Table of contents:
- How soap kills COVID-19 and bad germs
- 1,024,298
- 831,330
- 28,855
- Why hand sanitizer not the first choice?
- Wash your hands with soap to kill COVID-19
Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Disinfectants, hand sanitizers, gels, and wipes that contain alcohol are all useful for eliminating them. But soap and water are very efficient ways to kill COVID-19 that is on your skin.
Why is soap and water an important key in washing hands, eradicating germs and viruses that stick to the skin? Check out the following reviews.
How soap kills COVID-19 and bad germs
The main way that experts recommend to prevent being infected with COVID-19 is to wash your hands with soap.
Why? The key is in the efficacy of soap. Whether it's ordinary liquid soap, luxurious scented soap, or bar soap that is shaped into a duck, it will kill viruses including COVID-19.
Viruses are tiny materials covered in protein and fat. Viruses attach easily; attached to surfaces such as hands.
When a person infected with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes, the droplets can hit their hands. These tiny droplets can dry up quickly, but the virus will remain active. Human skin is the ideal surface for this virus to live.
When you rinse it only with water, the virus does not wash away, it remains attached to the skin. That is because the coating that covers the virus is like oil.
If you think of viruses as oil, if you mix oil with water, they don't mix. The oil will be on the top and the water on the bottom. No matter how long and no matter how fast you stir, the oil and water will remain separate.
COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData1,024,298
Confirmed831,330
Recovered28,855
DeathDistribution MapWhen you put soap in the oil and water mixture and stir it, the oil will dissolve with water. That's because soap has two sides of the molecule. One side of the molecule is attracted to water and the other side is attracted to fat.
So when soap molecules come into contact with water and fat, this double attraction breaks down the fat bandage. The fat particles dissolve and become attached to the water.
The COVID-19 molecules are also coated with protein and fat particles that protect them from water. When in contact with soap, the fat bandage will break down and the virus will be destroyed. The running water will then kill and rinse the remains of COVID-19 that have been successfully split by soap.
It's just that, the process of breaking down fat particles in the virus takes 20 seconds. This duration is also carried out so that water is able to rinse it off.
Why hand sanitizer not the first choice?
Hand sanitizer works almost the same as soap because it contains the largest amount of alcohol. But it requires a high concentration of alcohol to function the same as soap.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends at least 60 percent alcohol in hand sanitizer. Alcohol is an important ingredient that will kill various germs on your hands.
For the record, there are many types on the market hand sanitizer without alcohol made because alcohol has the side effect of making the skin dry. This non-alcoholic cleanser is usually replaced with benzalkonium chloride.
Benzalkonium chloride can indeed clean hands from germs, but the CDC says the compound doesn't work for all types of germs.
What's worth noting is though hand sanitizer having 60 percent alcohol content, the CDC still recommends washing your hands with soap.
Wash your hands with soap to kill COVID-19
Washing your hands with soap is the best option to kill COVID-19 and other germs. Soap, water and 20 seconds duration are key. You also don't need soap with marks anti-bacterial.
"Simple and successful," he continued.
William Osler, co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, said, "Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants."
So in the face of this COVID-19 pandemic, let's wash our hands with soap to kill COVID-19. Don't forget to take care of common sense to stay alert and not panic.
