I get how soap works by breaking down outer layers of cells, especially in viruses and bacteria, which is how it protects us (correct me if I’m wrong). My question is why does everyone, including surgeons scrubbing in for surgery, massage the soap around their hands and arms? Couldn’t we just apply the soap, wait 20 seconds, then rinse it off? Maybe it’s a surface area thing, making sure soap is applied everywhere?
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If you just apply the soap you break off the very outer layer. If you scrub you break off the outer layer, then the second layer, then the third layer, and so on.
Imagine you have a sheet of dirty leather you want to clean. Now, don’t allow that leather to lay flat. Instead, let it collapse and create a bunch of folds.
Now pressure wash it as it lies.
It’s clean, right? Until you stretch the leather out and reveal all the dirt that was covered by the material itself.
That’s how skin works, although at a much smaller scale.
Yes you COULD let it sit and it’d probably be alright. But rubbing send washing ensures all the folds get disturbed and the entire surface is cleaned.
I’m not exactly sure how soap works on that level, but I do know that if you have oil/grease on your hands you have to scrub it off in order for it to lift up.
You’re thinking of hand sanitizer. The alcohol does what you are describing with the cell walls. Soap physically removes things from your hands, so you have to scrub then rinse away. There’s antibacterial soaps but they suck for the environment and I think they are banned in some parts of the world.
Soap helps to breakup the biofilm and oils built up on our hands for the water to wash it away. There’s also actually a bit of a pushback against antibacterial soap, even in the medical field, where it’s only required for critical care areas.
I recommend listening to the Sawbones podcast with the sweet sweet McElroy family. Theres an episode for everything!
I’ll give you an analogy. The deep fryers in kitchens get all sorts of gross. Debris collects, dries, gets caught in greasy nightmare. Do you think I can just empty it, put soapy water in it, drain it, and do another batch of clean water? Now do this for six months. Would you eat anything out of it? I wouldn’t let you.
My good bitch have you met fingernails? Wash your fucking hands. I know you’re five and I’m using the F word but wash your fucking hands.
I know I’m late to the party but soap can kill microbes but it’s strength lies in the fact that is an emulsifier. Microbes have a lipid outer shell that repells water. Soap forms a chain that can grab a microbe on one end and water molecules on the other end making it easily washed away.to make these chains you need to agitate the soap. Put some oil in a glass of water then add a couple drops of washing up liquid to see this in action.
Point a hose at a dirty tire. A lot of dirt comes off. Now pour water over your hand while scrubbing the dirt. This works on a microscopic scale as well.
The mechanical action of rubbing your hands together disrupts the bacterial cell walls, breaks them, and causes cell death.
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