How Does Hand Soap Kill Bacteria?
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Undoing the Damage
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Using hand soap while following good washing habits will help rid the hands of bacteria and assist in reducing the spread of illnesses. Throughout the day, bacteria have numerous opportunities to accumulate on the surface of your hands. You encounter bacteria each time you touch another person, handle money, pet an animal, touch raw meat or grasp a doorknobs. Each time you use the toilet or change a diaper, bacteria can get on your hands and under your fingernails. If you touch any contaminated surface and then rub your eyes, mouth, nose or another surface before washing your hands, you risk spreading the bacteria to yourself and others. However, physically scrubbing with hand soap, including under your fingernails, and then running warm water over your hands loosens the bacteria so they are removed and sent down the drain to die.
Breaking Down Oils
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Water alone is not able to penetrate the fats, oils and proteins that naturally occur on the surface of the hands. Therefore, these offer a safe haven to bacteria, protecting them from being easily rinsed or rubbed from the surface of the hands and killed. However, using a surfactant, such as hand soap, reduces the surface tension of the water, allowing the dirt and bacteria to be suspended above the surface of the hand. The oils found on the hands that do not normally dissolve when you only use water become dispersible when hand soap is added. Once the bacteria are suspended above the hand surface, they can easily be rinsed down the sink with water and killed.
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Proper Technique
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It is most important to wash with hand soap to kill bacteria after defecating or changing a diaper, before feeding or eating, and before and after touching uncooked meat. Wet your hands with very warm water prior to applying hand soap. Add hand soap and work it into lather for at least 20 seconds, rubbing the front and back of your hands up to your wrists, between your fingers, and under your fingernails. Then rinse your hands thoroughly with warm, running water until all hand soap and bacteria are removed.
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- Photo Credit Julia Fuller
