Antibacterial wipes will not kill the virus!

[Bottletopsx]

I am seeing many people on here saying that they are wiping down shopping, door handles etc with anti bac wipes. This is a waste of time against covid 19 as the wipes will only kill bacteria not a virus.

You should be using soap and water or bleach to wipe down with and soap and water to wash your hands.

Some wipes do kill virus so just check the packets.

My wipes say specifically that they’re also antiviral, and kill flu etc.

If the wipes are anti viral fair enough but not just anti bac wipes.

If you go on the Dettol website, it says that they have been unable to test Covid-19 but their stuff does kill other viruses in the corona family so hopefully it will be effective. Can’t hurt anyway!

I read someone’s comment the other day saying they’d bought a shit load of the Dettol Anti Bac Laundry wash and thought the same thing.

Yep diluted bleach and soap and water is good. Antibac will kill bacteria which are still going to be there and always have been.

Given its a new virus I'll be relying on soap, as I know how it works ... and I have plenty in. I'll not be buying or relying on over priced gels and wipes.

It seems mad to rely on something that might work when there is a cheaper option that does work

I am seeing many people on here saying that they are wiping down shopping, door handles etc with anti bac wipes. This is a waste of time against covid 19 as the wipes will only kill bacteria not a virus.

Some wipes do kill viruses and the term “anti vac wipes” is probably used quite loosely to cover cleaning wipes. You don’t know what they’re using and whether what they are using is effective so you can’t say it’s a waste of time.

anti bac not anti vac, obviously

I've changed my mind on this. If it helps them mentally get through then it's not a problem that's going to affect me.

So if it gets them through I'm not going to worry about it.

The thing that worries me about using a soapy cloth is that a big part of handwashing is a good lather, wash and rinse hands thoroughly under running tap and dry properly.
The reason for this is that the soap suds bind to bacteria and viruses and when you rinse they wash away.
I know it says soap weakens the structures of the covid19 virus but how hot and soapy must the cloth be and is rinsing the cloth enough or would items need rinsing too?

I know it says soap weakens the structures of the covid19 virus but how hot and soapy must the cloth be and is rinsing the cloth enough or would items need rinsing too?

I wonder this too. If you have hot soapy water on a cloth, it doesn’t stay hot very long, and how clean can you get something by wiping a cloth over it?

I’m not saying wipes are better, just a thought process I’ve been through as well.

My wipes are labelled antibacterial wipes but in the small print also say they kill viruses.

Regardless of killing properties, if the wipe physically removes the virus from a door handle and then goes in the bin then that’s fine.

It's the soap that weakens the bond... There's a video doing the rounds with a bowl of water and floating bits and a soapy finger. Gives you a mental image of how it works.

It's the soap...

Dettol wipes/spray kills SARS and MERS and other human coronaviruses so even though they haven't tested them on this they stand a good chance.

Some wipes might kill the virus but they're an environmental NIGHTMARE and a cloth with hot soapy water would do just the same job.

Wipes might be called 'anti-bacterial' but actually kill the virus as well. Plus, if that's all you have it's probably better than nothing.

Pineapple - the environment will have to lump it for now. Hygiene is more important for the moment. There's a lot of good happening to the environment anyway with no flying and less economic production.

It's the droplets that are the issue - if you're physically wiping them off then surely it doesn't matter what you use as long as you bin it after.

Aren't they wiping down with wipes to clean the virus off surfaces? Therefore it doesn't really matter what they use.

‘ it doesn’t matter if germs are dead or alive when they go down the drain’ was my grandmas motto when she first saw anti bacterial hand soap. If you wash things properly or use a slightly abrasive cloth - not a sponge - you can effectively clean without any thing other than dish soap and elbow grease.

When you use soap to wash the house what kind of soap are you using? Dishwash?

Most anti bac products list several viruses that they kill. None are actually labelled anti viral!

RN here. Any normal soap will be highly effective against CV. It rips open the viral envelope, but it needs a bit of time, so that's why you have to wash hands for at least 20 seconds.

www.vox.com/2020/3/18/21185262/how-soap-kills-the-coronavirus

Some wipes might kill the virus but they're an environmental NIGHTMARE and a cloth with hot soapy water would do just the same job.

It's not especially handy to wipe trolley and basket handles or shop door handles with a hot soapy cloth though ...