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The science of soap – here’s how it kills the coronavirus
theguardian.com ^ | 3/12/2020 | Pall Thordarson

Posted on 03/16/2020 12:16:48 PM PDT by bitt

Alcohol-based disinfectants are also effective, but soap is a highly efficient way of killing the virus when it’s on your skin

iruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Disinfectants, liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol are all useful at getting rid of them – but they are not quite as good as normal soap.

With Italy in lockdown, fear over coronavirus is natural but we must not be alarmist Gaby Hinsliff Gaby Hinsliff Read more When I shared the information above using Twitter, it went viral. I think I have worked out why. Health authorities have been giving us two messages: once you have the virus there are no drugs that can kill it or help you get rid of it. But also, wash your hands to stop the virus spreading. This seems odd. You can’t, even for a million dollars, get a drug for the coronavirus – but your grandmother’s bar of soap kills the virus.

So why does soap work so well on the Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus and indeed most viruses? The short story: because the virus is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. Soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and dies – or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive.

The slightly longer story is that most viruses consist of three key building blocks: ribonucleic acid (RNA), proteins and lipids. A virus-infected cell makes lots of these building blocks, which then spontaneously self-assemble to form the virus. Critically, there are no strong covalent bonds holding these units together, which means you do not necessarily need harsh chemicals to split those units apart. When an infected cell dies, all these new

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: chinavirus; coronavirus; handwashing; soap
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To: MayflowerMadam

Here is a useful tip. Do not open a bottle of Poland Spring or similar bottled water without washing your hands first or using a clean napkin or paper towel. They have very thin caps and as you twist them off, the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand (by far your most germ-ridden fingers) literally rub the circumference of part of the opening you place in your mouth.


61 posted on 03/16/2020 3:37:08 PM PDT by Atticus
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To: paulcissa

“But it does make reloadable brass cartridges shine like new.”


I have been using liquid car wax - is Dawn really that good? If so, that’s going to be a big money saver. Thanks!


62 posted on 03/16/2020 3:38:36 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Atticus

Gross.


63 posted on 03/16/2020 3:41:11 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam ("Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength" - Corrie ten Boom)
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To: Joe 6-pack

“They made a huge point about always using Dial soap to wash my hands before handling the lenses, not just because of its antiseptic properties, but also because it didn’t have any added oils, fragrance, moisturizers, etc. I’ve been an advocate of Dial ever since!”


Are you sure that it wasn’t Ivory Soap?


64 posted on 03/16/2020 3:41:40 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Ancesthntr

Quite positive: Dial.


65 posted on 03/16/2020 3:50:43 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Qui me amat, amat et canem meum.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

OK, thanks.


66 posted on 03/16/2020 3:51:39 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: paulcissa

I never knew that. I gotta try it. Cheaper than the commercial stuff to wash brass with.


67 posted on 03/16/2020 4:15:51 PM PDT by Redcitizen (Nobody needs a 10 round magazine. You need a 30 round magazine.)
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To: paulcissa

“....But it does make reloadable brass cartridges shine like new. That alone is worth the price of admission.....”
:) ....now, I remember why I had a couple of gallons of the stuff in my shop and it wasn’t for washing dishes or my hands...LOL.


68 posted on 03/16/2020 4:16:40 PM PDT by lgjhn23 (It's easy to be a liberal when one is dumber than a box of rocks...)
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To: Cold Heart

Tallow is a good soaping fat. You must not have done a lye discount which is why you had great laundry soap.


69 posted on 03/16/2020 4:19:37 PM PDT by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: lastchance

Yup, that was the first soap I ever made. Since than I made plenty of smaller batches using Crisco, olive oil, coconut etc. I was forced into making my own because all the solids they put in soap was reacting with my water and making an incredibly hard cement on and in my plumbing fixtures.

I buy the liquid soaps now, but have 5#s of home made in storage.


70 posted on 03/16/2020 4:31:25 PM PDT by Cold Heart (.)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

*** “You could just eat cilantro. It tastes like soap” ***

Actually just like Dawn Dish-washing Detergent


71 posted on 03/16/2020 5:43:06 PM PDT by TexasTransplant (Damn the Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!)
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To: Atticus

*** “ as you twist them off, the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand (by far your most germ-ridden fingers) literally rub the circumference of part of the opening you place in your mouth” ***

Easy fix, just lick your fingers clean before opening the bottle ... sheeesh (bunch o amateurs around here lately)


72 posted on 03/16/2020 5:50:04 PM PDT by TexasTransplant (Damn the Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!)
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To: bitt

useful!


