Soap is just soap, right? Nope!!! Lather-ific suds are superheroes!! Unlocking the power of the suds takes just twenty seconds of scrubbing with plain, old soap and is one of the best ways to protect yourself, and the people and things you touch, from disease-causing germs. But seriously, how do the bubbly suds annihilate bacteria and viruses?
The germ-zapping powers of soap are built into its molecular structure. The structure has a head attached to a long tail according to Dr. Lee Riley, a physician, professor and chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology at the University of California (UC) Berkeley. The head is water loving and the tail is hydrophobic or water repelling. The tail has an affinity for fats and ALL Bacteria and viruses have a lipid (aka fat) membrane. That lipid membrane is what leaves bacteria and viruses vulnerable to the soap molecule's fat puncturing tail.
According to Dr. Riley, "The tail inserts itself into the [bacteria's] lipid membrane, and that's how it ends up getting killed". A key component required for the soap to do it's job is that it takes at least 20 seconds for the tail of the soap molecule to sufficiently bind itself to any bacteria or viruses on your hands.
Soap molecules are so effective at eliminating and killing germs that antibacterial soap is unnecessary. In fact, it can be harmful and contributes to the evolution of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria!! Lastly -- antibacterial soap kills ALL bacteria, including the good ones we need to keep us healthy :( .
For all the details, you can read the full article here: How does soap kill germs? | Live Science