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How does soap remove germs and bacteria?


Anopsology

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Why do we use soaps on our hands and bodies.

I've always just used soap to wash my hands like all of us have. But what exactly does soap do to remove germs and bacteria and odors, etc. that plain water doesnt? Can somebody explain how soap works to me. Im a simple minded man haha.

I know soap removes oils from your body/hands but how does it help remove germs and bacteria?

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Apart from what micro-oganisms  are encapsulated  in the soap that are washed away, assuming no antibactericide in it, they stay put on your skin and carry on doing what they do... protecting you. Plain water can't remove oils very well and soap has a detergent action to emulsify them. Washing with soap will temporarily reduce the population of the normal skin flora (bacteria and other little critters) but not eradicate them... you wouldn't want to. If you could eradicate them all, then you have lost your physical barrier that keeps out the pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms and will give them an opportunity to wreak havoc on your body. The organisms that normally inhabit our body are as essential to our well-being as we are to them.

Edited by StringJunky
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On 3/31/2018 at 10:58 PM, Anopsology said:

Why do we use soaps on our hands and bodies.

I've always just used soap to wash my hands like all of us have. But what exactly does soap do to remove germs and bacteria and odors, etc. that plain water doesnt? Can somebody explain how soap works to me. Im a simple minded man haha.

I know soap removes oils from your body/hands but how does it help remove germs and bacteria?

As StringJunky mentioned, water is good at washing off salt and dirt particles on our skin but isn't good at removing oils on our skin.  So any bacteria buildup on these oils won't get washed off with simple water.  Take a look at this soap particle ... soap can bind with oils on one end and water on the other ... which helps wash off the oil when you wash your hands  

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  • 1 month later...
2 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Yes.

thanks.  I was debating with friends about soap removing more germs than just plain water washing does.    Was trying to explain in the simplest terms possible lol

 

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7 minutes ago, Anopsology said:

thanks.  I was debating with friends about soap removing more germs than just plain water washing does.    Was trying to explain in the simplest terms possible lol

 

What did they say? As a side note, not all bacteria are 'germs'; many are benficial to our well-being, even if only as a physical barrier to keep the bad boys out. Perfectly bacteria-free skin could create an opportunity for pathogenic organisms to get a foothold.

Edited by StringJunky
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2 hours ago, Ken Fabian said:

My understanding is the main way that bacterial concentrations are removed is physical, ie scrubbed off and washed away. Soap may kill some bacteria but it mostly assists that physical removal.

I never suggested otherwise.

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Nice jaunty basic answer SJ. +1

But soap doesn't only act on the oils.

Soap is also a surfactant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant

This lowers the significant surface tension of water, allowing the water to better mix with other substances, dirt, microbes, oils, skin particles etc.

Some soaps also change the pH of the water, making it more alkaline. Old fashioned 'lye' soap has this property.
The change in pH has a mild bactericidal action.

Scrubbing was not specifically mentioned and will enhance washing, with or without soap.
But much washing is carried out without scrubbing and  cleaning activity will still take place even without scrubbing.

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  • 5 months later...

Why do we use soaps on our hands and bodies.

I've always just used soap to wash my hands like all of us have. But what exactly does soap do to remove germs and bacteria and odors, etc. that plain water doesnt? Can somebody explain how soap works to me. Im a simple minded man haha.   Should I be using soap to wash my hands after the restroom?

I know soap removes oils from your body/hands but how does it help remove germs and bacteria?

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Soap helps remove oils and other substances which water alone doesn't mix with.   Using water alone will leave these oils and the bacteria clinging to them behind. Soap acts as a go-between which allows the water to grab on to and remove the oils.

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9 minutes ago, Janus said:

Soap helps remove oils and other substances which water alone doesn't mix with.   Using water alone will leave these oils and the bacteria clinging to them behind. Soap acts as a go-between which allows the water to grab on to and remove the oils.

 

 

But how does that correlate to removing germs?

 

 

Edit-  so the germs and bacteria are clinging to the oils?

Edited by Anopsology
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Bacteria clings to everything. Soap helps remove the bacteria that clings to your skin, although washing your hands with water only works well if you use good technique. Anti-Bacterial soap actually kills bacteria so it is the most effective. 

On the other hand, soap can also be contaminated with bacteria and washing your hands with contaminated soap can result in having more bacteria on your hands after you wash than before you wash.

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9 hours ago, Anopsology said:

Why do we use soaps on our hands and bodies.

You should look up what the word 'surfactant' means. Soaps are surfactant  -  surface-active molecules that usually have a lipophilic section and a hydrophilic head. This enables them to both attract and repel dirty oily organics and also water and other polar entities. They form micelles around dirt particulates in water which helps pull the dirt physically from what it is sticking too.

Look up 'SURFACTANTS' - Soap is a surfactant and that will tell how it works.

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Why do we use soap to wash our hands?  talking about plain soap not antibacterial or anything.

 

What does soap do to remove more germs and bacteria?   When Im washing my hands in the bathroom and using some plain old liquid hand soap...

what is soap doing to remove more germs?   Does it actually?  Or is soap a scam?

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54 minutes ago, swansont said:
!

Moderator Note

Similar threads merged

 

It seems to have omitted my reply about surfactants, lipophilic and hydrophilic sections of the molecule, micelle formation and the suggestion to look up surfactants in general on Google....    

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41 minutes ago, DrP said:

It seems to have omitted my reply about surfactants, lipophilic and hydrophilic sections of the molecule, micelle formation and the suggestion to look up surfactants in general on Google....    

Fixed. Not sure what happened.

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I don't worry about bacteria under normal circumstances. I wash my hands for social reasons, I like them looking clean, especially under the nails. But it's just to conform. 

My exceptions are in hospitals, airports and public toilets and restaurants. You never know who's been there, or where they have just come from. Local bacteria are usually ok, but foreign ones can hit you for six. You haven't built up the immunity.

Edited by mistermack
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