Hand washing has been taken to a new level of seriousness because of the coronavirus. Do you remember the old 20 second rule? Experts say you should wash your hands for a solid 20 seconds to ensure they have been properly sanitized. An old trick you may remember from childhood was to time 20 seconds by singing “Happy Birthday” twice as you wash your hands.
It’s not the best song to choose, because it’s easy to sing and rush through. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not really a fan of singing Happy Birthday that much… but luckily there are lots of songs out there whose choruses are roughly 20 seconds!
Someone on Twitter posted a list of songs with choruses that are about 20 seconds long, so you only have to sing them once. Here are some of the best ones from that list:
Stayin’ Alive – The BeeGees (which is also the ideal tempo for CPR!)
Mr. Brightside- The Killers (:22)
Africa – Toto
Come On, Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Her Majesty – The Beatles
Truth Hurts – Lizzo
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
These aren’t the only ones out there, lots of songs have 20 second choruses. Just leave your radio on 106.3 Radio Lafayette all day and I’m sure you’ll find one perfect for you!
There is also now a website that will turn your favorite song into a custom step by step hand washing poster!
The site is called Wash Your Lyrics, and was created by an English 17-year old named William Gibson. All you have to do is enter the title of a favorite song and artist (like Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under The Bridge”) and the website generates a graphic, pairing the lyrics of that song to a 13-step hand washing routine. Choosing a familiar song that you know how to sing already obviously helps. But if you forget the lyrics, you can always print out the poster!
