a sanitary wrapping for covering the handles of shopping carts and the like is provided . the wrapping may be provided either in the form of a portable wrapping which can be carried from store to store by the individual shopper and attached to the shopping cart handles in the store by various adhesive arrangements along the edges or as disposable or throwaway coverings obtained and used in each store . the preferred fastening means takes the form of so - called velcro ® fastened wrappers . various improvements of the basic tubular sanitary protection can be provided , including the use of flaps on the ends to cover more of the handle and sides of the shopping cart , plus slits in the structure of the handle covering so it can be adapted to handles of various lengths . the sanitary wrapping can also take the form of a paper or light plastic wrapping which can be dispensed from a dispenser provided near the storage place on the premises of a store for shopping carts . the customer can withdraw the protectors one at a time from such dispenser . strips of individual sanitary wrappings can be made in several different ways and several variations of the strips can also be used , including the use of flaps extending from the sides for shielding the sides of the cart as well . the sanitary wrapping may also incorporate an inner removable and disposable secondary shield layer .