It works by pulling the molecules of the virus apart, forever.
Wash your hands, wash your hands- if someone has not told you to do this today, let us be your mom: go wash your hands.
Washing your hands has been proven to be the #1 best way to control and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, in addition to practicing social distancing. As you likely know, there is no vaccine to fight COVID-19 as of the time of this writing. Scientists are working on developing one, but according to a post on BBC.com, it likely will not be ready for mass use until the middle of next year, at the very earliest.
In the meantime, stay healthy. Washing your hands and staying at home will be the best ways to actually protect you against contracting the virus, (and maybe wearing a mask, but that is now up for some debate).
Why does simple soap work so well at tackling this enemy to the ground?
Here is an internal look at its superpowers.
It Can Break the Ice
Have you ever tried to mix oil and water? They form two layers, with the oil sitting on top. The two can be neighbors, but they never go to each others’ homes. They don’t mix at all.
When you add soap to a container holding oil and water, however, it is a different story. Soap is like that uber-social cousin who only comes over once a year because they are so booked up, but when they do, they perform impressive feats.
Related: How to speak to kids about COVID-19
They meet your whole neighborhood in one hour, and invite the entire street over for a barbecue in the backyard. (It only took you about three years to learn a couple of names on the block). Essentially, soap likes to mingle and break the ice. It makes the oil and water mix together.
And this is wonderful. Why? It is fantastic that soap can get substances to mix, because of the way viruses are constructed. You might not be able to protect yourself against a virus with a vaccine or a sword, but soap will act like your own knight in shining armor, if you use it properly.
Soap Pulls the Virus Apart
According to a video by Vox.com, a coronavirus molecule is a bit like a ball of protein combined with some other things, to be exact. It is all coated in a layer of fat. There is no rubber, just fat, on the outside.
When you wash your hands with soap, the soap molecules grab onto that fat and pull at it.
Related: You Should Clean and Disinfect These Surfaces Daily
The soap succeeds in pulling the outer layer of fat from around the virus, knocking the coronavirus molecule into pieces. When you rinse your soapy hands with water, the bits of destroyed coronavirus are then washed down the drain. You must scrub long enough, however, for all of this drama to happen.
20 Seconds Does the Trick
So, you have lathered up in your favorite chamomile soap. Now it is time to get down and clean the dirt away. You scrub under your nails, you wash the backs of your hands, you get in between your fingers and even under those stubborn rings. Everything should be sparkling clean…but it is not. Why? Because you only scrubbed for fifteen seconds.
It is true that twenty seconds is the magic number to get your soap to do its job. Science has proven that ten seconds will not do it. You will get some of the mess off your hands in ten seconds, but not nearly all of it. And then, all that conscientious work to get your hands literally goes down the drain.
Sing “Happy Birthday” through at a regular speed, twice, and then rinse with water. This way, you are doing it right, and you are done.
Does your soap need to be labelled as anti-bacterial to really work? No. Amazingly, any old soap will work. Lather up, scrub, scrub, scrub and rinse. You have just helped the world.
