What type of soap should you choose to avoid damaging your hands?

Unlike hand sanitizer, soap allows us to remove viruses and bacteria through a mechanical effect , rather than killing them. Indeed, soap is made up of long molecules, called surfactants, composed of a hydrophilic (water-loving) head and a hydrophobic (fat-loving) tail. When washing hands with water and soap, the surfactant molecules attach to the hydrolipidic film, a layer of fat that covers the epidermis, through their hydrophobic tail to avoid water and group together to form micelles. The dirt, dead cells, microbes, and bacteria present in the lipid layer are then detached and eliminated during rinsing with water, thanks to the hydrophilic part of the surfactants, which is attracted to water molecules.

Furthermore, the surfactants contained in soap act on the envelope that surrounds viruses, which is formed of a lipid membrane that also contains proteins and encapsulates the virus's genome. When soap is lathered, the tails of the soap molecules, which repel water, will latch onto the lipid membrane of the viruses, causing their disorganization. Indeed, the resultant forces exerted on the virus lead to the dismantling of the viral envelope. The virus is then broken down into different fragments that will get trapped in the micelles, before being washed away during rinsing. The virus is thus deprived of its ability to penetrate cells, rendering it inactive.