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Soap vs. Hand Sanitizer: How They Work & Which is Best
The two methods work totally differently. This very simple story explains how, and why you don’t want to overly rely on one of them.
Someone asked me the other day which is better at killing the coronavirus, soap or hand sanitizer. That’s actually the wrong question. So, while describing the difference, I realized a simple explainer might be helpful for everyone. This won’t take long (the long, sciencey explanations are in the links, with all the expert input and supportive research from the CDC and others).
How soap works
Regular soap, regardless of the ingredients, is designed to separate dirt, grease and whatever else is on your skin from your skin.
“Regular soaps don’t necessarily kill bacteria and viruses as much as they simply help you wash them off your skin,” explains Gabriel Rangel, a PhD candidate in biological sciences at Harvard University. Other researchers say soap can effectively deactivate a virus by removing the greasy coating the virus uses to bind to human cells; others say soap actually forces open the envelopes of a virus, or dissolves the membrane, so it spills its guts. Either way, the bubbles of soap, along with vigorous scrubbing of all parts of your…
