Today is our first day of school.  Most of you will be starting in a few weeks and, if your kids go to school somewhere, hand sanitizer is probably on their supply list.  Unfortunately, conventional hand sanitizer has several downsides.  (Don’t get me wrong; we use hand sanitizer when the circumstances require it, but we avoid it when possible.)

The alcohol base of the sanitizer can be drying to the skin.  However, that’s probably the least of our concerns.  If a young child puts his hands in his mouth after using the sanitizer, the alcohol can be toxic.  Perhaps worst of all, it contributes to the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Prefense is a great alternative.  It’s an alcohol-free sanitizer that works by means of a completely different mechanism.  Because it’s alcohol-free, it doesn’t dry out your hands.  (And my kids don’t  say it stinks.)  It comes in a foaming pump container, which I found very easy to use and to carry.  (The container doesn’t seem to be as prone to leaking in my purse as “regular” hand sanitizers.)

According to the manufacturer, it lasts for several hours (up to 24 if you aren’t washing your hands) and up to ten handwashings (so if you’re out and about, you don’t have to reapply it even if your kids were good and washed their hands after going to the bathroom at the grocery store) and is effective against even antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.  It works by cutting up the cell walls of bacteria.  Since this is more of a “mechanical” action than a chemical one, I suspect it doesn’t contribute to antibiotic resistance, either.  (So it’s good for us and good for society-at-large.)

And Prefense is giving one of you the opportunity to try it for yourself.  One reader will win an 8-oz bottle of Prefense, good for 640 applications!  (This is not the size you would probably carry in your purse.  It’s much bigger than that.)
(If you want some before that, you can buy it directly from them, or through Amazon.)

To enter, leave a comment on this post on or before August 30th, telling where you would most like to have Prefense available for use (while shopping, at the part, etc.).  (I will close the giveaway at midnight, EDT.)

For extra entries, you may do any or all of the following.  Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one so I can count them!  A winner will be randomly chosen from all valid comments.
Like Prefense on Facebook
Follow Prefense on Twitter
Like Titus 2 Homemaker on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Like Everyday Homemaking on Facebook
Like Teething Bling on Facebook
Tweet about this giveaway (once per day, up to 5 entries)

Complete giveaway guidelines may be found here.