Hand washing requires both soap and water. If I were to apply soap first I'd be unable to turn the water on without smearing soap onto the faucet. So yes. I

Hand washing requires both soap and water. If I were to apply soap first I'd be unable to turn the water on without smearing soap onto the faucet. So yes. I apply water before the soap because getting water on the soap dispenser causes no harm to others -- whereas getting soap on the faucet handle does cause (a tiny amount of) harm.