Washing your hands may be the simplest of tasks but what’s the most efficient way of killing off bacteria? Scientists believe they have the answer. 
 
 According to new research, the standard method of soap, rubbing your hands together for 20 seconds or so, followed by a rinse isn’t actually the best way. 
 
 Experts at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland found the six-step hand-hygiene technique recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is superior than the standard three-step method. ||||| The one adult thing you were confident you did correctly today was wash your hands. Now we have to take that away from you. 
 
 A team of researchers in the United Kingdom found that a six-step hand washing method from the World Health Organization works significantly better than the three-step method recommended for Healthcare workers by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for hands, according to Science Daily. 
 
 Researchers followed 42 doctors and 78 nurses at a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. Half of the participants used the three-step method and the other half used the six-step method. The six-step method only takes about 10 seconds longer but it reduces bacteria by 21 percent, while the three-step method only reduces bacteria by 6 percent. 
 
 This could be important news for preventing infections in hospitals, according to Science Daily. "Hand hygiene is regarded as the most important intervention to reduce healthcare-associated infections, but there is limited evidence on which technique is most effective," said the lead researcher of the study Jacqui Reilly from Glasgow Caledonian University. 
 
 To make sure you're washing your hands right, follow the WHO's guidelines for the six-step method. ||||| For years there have been two leading authorities on hand washing: the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). WHO promotes a six-step technique and CDC touts a three-step approach. 
 
 So which is better? 
 
 To find out, researchers watched 42 doctors and 78 nurses wash their hands after delivering patient care. Half of the group followed the WHO's method and the other half the CDC's. All participants used an alcohol-based hand rub. Then they were tested to see whose hands were cleaner. 
 
 And the winner: The WHO's six-step method for scrubbing every exposed surface of the hands hands was better at reducing bacteria. The study reports that the technique reduced median bacterial count from 3.28 CFU/mL (colony-forming units per milliliter) to 2.58 CFU/mL compared to the three-step method, which only reduced median bacterial count from 3.08 to 2.88 CFU/mL. 
 
 The researchers note that the six-step method requires 25 percent more time to complete (42.50 seconds compared to 35 seconds). That may be part of the reason why people are less likely to stick with it. 
 
 "One of the interesting incidental findings was that compliance with the six-step technique was lacking," Jacqui Reilly, PhD, lead author of the study and professor of infection prevention and control at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, said in a press release. "Only 65 percent of providers completed the entire hand hygiene process despite participants having instructions on the technique in front of them and having their technique observed. This warrants further investigation for this particular technique and how compliance rates can be improved." 
 
 The research is published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. 
 
 "Hand hygiene is regarded as the most important intervention to reduce healthcare-associated infections, but there is limited evidence on which technique is most effective," Reilly said in a press release. "This study provides a foundation for effective best practices to implement on the frontlines of healthcare." 
 
 The problem is a big one: The CDC has estimated that one in 25 hospital patients in the United States catches an infection while hospitalized, highlight the need for continued efforts to improve infection control. 
 
 Below is a step-by-step guide for the WHO's hand-washing method. ||||| New research demonstrates that the six-step hand-hygiene technique recommended by the World Health Organization is superior to a three-step method suggested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reducing bacteria on healthcare workers' hands. The study was published online in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. 
 
 "Hand hygiene is regarded as the most important intervention to reduce healthcare-associated infections, but there is limited evidence on which technique is most effective," said Jacqui Reilly, PhD, lead author of the study and professor of infection prevention and control at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. "This study provides a foundation for effective best practices to implement on the frontlines of healthcare." 
 
 During the randomized controlled trial in an urban, acute-care teaching hospital, researchers observed 42 physicians and 78 nurses completing hand-washing using an alcohol-based hand rub after delivering patient care. The six-step technique was determined to be microbiologically more effective for reducing the median bacterial count (3.28 to 2.58) compared to the three-step method (3.08 to 2.88). However, using the six-step method required 25 percent more time to complete (42.50 seconds vs. 35 seconds). 
 
 "One of the interesting incidental findings was that compliance with the six-step technique was lacking. Only 65 percent of providers completed the entire hand hygiene process despite participants having instructions on the technique in front of them and having their technique observed. This warrants further investigation for this particular technique and how compliance rates can be improved," said Reilly. 
 
 The researchers recommend authors of international guidance should consider this evidence when making official recommendations on best practices in hand hygiene.
– You do it several times a day: You grab some soap, rub your hands together for 20 seconds or so, then rinse. Yet if you're aiming to get rid of as much bacteria as possible, you've been washing your hands all wrong. After observing the hand-washing techniques of doctors and nurses, scientists at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland say the WHO's six-step hand-washing technique is most effective, reducing bacteria by 21%, compared to just 6% with the three-step method backed by the CDC, per ATTN and CBS News. Lathering your hands with soap is actually just the first step. The six-step technique also involves rubbing the backs of hands, the backs of fingers, between fingers, then rotational rubbing of your thumbs, then fingers in your opposite palm, reports the Telegraph. To determine which technique was best, scientists watched 42 doctors and 78 nurses wash their hands with an alcohol-based rub. Those who used the three-step technique saw the average bacterial count on their hands fall from 3.08 colony-forming units per milliliter to 2.88, compared to 3.28 to 2.58 CFU/mL for those who used the six-step method. However, the six-step method took 25% longer to complete for an average of 42.5 seconds. That might explain why "only 65% of providers completed the entire hand hygiene process despite participants having instructions on the technique in front of them and having their technique observed," a researcher explains in a release. She adds the study "provides a foundation for effective best practices to implement on the frontlines of healthcare." (One guy suggests you ease up on showering.)