The best way to prevent Corona is to wash your hands! How to wash your hands to get rid of viruses

The best way to prevent Corona is to wash your hands! How to wash your hands to get rid of viruses

Dec 18, 2024Ehotyshamull Joy
Why you should call Happy Birthday 2 times when washing your hands
 

"Wash your hands with soap"

It's a phrase we hear more often due to the corona crisis. But will the dreaded Corona be disinfected with soap? When you see soap in a public restroom, you may be reluctant to transfer it to yourself. However, soap is the most powerful tool to fight off viruses. It's a rediscovery of soap. Learn more about soap.


It is often thought that washing your hands with soap will cause viruses on your hands to slip away. It's a misunderstanding. To be precise, it is correct to say that soap destroys the lipid membrane of the virus. In other words, it kills the virus.


As shown in the figure below, the coronavirus is an outer membrane positive RNA virus, which has a spike protein on the outer membrane that is shaped like a crown, and the outer membrane of the virus is composed of lipid components.
 

 

First, let's take a look at how soap works. Soap has a surfactant structure that contains both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts within one molecule. When soap comes into contact with water, it reduces the surface tension of the water, and surrounds the outer lipid part of the virus with a hydrophobic part, puncturing the membrane and destroying it.

In fact, what causes the virus is the spike protein attached to the outer membrane, but when it is washed with soap, the outer membrane of lipid components is easily destroyed, and the virus cannot penetrate and amplify and die. By this principle, the probability of infection can be drastically reduced.

So, which soap should you choose?

Soaps can be broadly divided into alkaline, acidic, neutral soaps. In general, the soaps in public restrooms are alkaline, while beauty soaps are neutral or slightly acidic, similar to the pH of the skin. So, what kind of soap should you use to get rid of viruses and germs on your hands?


In general, soaps contain sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which has the effect of increasing cleaning power. It can be said that alkaline soaps with a high percentage of sodium hydroxide have the highest cleaning power. However, it can remove the sebaceous film and cause skin irritation.


So, what about neutral soaps that are commonly used as beauty soaps, such as Dove?

 'Soap' is made by sodium hydroxide through a grease and saponification reaction, but in the case of Dove, it does not contain sodium hydroxide. It contains salt, which is a product of saponification reactions, as a cleaning ingredient, and it can be called a 'cleansing bar' that mixes it with synthetic surfactants. Since there are few ingredients in charge of cleaning, neutral and slightly acidic beauty soaps have weaker cleaning power than alkaline soaps. It is less irritating to the skin and has a pH similar to that of the skin, making it suitable for cleansing.

In other words, even if the hand soap to remove viruses is a bit more clunky than the soap for cosmetic purposes, it is better to choose a regular soap that contains sodium hydroxide.


30 seconds is the most effective time to wash your hands! 'Sing Happy Birthday twice?'


 

Jensen DA, et al. J Food Prot. 2017; 80(6):1021-1031.
 

In New Jersey, USA, 21 subjects were tested on the most effective method for hand washing. As a result, it was found that 30 seconds of hand washing time (20 seconds of rubbing, 10 seconds of rinsing) was most effective, and that the concentration of bacteria and germs was reduced the most when the handwashing time was about 30 seconds. However, washing for a longer period of time after 10~20 seconds of soaping does not significantly increase the cleaning effect, so it is said that the most appropriate time to wash your hands is about 30 seconds.


It is said that if you sing "Happy Birthday" twice, it will take about 30 seconds to pass by it, so when you wash your hands, singing Happy Birthday twice in your mind can help prevent the virus.


Remember. Soap is not fluffy. In these times of the pandemic, we are even more grateful. Just stick to the 30-second rule. Every time you wash your hands, hum "Happy Birthday No. 2".

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