Hand Sanitizers and Tires

I bet that headline grabbed your attention! There is no relation between hand sanitizers and tires, I have just been watching the news and 20/20 alot and I really wanted to share what I've learned, it's very useful, and maybe even lifesaving, information...

Let's start with hand sanitizers. On our local news there was a study researching 10 different brands of hand sanitizers, all of which promised to kill 99.99% of germs. They did the tests using 6th graders to determine how much bacteria was left on the hands after using these different brands of hand sanitizers. And what they found was that very few of these brands actually do kill 99% of germs. And don't we all want clean hands? Especially after touching those Wal-mart carts! So here are the results. The 2 brands that actually killed 99% of germs as promised are:

• Walgreens brand
• Delta brand (I have never heard of this one)

Germ-X killed between 80-90%. And Purell, the kind I used to trust most, killed just 79% of bacteria on the hands. Looks like I will be switching to the Walgreens brand! And for those of you that like the Bath and Body Works Brand, the gel kills 98% of germs while the foam only kills 8%. So, go for the gel.

Now on to what I learned about tires from 20/20. Tires do not have an expiration date/shelf life and when you walk into a tire store and pick out new tires you are probably thinking they are brand new. In reality, the tire you are buying may actually be a few years old or more. Even though the tire may have perfect tread and has never been taken off the shelf and used, it is actually very dangerous to buy one of these tires. These "brand new" yet old tires are responsible for many blowouts, accidents, and deaths on the road. I can't exactly remember what makes the tires so dangerous, I think it had something to do with the rubber changing over time. I'll have to google it when I have time.

So, how do you know how old that tire really is that you are buying? If you check out your tires, you will notice a long list of numbers on them. The date the tire was manufactured is the last set of numbers, shown as the week and year the tire was made. So the number 4002 means that the tire was manufactured the 40th week of the year 2002. 2407 means the 24th week of 2007. 404 means the 40th week of 1994 (hopefully you don't buy a tire that old!). Before you agree to buy a tire please check when it was manufactured! This could save you a future car accident, one that typically results in death.