Why Soap (Detergent) can be a More Effective Solution Against Viruses like COVID-19 than Sanitizers
As Covid-19 cases in the US grow, there’s one product critical to the global battle to “flatten the curve,” or slow the pandemic: Simple, cheap, and effective detergent cleaners, better known as soap.
While alcohol-based (60% mininum) hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbes and viruses on hands in some situations, it is important to note that sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommends washing hands with soap and water as the best way to clean. Sanitizers are useful, but it can fail in less than ideal situations, which is very common in dirty or soiled work situations. If your hands are wet or sweaty when you use the sanitizer, that can dilute and diminish sanitzer effectiveness. Also, sanitizer doesn’t clean your equipment or work areas of dirt or sticky grease to which viruses can also adhere.
Soap (Detergents) can be more effective for two reasons:
When you properly wash your hands or equipment with soap and water, you’re actually destroying the viruses cell wall, rendering it harmless. Also, soaps rinses away the remaining viruses, so you are literally sending them down the drain vs. just sanitizing and keeping the virus on your equipment and hands.
How does it work?
Soap takes care of the virus much like it takes care of oil in water. Amphiphiles, or more commonly know as soap, “is almost like a demolition team breaking down a building and taking all the bricks away,” says Palli Thordarson, a chemistry professor at the University of New South Wales.
Now, lucky for us, coronaviruses are a bit like the oil - bits of genetic information — encoded by RNA — surrounded by a coat of fat and protein, or a grease ball. And grease balls, no matter the size, are the exact type of thing soap loves to destroy.
Learn more about Telechem's industrial cleaning products and how they can help provide a safe and clean work space.
