Why Soaps Better Than Sanitiser?

Soap, your wonder product! Seriously I’m not kidding! (actually we are just about to at Ganders Farm but that’s getting away from my point…)

Soap really can kill those germs and viruses, and stop the spread of coronavirus Covid 19 simply by washing your hands. Before we get to far, Antibacterial soap or just soap? Both do the job, read on, in this article we look at the properties of “soap” not “antibacterial soap” even “soap” will kill bacteria!

Take the soap into your own hands and kill the bugs before you pass them on. Soap is the ‘most effective defenses against invisible pathogens’ [nytimes]. In the uncertain times ahead we are all looking to protect our loved ones and those at risk from catching infections. There have been many posts and advice on the subject and I hope that you all stay safe and healthy. So here this is where I try to tell you a little bit about why you should be using soap as your main defence!

Why Soap?

I mean its soap, you use it to get clean, your grandma and her grandma before her have been telling us for generations to wash behind our ears and clean our hands before eating. It’s a simple product but by darn it works. Those oldies are full of wise words, some hot air, but mostly wise words. Grannies know best!

‘Disinfectants, liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol are useful at getting rid of them {viruses} – but they are not quite as good as normal soap’ [theguardian]. Soap works best for two reasons, its because of how you use it, is more effective than hand alcohol sanitisers. A vigorous scrubbing of your hands producing a lather and a visible effect of rinsing gets rid of those viruses and germs from your skin. ‘Soap molecules disrupt the chemical bonds that allow bacteria, viruses and grime to stick to surfaces, lifting them off the skin’ [nytimes].

A small bit of science can also tell us that, ‘the virus is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. Soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and dies’ [theguardian] by washing your hands with soap you are both killing the virus and removing it from your hands, sanitisers and gels only do the former.

Ok Then, Why Ganders Goat Soap?

Ganders Goat Soap was made to be gentle and kind to your skin, this does not mean that its ineffective far from it! Our soap has multiple comments on how gentle it is to delicate skin, moisturizing to skin that is dry or cracked and how good a lather it gets! Now getting a good a lather going is brilliant at times like these, it means you can see what’s going on, where you’ve washed and where else you need to focus on. A lather helps you kill those germs and stops the spread of viruses.

As the New York Times quoted the Canadian health officer Bonnie Henry “wash your hands like you’ve been chopping jalapenos and you need to change your contacts” or take the Ganders approach and wash your hands like you’ve just been sneezed on by a goat or touched a randy billy!

Are you finding that your hands are sore form over use of hand sanitisers and gels? I recently sat whilst waiting for a blood test watching those fabulous NHS staff nurses use the hand gel repeatedly between each patient. The poor wonder woman who took my blood was already suffering with sore and cracked hands from it. Thank you to all of those hard working staff members who are helping and doing their best to stop the spread of not only Coronavirus but any other infection risks.

I know that when I’m using gels and other products myself my hands react soo quickly, drying out and becoming more sensitive, that’s one of the reasons Ganders Goat milk Soap was made. Initially designed for my son and I who suffer from eczema and psoriasis, the Goat Milk Soap was born out of necessity for a better product to use. Our soap has minimal ingredients so its kinder to your already overworked hands, we cure our soap for anywhere between 4-6 weeks (sometimes more!).

The benefits of our minimal soap ingredients and the care we put into our production methods means that our pH levels are super low. The testing on our current batches of soap are coming out with a pH of 7.5 and 8.5! What does that mean for your hands (and anywhere else you wash!) it means you have a soap that’s not only moisturising, cleansing, gentle but tough on dirt and germs! You need some alkalinity to soap (pH 7.5-11) to break the fatty bonds but too high and it breaks the bonds of your skin as well.

Fancy trying our soap out for yourself? Take a ganders at our online store.

Thankyou for reading just a little note from the author,

Please don’t forget to support local and small businesses in these uncertain times, help yourselves and those around you, the big corporations can tide the storm but even now we have heard of many of our friends independent stores and small businesses teetering on the edge of uncertainty. Shop Local, many of those small businesses will be happy to help you, accommodate your needs and wishes and send things out directly to your door.

Further advice:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

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