system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does soap actually kill bacteria?
gpt
All soaps work by having two different properties on a single molecule (a property called amphoteric). One end of a soap molecule like to bind to water and the other end likes to bind to organic molecules like dirt and oil. Looking at the cellular side, all cells have some sort of membrane that surrounds them. This membrane is similar to how your skin surrounds and protects you. These membranes are similar to soap in that they have water and organic binding ends to their molecules. In fact, the bubbles seen in soap are very similar to the membranes around your cells. 

Soap is very good at getting into and disrupting these membranes, effectively punching holes in cells. Because of this, unlike the claims of earlier posters, BOTH antibacterial and "normal" soap are capable of killing cells, although much of regular soap's mode of action is to help wash away the cells rather than outright killing them. In the case of the antibacterial soap, it often contains an additional antibiotic (triclosan), which further disrupts the cell membrane. This gives it a more potent effect than normal soap, but both are still very capable of killing a cell.

It should also be noted that recent scientific studies have claimed that there is very little, if any benefit that anti-bacterial soaps have over normal soaps. Both are just about equally effective at getting rid of bacteria.