Most hand sanitisers doesn't kill viruses!

[Craicon]

Hi, I am just amazed at how most of the mass market hand sanitisers available in shops and supermarkets kill bacteria only ! They mostly say "Kill 99.99% of bacteria", so they are absolutely useless against Covid which is of course, a virus ! There is a lot of ignorance around this ! People think they are protected but they're not .

Didn't we have this last year? I thought we were told as long as above 60% alcohol it would be effective against viruses too?

But yes, I agree that when people talk about 'anti-baccing' stuff, they are missing the point that bacteria and viruses are different. Although I think many people use it as shorthand.

You are right, there is a lot of ignorance around this. I can't believe posts like this are still being posted nearly a year after the pandemic started.

I thought it was anything above 62% ethanol will kill coronavirus in under 2 minutes.
I've noticed a lot of sanitizer is 60% ( cutex etc) which is useless for coronavirus.
I also don't get why people are washing down their groceries with a weak anti- bac solution thinking they will kill the virus.
Surely it would have to be bleach?

I agree terminology has been muddied here. When people say ‘antibaccing’ they have usually used a type of product that disinfects (and has proven properties against viruses) and should really say disinfected.

Hand sanitisers above a certain alcohol percentage (I thought it was 70% but accept I don’t really know) absolutely does have an effect because it disrupts the membrane of the virus making it inert. It’s not a silver bullet but it’s part of the arsenal.

The hand gel breaks down the lipids which are housing the virus particles which allow the particles to then be removed. Washing up.loquid and soap do the same. So yes, they do work against viruses.

Many hand sanitisers also kill viruses. It depends on their alcohol content.

www.which.co.uk/news/2020/04/hand-hygiene-soap-and-sanitiser-gel-what-you-need-to-know/

@Craicon

Hi, I am just amazed at how most of the mass market hand sanitisers available in shops and supermarkets kill bacteria only ! They mostly say "Kill 99.99% of bacteria", so they are absolutely useless against Covid which is of course, a virus ! There is a lot of ignorance around this ! People think they are protected but they're not .

You're the ignorant one. If it has alcohol over 60% then it will destroy the outer lipid area of the virus which kills it. Maybe do some more research!

Surely the act of hand-washing is better than not, regardless of your feelings as to its intrinsic effectiveness. Also may keep level of other infections down.

@Craicon

Hi, I am just amazed at how most of the mass market hand sanitisers available in shops and supermarkets kill bacteria only ! They mostly say "Kill 99.99% of bacteria", so they are absolutely useless against Covid which is of course, a virus ! There is a lot of ignorance around this ! People think they are protected but they're not .

Has your post been stuck in the ether

We've known since day1 that they must be over 60 % alchohol to kill covid 19

Buy Carex hand sanitiser as it has 70% alcohol.

Dettol antibacterial products state that they kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.

Hand gel will kill viruses at 60% alcohol.

Alcohol based hand gel kills viruses of its over 60%, the most common like Carex and Dettol are fine. Cuticura has a lower % listed because it's ethanol but that calculates as over 60% alcohol so also fine.

It was widely publicised last year, in the briefings and by the media, that only sanitiser that is minimum 70% alcohol is effective.

I also get frustrated by the people and especially local businesses saying they're wiping stuff down with anti bac. It makes me wonder what other basic steps they're misunderstanding.

Thanks for clarifying, some really rude assholes on here too , thanks to those who are not rude.

Semantics.

They kill bacteria AND viruses.

I had an idiot go on at me on here “why do you antibac your shopping when it’s a VIRUS?” They must have felt very clever for all the time it took them to type. The reality is that the spray I use is just as affective on viruses as bacteria.

With handgel as others have said, the alcohol content kills both by breaking down the fatty layer.

I thought this was a zombie thread, had to double check the date

Sanitisers with an alcohol content over 62% and used correctly (as in, enough product to rub all over your hands for 20 seconds) do kill viruses. From what I've read, manufacturers can't put this claim on their product without doing extensive, expensive testing though.

You started being rude by telling people they were ignorant

Sometimes hand sanitiser is better than soap, especially runny stuff because you have to rub your hands together for longer and harder to use the sanitiser so you are more likely to break down the viral coat. Especially handy in a school wherrotherwise soap is on and not even rubbed in.

Just out of interest are there and under 62% hand sanitizer still being produced does anyone know?

@spied so you think we should all be bleaching our hands?

@housemdwaswrong

The hand gel breaks down the lipids which are housing the virus particles which allow the particles to then be removed. Washing up.loquid and soap do the same. So yes, they do work against viruses.

Exactly this It’s recommended that washing hands with water and ordinary soap is effective against the virus, so why wouldn’t hand gels work too? They have other cleansing agents in them too other than alcohol you know.

@Spied

I thought it was anything above 62% ethanol will kill coronavirus in under 2 minutes. I've noticed a lot of sanitizer is 60% ( cutex etc) which is useless for coronavirus. I also don't get why people are washing down their groceries with a weak anti- bac solution thinking they will kill the virus. Surely it would have to be bleach?

60% is the minimum required to be effective.

Hand gel doesn’t kill norovirus.

We're really lucky because covid-19 is an "enveloped virus" which means soap, hand gel and cleaning products destroy it's lipid membrane and "kill" it. Other viruses have a stronger protein shell and aren't "killed" as easily.

“Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with a protective fat layer,” Leon says. Disinfectants tear apart that fat layer, Leon says, which makes coronaviruses “fairly wimpy” compared to noroviruses and other common viruses that have a more robust protein shell."

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-disinfecting-surfaces-really-prevent-spread-coronavirus