Hankies proven to be best way to clean nose
<p>Remember the good old fashioned hanky? Sadly, the handkerchief has been forsaken for the tissue in today’s society, but we have to wonder why? A hanky can be used hundreds of times, but a tissue must be thrown out straight away.</p>
<p>Plus, with nine million cases of the cold and flu a year in Australia, we waste about 273,000 tonnes of tissue products annually. Is it time to return to the hanky?</p>
<p>The biggest misconception is that using reusable cloths like the hankies spread disease, but that’s just not true.</p>
<p>Dr Martyn Kirk, epidemiologist at Australian National University, told Helen Shield on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-12/hankies-get-tick-over-tissues-as-better-for-environment/7835662">936 ABC Hobart</a></strong></span>, "I don't think hankies are all that bad.”</p>
<p>"I'm definitely pro-hanky. I think it's a bit of a waste with tissues and they make a big mess."</p>
<p>Unless people are using someone else’s already-used hanky (and why would anyone do that?), handkerchiefs are unlikely to spread germs.</p>
<p>"The main way people get infections is when other people sneeze or they have contact with other people when they have a cold," he said.</p>
<p>"[When an infected person is] sneezing and they're generating droplets that other people inhale, that's how they get infected rather than by a hanky."</p>
<p>To prevent the spread of germs, Dr Kirk says a healthy person should not touch a person’s used hanky. Once hankies are washed though, there’s little risk of infection.</p>
<p>Do you want to see a return to the handkerchief or do you prefer tissues? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.</p>
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