73 posted on 03/16/2020 10:54:44 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: Yardstick
“You don’t need essential oils, aloe vera, or 99% alcohol.

All you need is regular 91% alcohol, glycerin, and water”

Most alcohol isn't 91%, 70% and even 50% is more common. Have a look on line. Essential oil is often used in home made hand sanitizers because MANY are anti microbial as well. In addition to taming the smell when using 91/99 percent alcohol.

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-6-best-antibacterial-essential-oils-18783842

74 posted on 03/17/2020 2:46:16 AM PDT by DAC21 ( and Naflet had demint)
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To: bitt

It stands to reason then that the virus can live on a pump dispenser but not on a bar of soap


75 posted on 03/17/2020 5:49:50 AM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Dial kills everything, good and bad. I like my good germs


76 posted on 03/17/2020 5:52:56 AM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
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To: DAC21

91% is very common. Pure isopropyl alcohol will absorb water from the air until it reaches 91% dilution. Thus 91% is sort of the “natural state” of alcohol — shelf stable with no special packaging. That’s why it’s easily found in the pharmacy section at Walmart. 70% is actually the better disinfectant and is made by diluting with additional water. To make hand sanitizer solution you start with 91% since you’ll be diluting it down to the 70% range with glycerin and water. Glycerin is what gives it the thick consistency so it sticks to your hands rather than just dripping onto the floor. The essential oils are optional.


77 posted on 03/17/2020 8:18:32 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Joe 6-pack

Here is what is in Dial soap: Sodium laureth sulfate, sodium chloride, glycerin, sorbitol and various dyes are some recurring ingredients in various Dial soap products.
https://www.reference.com/world-view/ingredients-dial-soap-251fb9a31ea5ab6e

Here is what is in Ivory soap:

The ingredients in Ivory soap include perfume, magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, water, sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate and sodium silicates.
https://www.reference.com/world-view/ingredients-ivory-soap-10662e54eefe18fc

I, too, got contacts many years ago. I was told to use the Ivory, because it was pure soap (well, the closest to pure).

Note that Dial has Sodium laureth sulfate, which is a surfactant, a compound that, when combined with water, produces foam and dissolves oil or grease. That dissolving of oil (fat) is the topic of this particular thread and, if it helps to defeat the CV virus when it is on your body, it seems like a good idea to use it. Assuming that the leeches haven’t stripped the shelves bare of plain-Jane Dial (the orange/yellow bars), I’m getting some.


78 posted on 03/17/2020 2:40:26 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Notthereyet; TexasGator; Lurkina.n.Learnin

I never knew about cilantro AT ALL until I met my Mexican (now US citizen) wife. I don’t happen to mind it, and even love her cilantro salad dressing to death.

However, we have noticed that a certain number of people that we have had to the house will HATE it - with the complaint that it tastes like soap). This is the SAME batch of cilantro, or cilantro-based dressing or whatever, that is eaten by people that LOVE it. So it is NOT the preparation of it, or how fresh it is, it is the tastebuds of whomever it is who consumes it.

Remember Bush 41’s intense dislike of broccoli? Well, he was a “super-taster,” someone with an unusually acute sense of taste. I have a feeling that something similar is going on here with the cilantro. Some people are just never going to like it, no matter what.


79 posted on 03/17/2020 2:45:20 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt, The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Ancesthntr

Super Tasters.
_______________________

It wouldn’t surprise me if there were folks who could taste the chemical make-up of foods, natural and man made.

There are folks whose taste buds are actually insured by the various companies they work for so it’s a definite asset. LOL

I worked with a young man who could not stomach Celery in any format. I could add only 1 (one!) celery see in a cup of homemade soup and serve it to him aside with a cup of the same homemade soup without a celery seed added and he could taste it every single time. Tried it over several years with different soups.

My beloved husband cannot tolerate cream cheese in any of the recipes I prepared. Past tense. Let me tell you, eating delicious food by oneself gets old. LOL If I want something with cream cheese I make sure to order it at a nice restaurant.

Pres Bush 41 most likely could taste something about the broccoli.

Oh. It’s a good thing when I set up each of my kitchens I never put in Coriander! Didn’t like the smell of it when I was presented it... Yech.


80 posted on 03/17/2020 4:16:55 PM PDT by Notthereyet (NotThereYet.)
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