FORMULATION OF POLY HERBAL HAND WASH WITH ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITTY

Hand hygiene is vital principle and exercise in the prevention, control and reduction of health care acquired infections. To avoid the adverse effects like itching, irritation, dermatitis etc.,of the synthetic hand wash formulations an attempt has been made to formulate a polyherbal hand wash by using herbs which have antimicrobial property. The ethanolic extracts of leaves of Mimosa pudica (touch me not), Azadirachta indica(neem) and fruits of Sapindus mukorossi(reetha). The antimicrobial activity of prepared hand wash formulations was checked against skin pathogens Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli by cup plate method. Two herbal formulations showed significant antimicrobial activity than the commercially available standard hand wash(synthetic-dettol, herbal-pathanjali). So these plants materials can be used in the preparation of herbal hand wash on commercial scale.