Hand cleaners tested

Garages are dirty places, whether you’re cleaning dirt from your alloys or changing the oil filter. But while there are myriad cleaners for your car, you need a dedicated formula to shift muck from your hands; plain old soap and water don’t always work.

MicraSil AG+ Hand Sanitiser is made by the same company that produces Angelwax cleaning kit, and it’s claimed to be superior to other formulas, while remaining competitively priced. We rated the new product against Muc-Off’s Dry Shower – an alcohol-free foam which can be used for more than just cleaning your hands.

Both come in pump-action containers, so we checked how much you get per pump, how much was needed to clean our hands and how long we had to leave them to dry. Smell, size and price were also rated.

MicraSil is the cheaper choice and very effective. But its alcohol-based formula doesn’t leave the nicest of smells and 100ml is the biggest size you can buy. Muc-Off is more versatile, smells nicer and comes in a larger 250ml pack, so it wins.

Alcohol-based: MicraSil AG+ Hand SanitiserPrice: £2.50 (100ml) 
Contact: 0141 886 6732, angelwax.co.uk
Rating: ★★★

This clear gel comes in a 100ml tube. The cap dispenses a lot of formula in one pump: more than enough to clean one hand. Yet the MicraSil AG+ Hand Sanitiser doesn’t smell especially nice and needs lots of rubbing to shift grease.

The maker claims the gel incorporates a special ingredient which keeps your hands protected from bacteria for up to eight hours after application, but sadly it can’t stop them picking up more dirt.

It’s keenly priced at just £2.50, but that’s for only 100ml. The equivalent price for 250ml of Hand Sanitiser is £6.25, which is only 75p less than Dry Shower. We reckon you’re better off with Muc-Off, as it’ll last longer than this.

Alcohol- free: Muc-Off Dry ShowerPrice: £7 (250ml)
Contact: muc-off.com
Rating: ★★★★

This is an all-round cleaner, as it’s designed to be an alternative to a full-on body wash with shower gel. Unlike MicraSil, Muc-Off is not alcohol-based, so the formula foams up when you depress the cap and you don’t need to use a lot. This means the large 250ml bottle will last a long time, but it still fits in a glovebox or door bin, so you can use it on the go.

The coconut-based formula cleaned dirt from our hands well, and removing grease involved less agitation than with the MicraSil. It also left a more pleasant smell. While it costs more to buy than MicraSil, Dry Shower will work out as better value for money in the long run.