I know what you’re thinking: “He’s reviewing a skin sanitizer?  That’s it!  This guy has clearly lost it!”  And to be honest, I would normally agree with you.  What in the world does a sanitizer have to do with Martial Arts, right?  Well let me tell one.  One of the biggest problems faced in Martial Arts training (and in fact, in any sort of athletics) is how to deal with all the crap you can pick up from the gym/dojo/teammates/training partners/etc.  Ring worm isnt exactly a load of fun.  So when I found that Athletic Body Care was creating products specifically to address this issue, I had to get my hands on a sample and see if it worked.  Thankfully, they were kind enough to oblige and sent me the Athletic Body Care Foaming Skin Sanitizer.  Now unfortunately, a product like this is a bit hard to test for efficacy (after all, noone gets an infection EVERY time they train) – so I recruited some help.  In addition to trying it out myself, I had some of the folks at the local Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School try it out too.  If anyone is going to pick up something nasty it is those guys!

Let me start out with what exactly this stuff is, and what it purports to do.  This skin sanitizer is intended to stop the spread of germs, bacteria, fungus, and infection.  The claim is that it kills 99.99% of disease causing bacteria and fungus within 15 seconds.  Now obviously, this isnt a claim I can test specifically (I run a martial arts website, not a chemistry lab) – but I’ll do my best.  The manufacturer also claims that it is hypo-allergenic and soothes the skin.  The active ingredient in the Foaming Skin Sanitizer is Benzalkonium Chloride (a salt used for its sanitizing abilities).  It also does not contain alcohol, which I know for a lot of people is a big plus.  All in all, it sounds to me like one impressive product so far.

Now, let me just start out by saying this: During our testing, noone contracted anything.  This doesnt mean that this stuff works with 100% effectiveness – or even prove that it works at all.  However, considering the test conditions (use in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School), that is a very favorable outcome.  Some of our testers also reported that the use of the sanitizer helped with their pre-existing rashes – as well as the accompanying itching.  It also seems to help with dry skin.  The other big positive item of feedback was smell.  This sanitizer itself has a fairly neutral smell, a good thing in my opinion, but more importantly it helps eliminate the unpleasant smell of your sweat (not to mention the smell from the other people you’ve been in contact with).  This is not an advertised feature, but seems to be true all the same.

The Foaming Skin Sanitizer runs around $10.99 for a 5oz bottle.  This seems to be a little on the high-end for a sanitizer, but considering its apparent efficacy I would certainly not consider it overpriced.  A product of this nature is exactly what the Martial Arts community is in need of, and I am glad to see someone entering the market with such a good product.

I guess the summary for the Foaming Skin Sanitizer is the following: If you practice martial arts, and are not hermetically sealed inside a bubble, you should buy and use this product.  I would be happier if the price came down a little (or the bottle got a little bigger), but that is a minor quibble.  This is a very good product.

Interested in buying some?  Head over to Athletic Body Care.

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Tags: athletic body care, equipment, martial arts, review, sanitizer

This entry was posted by Damen on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 7:59 am and is filed under Equipment Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.