@robmandu I understand where you are coming from. I almost did not put in the Mayo Clinic quote, because I thought the use of the word “killing” was sloppy writing. (Professional editor disease). I would have said “removing” germs.
I think the key to resolving the apparent contradiction is here:
“The combination of scrubbing your hands with soap — antibacterial or not — and rinsing them with water loosens and removes bacteria from your hands.”
The site also has hand washing instructions.
Here is a some information on the 99.9 % claim, which apparently is not quite as sold as one would think:
“In a review of the research, Barbara Almanza, an associate professor at Purdue University who teaches safe sanitation practices to workers, came to an interesting conclusion. She notes that the research shows that hand sanitizers do not significantly reduce the number of bacteria on the hand and in some cases may potentially increase the amount of bacteria on the hand. So the question arises, how can the manufacturers make the 99.9 percent claim?
How can the manufacturers make the 99.9 percent claim?
The manufacturers of the products test the products on inanimate surfaces hence they are able to derive the claims of 99.9 percent of bacteria killed. If the products were fully tested on hands, there would no doubt be different results.”
Finally, I found this study with actual data, but it is self-published and there is no attribtuion:
“By Freshman bio student (Guest Post)
I recently did a study on the effectiveness of bar vs. liquid soap in my bio honors class. We made agar plates in sterilized petri dishes. We then brought in bar and liquid soap. We used 1.8 grams of liquid soap and 1.8 grams of bar soap shavings. we washed our hands in the exact same way with the liquid and bar soap. then we touched our hands to the agar and incubated the petri dishes for 48 hours at 37 degrees Celsius which is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. We then went back the next monday and we calculated the percentage of the germs on the plate. The liquid soap had 4% bacteria covering the petri dish the bar was 11% and the control group was 23% of the area of the agar.”