If you’re a fan of Food Network or Cooking Channel, you’ve likely heard of Alton Brown, who hosts the iconic show “Good Eats.” His show aired on Television from 1999 to 2012 and was recently revived in 2019 with all-new episodes.

The show is a mix of cooking, science, history, and comedy, and it explores various topics including the history of different food, cooking equipment, and the science and technique behind cooking. It’s a great mix of entertainment.

Brown says the show was inspired by Julia Child, “Monty Python,” and Mr. Wizard, which definitely explains why his presentations are so engaging and involved.

Recently, he addressed an important question that has arisen during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a recently released video Brown appears to be extremely exciting to finally address a topic that has been on his mind for years: the controversial “soap vs. hand sanitizer” debate. It seems that now, more than ever, we need to know the answer to this question.

“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.” —Alton Brown

During the video, Brown explains why soap is actually the better option to get rid of germs that linger on the hands. He also provides viewers with a funny and entertaining spin on the art that is handwashing. Brown takes washing your hands to a whole new level, by explaining all of the different reasons why handwashing is so important, which we all need to know, especially during our current times.

“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 says.

So guess what? No need to fight over the hand sanitizer!

Brown elaborates on the concept that while we are all fighting over hand sanitizer at our local grocery and convenience stores, it’s actually not as effective as plain old soap. Yep, that’s right. Plain soap, rather than antibacterial soap.

“Antibacterial soap is useless!” Brown says.

So what’s the issue with antibacterial soap? Many of these soaps actually contain an active ingredient called triclosan. Here’s what Harvard Medical School wrote about the issue:

“Triclosan in the amounts used in soap doesn’t kill many bacteria (concentrations of 0.2% or less), but it keeps the counts down partly because it has residual activity.” —Harvard Medical School

“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,” Brown explains in the video.

Basically, what this means is that when you come into contact with germs, or something like coronavirus, you get stuck with it on your hands … unless you do something about it, like wash your hands.

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

Hand sanitizers simply aren’t as effective, because it turns out that they can’t emulsify viruses or reach them all, Brown adds.

He then proceeds to show the audience the best handwashing method ever!

Brown ends his instructive video by demonstrating how to effectively wash your hands to protect from viruses like the coronavirus. He prefers using bar soap over liquid soap because bar soap “is more efficient” and easier on the environment.

Then he reveals the big secret to effective handwashing; the 30-second wash rule.

• Use either hot or cold water (it doesn’t matter which) and wet your hands thoroughly.
• Lather up your hands for 5 seconds and put the soap down.
• Next, wring your hands together for 5 seconds.
• Then, rub the back of each hand, each for 5 seconds.
• The next step is to clean your finger nails for 5 seconds on each hand.
• Rub in-between your fingers for 5 seconds.
• Finally, rinse the soap bar off and then rinse your hands for at least 5 seconds.

“That’s more like 45 seconds. And I do this like five times a day,” Brown admits.

Will this method guarantee that your hands remain virus-free? No, but it could still help, Brown says.

Watch Brown’s video below to see his thorough hand washing technique and demonstration.

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Source: YouTube, HomeHacks