
Why does soap work so well on the coronavirus and other viruses? - dirtyaura
https://twitter.com/PalliThordarson/status/1236549305189597189
======
Fifer82
Has anyone seen the film of oil that may appear on the surface of the water
when washing dishes? You add a little bit of washing liquid, and kind of like
a popped balloon, the surface retreats to the edges of the sink pretty fast?

On the BBC yesterday they had a virologist who said the envelope would be
destroyed by soap, sanitiser, alcohol and bleach.

Later there was a different expert, and she said that it would have to be anti
viral specifically, anything with 60%+ alcohol.

I know this is getting into the details a little but I wondered about this
discrepancy.

~~~
animalnewbie
How do I remember to check this comment back without commenting myself?

~~~
foepys
You can favorite comments when you click on the post time and then click on
favorite.

------
krzat
Interesting, I wouldn't expect soap to be good at destroying viruses, only at
removing it. Is there any research on this?

BTW these multi-tweets are just ridiculous.

~~~
ac29
Soap is a surfactant [0], and one of its most useful properties is that it
reduces the reluctance of oils and fats to disperse in water, which is why
soaps are useful at cleaning your dishes, hair, and skin. Many viruses like
coronavirus (so called "enveloped" viruses) are only held together by a thin
lipid (fatty) layer, so in the presence of soap and water, they basically just
fall apart.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant)

------
stevenwoo
Long form interview instead of a tweet stream - [https://www.vox.com/science-
and-health/2020/3/11/21173187/co...](https://www.vox.com/science-and-
health/2020/3/11/21173187/coronavirus-covid-19-hand-washing-sanitizer-
compared-soap-is-dope)

------
kwoff
Reminds me of an Applied Science video on cleaning in general (appropriate
solvents, rinsing):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiL6uPNlqRw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiL6uPNlqRw)

