I understand how soap works at a high level, with hydrocarbon chains latching onto oils/fats, but how does it remove or kill germs?
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Regular soap just drags bacteria and such away with the fats and oils it latches on to. Soap that’s labeled as “antibacterial” is the only soap that kills microbes chilling on your skin.
1. The germs have cell membranes made out of fats, and because soap dissolves fat it obliterates the cell membranes of the germs like popping a balloon 🎈
2. Human skin cells also have cell membranes made out of fats, and so soap also dissolves the top-most layer of dead skin cells on our skin, and washes it away along with whatever microbes were clinging onto the surface of the skin.
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