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They mention in passing that cognac was used to disinfect things. Not foolproof, but not exactly a sepsis inducing nightmare either.

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Cognac is usually what? 30-40% alcohol?

It needs to be 70%.

https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection...

The one upside from COVID; no flight will be short of hand gel to sanitise with! Actually, is hand gel even good for that?

It's literally designed to kill bacteria. Funnily enough it does next to nothing against respiratory pathogens like covid which spread through the air not through surfaces.

One of the first things reported about the virus was that it was held together by a membrane of fatty molecules that would easily dissolve with soap. Soap literally kills the virus. So of course everybody decides to wash their hands with alcohol-based sanitiser instead.

I've never quite understood that. But there has been a lot I don't understand these past few years.

Those guidelines recommend 60-95% ABV (and note that effectiveness drops off sharply below 50%) but also report that at least some pathogens are killed in seconds with exposure to 40% ethanol.

If all you have to disinfect your ad hoc instruments is brandy, then use it: way better than nothing.

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