(I posted this to the Food Specific/Peanut board, but there seems to be much more activity here, so I am going to try it here & delete from the other.)
Recently I attended a baseball game with my company only to find that our seats were COVERED with peanut shells. With the exception of a panic attack, I was fine. (Remember, I am the person that the doctor said is "probably not" allergic to nuts. And, FWIW I did do a food test with walnuts, which I passed... minus a panic attack.)
When I got home I immediately jumped in the shower, washed my hair/body/etc thoroughly and even washed my handbag (Longchamp Le Pliage) in the sink using soap and water and then hung it to dry. However, I didn't want to ruin the leather straps on the bag, so I didn't wash those with soap and water, but rather used a paper towel drenched in hand sanitizer to clean the straps (went over each strap three times, each time with a fresh paper towel/sanitizer). I wasn't feeling very confident using the bag, so I swapped it out for another bag.
It's been about a week since the game and now I am on crutches and the Longchamp is basically the only bag I can use (other than a backpack, which isn't practical for every day use, especially at the office) because it stays out of the way of the crutches, so I swapped the Longchamp bag back into rotation today, and have been very nervous about it ever since. (I've washed my hands about 213904 times so far today and it's only 8:50am!)
After reading up on peanut allergies and cleaning, however, it seems that hand sanitizer does basically nothing to remove peanut residue since you aren't wiping the residue off, you're kind of just spreading it around.
Would it be safe to assume that since I used a paper towel to clean the handles, it's possible that I was also removing any left over residue? Or should I toss the whole bag in the washing machine and pray that it doesn't ruin the straps (and avoid touching my face for the remainder of the day.)
Since you didn't react at the game (where obviously the contamination was MUCH greater), then I think your bag is safe. No, hand sanitizer does nothing about removing peanut residue, but elbow grease does. It sounds like you used plenty of that.
I would agree. Hand sanitizer on hands doesn't work for allergens because it never leaves the hands. In your case all the bad stuff probably ended up on the paper towels.