Why is Soap the best for killing Coronavirus? We have all been told over and over again to wash our hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. No one really tells us why we need to use soap or why the minimum is 20 seconds. The answer is complicated because soap is more complex than it appears.
Here is a link to the best article I found explaining what soap is and how it works. https://www.livescience.com/57044-science-of-soap.html
Below are selected excerpts. This article is a great way to teach your kids the value of soap.
What is Soap?
Soap has been a part of human cultural since Babylonians created it in 2800 B.C.E.
Soap is a mixture of fat or oil, water, and an alkali, or basic salt. The basic recipe for soap hasn’t changed for thousands of years. It’s still a combination of fat or oils with an alkali — basic ionic salt — and water. When those ingredients combine in the proper proportions, they go through a chemical process called saponification, which results in soap.
How Does Soap Work?
Soap kills viruses and removes bacteria on our hands. This is an important point for several reasons. The most important being is viruses and bacteria CANNOT develop drug resistance to soap.
When you wash your hands with soap, the soap molecules act as a mediator between the water and oil molecules, and bind with both of them at the same time. Then when you rinse everything off, the soap carries away the germs with the water.
Soap versus the Coronavirus.
Viruses by their very nature are simple. They have RNA surrounded by a fatty membrane (shell). When soap encounters this fatty membrane it dissolves the membrane effectively killing the the coronavirus. There is not a drug or any other treatment that kills viruses in this way. Soap is the most effective way of preventing the transmission of a virus from your hands or body to your eyes, nose and mouth (mucous membranes).
Soap: a household cleaner.
Soap is good for more than washing the dishes. Soap can also be used to clean the hard surfaces in your house. This will destroy all the viruses on the hard surfaces but will save you money by not using expensive wipes or sprays. You can use 1/8 to 1/4 cup of dish soap or hand soap in two gallons of water as a cleaning and disinfecting solution.