in the winter, and a couple others who have newborns and pre-schoolers in close contact.  Check in daily to see how well CleanWell is working for our parents!

Monday, 2/26 - Builder Mama
Tuesday, 2/27 - Ruth Dynamite
Wednesday, 2/28 - Motherhood Uncensored
Thursday, 3/1 - Mother May I
Friday, 3/2 - Bananas and Toddlers
Monday, 3/5 - Three Kid Circus
Tuesday, 3/6 - Karianna
Wednesday, 3/7 - Do as I say…and no one gets hurt
Thursday, 3/8 - Mommy’s Must Haves
Friday, 3/9 - GingaJoy