Transfer of fibres on the hands of living subjects and their persistence during hand washing

The subjects were then asked to wash their hands with water. One test group washed their hands with standing water, and the other with running tap water. Afterwards, the number of fibres remaining on the test subjects' hands were investigated. Migration of the fibres on the surface of the observed hands did occur but total loss of transferred fibre after hand washing did not occur. The average number of fibres remaining per 100 cm2 hand area was 14 ± 10 (range = 3-72) for hand washing with standing water, and 10 ± 12 (range = 0-79) for washing with running tap water. The results of this study show the possibility of finding fibres on the hands of a person involved in a criminal case even after hand washing before fibre collection.