I know of no specific scientific study regarding the effect of incubating HBV at 40C in a soap solution for 15-30 min that directly measures HBV survivability. However, I’d be really irritated if anyone in my lab did that to our HBV stocks and then expected an experiment to work! All joking aside, everything I know about HBV indicates that trace amounts of HBV should be destroyed by washing the way you do.
John.
Hi Nick, I completely agree with Thomas that you because your viral load is so low and the amount of possible blood on your clothes is so tiny, regular laundry detergent is fine. When living with a roommate, it’s important to not share razors, nail clippers or toothbrushes. I’m sure you don’t want to do this anyway! On the positive side, it’s ok to share food, drinks and cook together. And to hug if your roommate is part of your “covid bubble” and/or if you both have already been vaccinated. Hopefully so!!! Always, Joan
Hello all,
Thank you for your responses! They are really helpful. So glad I found this community!
I am going to have the 2nd jab (Pfizer) on Saturday! After that I can start planning my vacation! Hope you are all safe too!
Best,
Nick
You should tell your brother. I don’t know what type of relationship you have with him, but if it’s your brother, it’s totally different than a friend.
Hi @john.tavis,
Just to nerd out a little, we could probably make a good guess. Laundry soap solution is ~100g of detergent in ~10L of water on the wash cycle (1% w/v). I think surfactants (SDS/SLS most commonly) makes up a decent percentage of the powder (let’s say 10%). 0.1% SDS is what we’d use to bust up capsids right? The concentration needed to strip the envelope would be even lower.
And that isn’t including all the lipases, proteases, etc. that are present in most laundry powders these days. Or the bleach that is included in most powders too.
I think we’re well and truly past the range of inactivating HBV (at least if you squirted it into a test tube, I guess things get a little more complicated when it’s a dried stain), particularly the <100 virus particles that would be released by a scratch in this instance.
TT
I agree completely! And I really like the geeking out!. 1% ionic detergent is WAY above what is needed to destroy the viral envelope at 0C, and it would work even better at 40C.
John.
Hi John and Thomas, great to have you two “geek out” about the scientific basis of what the CDC tells us is OK!! It’s very reassuring … always, Joan
Hi, John, thanks for your detailed explanation.
Also I have a question that:
Is nonionic detergents also effective at removing the envelope of the HBV virus?
Or which one is more effective? nonionic or nionic?
I referred to WHO documents and it said nonionic detergents also helps.
https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj399K0qIrzAhVC7XMBHTQbAmkQFnoECCUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.who.int%2Firis%2Fbitstream%2F10665%2F67746%2F1%2FWHO_CDS_CSR_LYO_2002.2_HEPATITIS_B.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3g84ILFtNOCNKVY8qktAFr
Hi, thomas, thanks for your detailed explaination.
I am also a HBV carrier(male, positive HBeAb, negative HBeAg.) with the similar concern of whether it is okay to wash my clothes and underwear(sometimes with some semen on it) in a shared washing machine with my roommate.
Besides the detergent, does multiple rounds of washes or rinse also helps to add another layer of certainty? My machine washes in ordinary temperature but it could rinses for multiple rounds, like each round about 20~30L water.
Really appreciated for your response.
Hi @yanzhang,
Welcome to the community and thanks for your interesting questions!
Just to jump in here for John, there are definitely non-ionic detergents that will inactivate HBV (e.g. Tween-based detergents) as well as ionic ones. I’m not too sure about their relative effectivity or if it even is related to whether they are ionic or not; @john.tavis will definitely have the suitable biochemistry expertise to talk about this more.
Your likelihood of transmitting is low anyway because you are HBeAg-negative and I would not expect that the additional washes or rinses will make any appreciable difference. The amount of water and soap in a standard wash is more than enough to inactivate HBV. Laundry is very very unlikely mode of transmission.
Hope this helps!
Thomas
Hi, thomas, much appreciated for your response 
I have been concerned with this for some time, that is, whether my semen would transmit HBV by washing machine. So it looks like I should be relaxed about it.
Really appreciated for joining this community, and I’ll recommend it to others. I’m from China and I think I’ll say hello to everyone else in the greeting page later.
Hi Yanzhang,
Sorry for the slow reply. We’re getting ready for the International HBV Meeting now and I’ve been quite busy.
It is routine to strip the envelope off HBV, which renders it non-infectious, with 0.1% of mild non-ionic detergents such as NP40 or Tween 20. That treatment leaves the HBV capsid (comprised of HBcAg, the viral polymerase, and the viral genome) intact so we can work with it in the lab. Tween 20 and NP40 are quite mild detergents, so I’d anticipate that basically any mild detergent would do it, but I’ve never seen a controlled assessment of how various commercial detergents affect infectivity. Certainly the detergents used for washing clothes are more aggressive than these “wimpy” ones we use in the lab, or they would not get your clothes clean.
I agree with Thomas that your risk of transmitting HBV from clothes washed once is essentially zero, and washing them 2x would likely not be of greater help. If you are still worried, you can add a bit more detergent, turn up the temperature a bit, and lengthen the wash cycle. That would be a bit harder on your clothes, but it may be of value to you for additional peace of mind.
John.
Hi, John. Many thanks for your explanation in such detail.
I know many common detergents today has SDS/SLS in it, and if I understand it correctly, they are more effective than mid non-ionic detergents used in the Lab.
Anyway, I think I am not worried about this now. 
Also being curious as I myself have searched online, is PCMX detegent(e.g. Dettol) also effective?
You are correct about the detergents. SDS/SLS are ionic detergents that are much harsher than NP40 and Tween. They are used in the lab to break apart the HBV capsid particle into its constituent parts (and at high concentrations they unfold HBc so it is shaped more like a string covered by SDS than a ball of string).
I’m delighted we could put your mind at ease!
John.
Hi Yanzhang,
PCMX (see below for structure) is an antiseptic/disinfectant, not a detergent. Its primary use is in disrupting the cell wall of a class of bacteria called Gram + (about half of all bacteria). It can also be a general enzyme inhibitor. HBV does not have a cell wall and I don’t know if it inhibits the HBV polymerase. It appears to usually be sold in a solution with Ethanol, which can disrupt membranes (hence why ethanol is in most hand sanitizers.
John.
Hi, John, thanks again for your patient analysis, It is helpful and interesting for me! Wish you have a great day!