How does soap make things clean?

Everyday Marvels

	Tweet	Pin It

1

by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

Rub-a-dub-dub! You’ve probably been told a thousand times that it’s important to wash your hands regularly with soap and water. So… how exactly does soap work??

The reason soap is able to make things clean is that the little particles which make up the soap stick to dirt and germs, but not to water! When you rub your dirty hands with soap, the soap latches on to the germs and dirt, and then the water washes them away together!

Many doctors and scientists say that hand washing is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of germs and illness, especially before or after activities like going to the bathroom, eating, playing outside, touching pets, and sneezing or coughing. Germs are too small for you to see, but that doesn’t mean they’re too small for you to wash away! Keep yourself healthy by washing often!!

Soap it up

“Dirt” comes in many different forms, such as tiny germs too small to see, greases or oils, and the muddy kind of dirt you see on the ground! If you've ever seen the way oil and water quickly separate from each other, then you can already understand why using just water wouldn't clean anything very well - it would just roll away from oily dirt and leave the grime behind!

To see the way soap can make a difference, try putting water, oil, and soap all in a clear cup together, and then stirring it all around really quickly with a spoon.

Watch what happens when the contents of the cup settle: Instead of the oil and water separating like they usually do, the soap keeps them latched together so they could wash away easily!

Posted by nicolek21 on 2010-02-07 14:57:07

very good description the way u described it will make every body understand a bout the sope on there hands !!!!