A drop of ordinary soap diluted in water is sufficient to rupture and kill many types of bacteria and viruses, including the new coronavirus. The secret to soap impressive behavior is its hybrid structure.
Soap is made up of pin-shaped molecules, each of which have a hydrophilic head - which readily bond with water - and a hydrophobic tail, which prefers to link up with oils and fats. These molecules when suspended in water, alternately float about as solitary units, interact with other molecules in the solution and assemble themselves into little bubbles called micelles, with heads pointing outwards and tails tucked in.
Some bacteria and viruses have lipid membranes that resemble double-layered micelles with two bands of hydrophobic tails sandwiched between two rings of hydrophilic heads. These membranes are studded with important proteins that allow viruses to infect cells and perform vital tasks that keep bacteria alive. Pathogens wrapped in lipid layered membranes include coronaviruses, HIV, viruses which cause Hepatitis B and C, Ebola, Zika, Dengue and numerous other bacteria that attack the intestines and respiratory tract.
When you wash your hands with soap and water, you surround any micro-organisms on your skin with soap molecules. The hydrophobic tails of the free - floating soap molecules attempt to evade water, and in the process they wedge themselves into lipid membranes of certain microbes and viruses, prying them apart.
And this is how soaps work..
Source: Why soap works?, an article by Deccan Herald.
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