There’s no denying that hand sanitizer has its place in society.

When you’re out and about, it’s handy (no pun intended) to have on you if you can’t get to the bathroom to give your hands a proper wash.

But in the Coronavirus pandemic, people are panic buying the stuff like it’s an answer to all their problems. And Alton Brown, host of “Good Eats”, was here to tell us that it’s not.

If you spend a lot of time watching Food Network or Cooking Channel, you will have seen Alton Brown on his show between 1999 and 2012, or on brand-new episodes in 2019.

The show is pretty special – it combines cooking, science, history and comedy in one. It looks into the origins of different foods, cooking equipment, and the science behind various cooking techniques.

In his latest video, Brown is keen to settle the controversial “soap vs. hand sanitizer” debate once and for all.

He introduces the video by saying, “Greetings, humankind, as we stand on the precipice of annihilation. I just want to say I’m happy that someone finally wants to talk about handwashing.”

He then goes onto explain why we should always prioritise soap for handwashing. Of course, he puts a comedic spin on the art of getting rid of the germs on your hands – and the video proves pretty memorable.

He says: “I’ve been wanting to do a hand-washing video for 20 years, but everybody was like, “Oh no. Hygiene is boring. Do cheese pulls.’ Well, what do you think is gonna save us now? Cheese pulls, nanorobots, lasers, hot yoga? I don’t think so!” He’s got a point!

Brown adds that while we’re busy fighting over hand sanitizer, we’d do much better sticking with standard soap – not antibacterial soap. Brown says this is useless.

We’ve looked into why exactly this is. Antibacterial soap contains an active ingredient called triclosan, which, according to Harvard Medical School, doesn’t kill many bacteria. Apparently, it can only keep bacteria counts down because of its residual activity.

In terms that we can all understand, this means that while some bacteria that interact with these lower levels of the chemical triclosan may be killed off, not all will.

This bacteria then mutates, making life even more interesting. Harvard Medical School says that bacteria mutation can make their offspring “more resistant to triclosan and, ultimately, to antibiotics as well.”

It’s clear to see that soap is the bacteria killing solution. Brown explains in his video the reason for this, saying: “First, when you lather up your mitts with soap and water, you release amphiphiles, molecules in soap that have hydrophilic or water-loving heads and hydrophobic or water-hating tails, which means these guys can hold things together that don’t naturally get along, like oil and water.”

That’s important news for us, as it means when we come into contact with germs, they’ll remain on our hands until we give them a proper wash with soap.

Brown adds: “With proper agitation, amphiphiles in soap water can emulsify with this nastiness removing it from your skin and escorting it down the drain.”

Brown finishes by showing us how to best wash our hands to protect against viruses like Coronavirus. Controversially, he uses bar soap, because he says it is “more efficient” and environmentally friendly.

His secret to handwashing properly is something called the 30-second wash rule. Here’s how it works:

• Wet your hands with either hot or cold water (it doesn’t matter which)
• Use the soap to lather your hands for 5 seconds
• Put the soap down and scrub your palms together for 5 seconds
• Next, focus on the back of each hand, rubbing for 5 seconds
• Don’t forget about your fingernails! Give them 5 seconds of scrubbing attention
• Rub in-between your fingers for a further 5 seconds
• Finish by rinsing the soap bar off under the tap, then rinse your hands for at least 5 seconds

Brown admits to doing this 5 times a day. While it won’t guarantee that your hands remain virus-free, it’ll certainly help.

Watch Brown’s video below to for his informative, entertaining handwashing demonstration.

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Source: YouTube/ Alton Brown