The issue remains controversial. Some argue chlorhexidine, which I sometimes use, is effective at reducing infection rates.
Others argue that chlorhexidine causes tissue toxicity, some say only at higher concentrations. The matter is not settled in the medical literature. I’m sure chlorhexidine is better than 95% alcohol, though. Antiseptics are one of many areas in medicine where stronger may mean worse and not better.
Higher concentrations of alcohol (above the 85% mark , for example) tend to dehydrate the microorganism rather than kill it outright. The lower concentrations, (mixed with water) kill the microorganisms.
We use 70% for disinfecting benchtops in the lab (or a commercial disinfectant), in the microbiology class I teach.
However, both hydrogen peroxide and alcohol can cause tissue damage (some of the cells killed are your own) in an open wound.
Washing with plenty of (uncontaminated) water and soap is best.
Alcohol wipes which are used before injections/blood draws are acting on intact skin, on the dead tissue layer, so while they kill the microbes, your skin cells aren’t damaged.
I can access some cites…
That’s what I used to think, but the problem is that it is a skin irritant.
Unlike alcohol, which quickly evaporates, and soap and water, which you know to rinse, people tend to leave hydrogen peroxide on the wound. Like any bleach, it stays active for many hours, and the result can be a much larger area of irritation.
Or so I was told by one emergency room doctor. His basic answer was alcohol swab and a pre-fab packet with Neosporin on a pad, covered by fairly loose gauze.
It think denatured alcohol is as spooky as isopropyl. I guess they hide the ethyl alcohol to contend with the liquor laws. But the pharmasists like to give me a quiz: And what do you want it for, burning in an alcohol lamp? Once I said simply “for sterilizing”. He asked “sterilizing what?” I got testy and said “Needles”, thinking of science class experiments. He, however, had a mindset that turned to illegal drug injection and I almost thought he was going to have me picked up as a dangerous dope fiend.