When kids go back to school, they often get sick. And last year’s H1N1 scare had college campuses under quarantine. My particular bugaboo is hand washing.

At my daughters’ overcrowded NYC public elementary school, some grades had recess, then lunch. But there was no opportunity to wash hands. When I asked about this, I was told that hand washing created chaos. Better to have dirt on their hands than an unwieldy lunch crowd. So I started packing anti-bacterial wipes in my kids’ lunch boxes.

But as the kids grew up, they also grew embarrassed by pulling out hand sanitizer in front of their friends. But I found a new product that last six hours, and is also useful when we travel or are otherwise without soap and water.

OutLast Long-Lasting Hand Sanitizer uses ethyl alcohol to kill germs, and the antimicrobial effects linger for six hours. The formula, used in hospital during long surgeries, also does not leave hands with the stickiness that gel sanitizers leave.

Our back to school routine will be a squirt of OutLast as the kids leave the house, since they eat lunch less than six hours later. For after school snacks, we’ll rely on old-fashioned soap and water.