By now, our hands are raw with washing and we’ve sung Happy Birthday more times in the last week than in our entire childhood. We know coronavirus can infect us if we touch a surface where it is active then touch our face. But as frightening and uncertain as the pandemic feels, at least one thing is reassuring: washing our hands kills the virus.
According to Palli Thordarson – a chemistry professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney – disinfectants, liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol are all useful at getting rid of viruses but they are not quite as good as your trusty bar of soap.
So why does it work so well? In a piece Thordarson wrote for the Guardian, he explains it’s because ‘the virus is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. Soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and dies – or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive.’
Earlier this week, a tweet of his went viral after he explained why the humble bar of soap and water is so effective. Here are some of his top tips from it:
Soap is best
Many antibacterial products are basically just an expensive version of soap in terms of how they act on viruses. Soap is the best but alcohol wipes are good when soap is not practical or handy
Don’t write off alcohol-based sanitiser
When there is no soap to hand, alcohol-based sanitisers should still be used
Cover your coughs and sneezes
When you cough, or especially when you sneeze, tiny droplets from the airways can fly up to 10 meters (30 ft)! The larger ones are thought to be main coronavirus carriers and they can go at least 2 m (7 ft). Thus – cover your coughs and sneezes, people!
Give it a good rub
The skin is quite rough and wrinkly which is why you do need a fair amount of rubbing and soaking to ensure the soap reaches every crook and nanny on the skin surface that could be hiding active viruses.
Don’t waste your booze
You need a fairly high concentration (maybe +60%) of the alcohol to get a rapid dissolution of the virus. Vodka or whiskey (usually 40% ethanol), will not dissolve the virus as quickly. Overall alcohol is not quite as good as soap at this task.
Get some household bleach
We’ve also heard how important it is to disinfect frequently touched surfaces in our homes and the good news is Juan Leon, an environmental health scientist at Emory University, says it is possible for us to tackle coronavirus with bleach. According to Leon, past studies show common household disinfectants, including soap or a diluted bleach solution, can deactivate coronaviruses on indoor surfaces. However, in a piece for Sciencemag.org, his colleague Julia Silva Sobolik says we shouldn’t be overzealous when it comes to disinfectant as over-exposure can cause respiratory problems.
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