How do soap and sanitizer differ in how they work? Which on is better in situations like now and why?
In: Chemistry
Soap lifts bad stuff off of your hands, sanitizer kills stuff on your hands.
Soap is Shaggy and Scooby dumping a big barrel of marbles on the floor so the bad guy slips and slides away, arms flailing. He isn’t necessarily dead, but he is far away from you and can’t hurt you anymore.
Sanitizer is Neo from the Matrix. It effortlessly kills everything in the room and leaves the dead bodies where they lie. They are still there, but dead now and can’t hurt you.
Deciding which one to use depends on the situation.
If you have access to soap and water, wash your hands. Especially if they are actually dirty or you sneezed gloopy globs all over them. Get the contaminants off your hands. It only works if washed correctly though.
If you can’t wash your hands, sanitizer will kill what it can reach. If you dipped them into a corona virus ward spit bucket first, it isn’t going to work. The contaminant layer needs to be extremely thin for the sanitizer to do its job.
Edit: a word
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