How dose Alcohol disinfecting wet wipes work?

As we all know, Alcohol solution kills bacteria, germs and virus.

but how dose it work?

People need more the hygience care and disinfecting products because of the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in the past 2 years.

Everyone want to kill the virus and bacteria once they buy a disinfecting products.

Alcohol wipes and other alcohol products are popular and hot sales,    but not all alcohol wipes is effective to kill the germs.

First,  the alcohol need to be ethyl alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol solution.

And the percent concentration of the alcohol which need to be 70% at least,  it could be 70%, 75%, 78% alcohol solution.

but it not mean the better and the concentration is higher.    70-78% alcohol percent will be the best concentration.

Because this 70-78% alcohol solution are approved for kill the germs effectively.

The reason is below.

Why is 70%-78% alcohol disinfection?

The higher the alcohol concentration, the stronger the protein coagulation effect. 95% alcohol can quickly solidify the protein coated on the surface of the bacteria and form a protective film to prevent the alcohol from entering the bacteria body, so the bacteria cannot be completely killed. When the time comes, the cells in the membrane may break through the membrane and resurrect. If the alcohol concentration is lower than 70%, although it can enter the bacteria, it cannot coagulate the protein in the body, nor can it completely kill the bacteria. Only 70%-75% alcohol can enter the bacteria body smoothly, and can effectively coagulate the protein in the bacteria body.

Secondly, why can alcohol kill viruses with a "mantle"? Is it better to use high-concentration alcohol directly?
The reason why alcohol can be disinfected is because alcohol can absorb the moisture of viral proteins, making it dehydrated, denatured and coagulated, so as to achieve The purpose of killing the virus.
If high-concentration alcohol is used, the virus protein will be dehydrated too quickly, and the surface protein of the virus will be denatured and solidified first, forming a strong envelope. Instead, the alcohol cannot penetrate the virus well, thus affecting its ability to kill the virus.
75% alcohol is similar to the osmotic pressure of the virus and bacteria. It can gradually and continuously penetrate into the virus body before the virus surface protein is denatured, so that all the virus proteins are dehydrated, denatured and coagulated, and finally killed the virus. When the alcohol concentration is lower than 75%, Due to the reduced permeability, it will also affect the ability to kill viruses.

In fact, the new coronavirus can be extinct as long as it exists in an environment of 56°C for 30 minutes. In addition, using 75% medical alcohol, ether, and chlorine-containing disinfectants can effectively eliminate the virus. Alcohol can indeed kill most viruses, especially the coronavirus°, while bleach can effectively kill almost all viruses.
Regarding the statement that high temperature can kill the new coronavirus, high temperature must be at least 56°C and maintained for 20-30 minutes to effectively sterilize, but this is mostly used to clean equipment, and the general public does not use this fire fungus method. But we must remind people that food must be cooked.

It is worth noting that the higher the alcohol concentration, the better the sterilization effect. Because the high concentration of alcohol will make the protein on the surface of the bacteria coagulate quickly, but this speed is too fast, and the alcohol cannot continue to penetrate into it. For some bacteria, its inside is still "alive", killing it is equivalent to Did not kill.
The alcohol concentration with the best bactericidal effect is between 70-78%. Generally speaking, 75% alcohol can kill 99% of bacteria. Alcohol is a cheap, convenient and effective way to kill bacteria.
Alcohol can kill viruses because it can dissolve the "lipid envelope" of the virus. Therefore, a virus with a mantle like a "coronavirus" must be used for alcohol to function effectively. The method of using alcohol for disinfection and sterilization is mostly 75% alcohol (the effect is better than 95%),
Wipe the surface of the skin or the surface of the object to achieve disinfection. In addition, alcohol can also "deactivate, denaturation" proteins, so it will also inactivate viruses. The reason to deal with viruses is not so simple, because viruses do not have a cellular structure, they are composed of DNA or RNA and protein. Constituted,
When it exists alone, it cannot grow and replicate independently, but it will not be eliminated. Once the virus finds the host "parasite", it can use the host's cellular system to replicate and cause infection. Simply put, when there is no host, the virus is nothing. It can only be said to be a piece of "information"; but once it parasitizes the organism,
It will infect other living organisms vigorously. Viruses are not unkillable, but they are not as simple as bacteria and can be solved by alcohol. There are basically two ways to kill viruses. One is to heat to a specific temperature and continue for a period of time to denature DNA and RNA and lose their activity.
The second is to use hypochlorous acid water, bleach, and other ingredients that can destroy the outer shell of the virus protein.

Action time for different concentrations of alcohol to kill bacteria

Alcohol concentration	Escherichia coli	Staphylococcus aureus	Pseudomonas aeruginosa	Streptococcus hemolyticus
100%	24 hours	7 days	2 hours	15 mins
90%	15 hours	30 mins	5 mins	5 mins
80%	1 hour	2 mins	2 mins	10 sec
70%	30 sec	5 mins	1 mins	10 sec
60%	20 sec	30 mins	30 sec	10 sec
50%	20 sec	2 hours	30 sec	20 sec
40%	22 mins	4 hours	2 mins	2 mins
30%	2 mins	4 hours	30 mins	30 mins
20%	None	None	24 hours	24 hours

75% alcohol is used for sterilization; 50% alcohol is used to prevent bedsores; 50% alcohol bath is used for physical cooling of patients with high fever. Different concentrations of alcohol have different effects. The reason why alcohol can be disinfected is because alcohol can absorb the water of bacterial protein, make it dehydrated, denatured and solidified, so as to achieve the purpose of killing bacteria. If high-concentration alcohol is used, the bacterial protein will be dehydrated too quickly, and the surface protein of the bacteria will be denatured and solidified first, forming a strong coating. Instead, the alcohol cannot penetrate into the bacteria well, thus affecting its sterilization ability. 75% alcohol is similar to the osmotic pressure of bacteria. It can gradually and continuously penetrate into the bacteria before the surface protein of the bacteria is denatured, so that all the bacteria proteins are dehydrated, denatured and coagulated, and finally killed the bacteria. If the alcohol concentration is less than 75% , Due to the reduced permeability, it will also affect the bactericidal ability.

Therefore, if the concentration of alcohol is too high or too low, the sterilization and disinfection ability of alcohol will not work. The best effect is 75%. Studies have shown that 70-78% alcohol can achieve a 90% sterilization effect, and 75% alcohol can destroy the lipid layer surface of bacteria, so it can sterilize and eliminate influenza viruses, but because enterovirus does not have adipose tissue, 75% alcohol It has no effect on spores and enterovirus.