Is shower gel the same as hand wash?

[justgeton]

Because it looks like it is to me...

And on the same theme, is hand wash as good as soap for killing germs?

Are they all just the same?

Yes yes and yes.

Same as fairy liquid and shampoo etc. The detergent is the same, they just have added stuff for smell, moisture and so on. All the same action.

Not the exact same formulation, no. I’d imagine hand wash would be more drying long term, and wouldn’t have the same lather etc as shower gel

I buy the big bottles of shower gel to fill up the smaller hand wash bottles. Much cheaper. I also dilute by about 1/4 water to stretch it that bit further.

This is an important question and I'm very grateful to you for raising it. Yes I think they're exactly the same, just put into different packages to make more money!

I once washed my hair in fairy liquid (desperate times!) and it made it really soft and swishy.

I use shower gel for hand wash refills too, although it does tend to be runnier.

i think they are all the same and as pp said, just packaged differently to make more money. Bar soap, fairy, hand wash, shampoo.....they are all just soap.

I use shower gel in hand wash containers, just make sure you get one with a smell you like as your hands are near your face more often than you realise.

On the subject of killing germs... I think (think,I may be wrong) that soap just lifts the dirt and germs off your hands and you wash them away more than actively kills them.

Alcohol hand gel I do know more about... it's not rubbing it in that kills germs, it's when it evaporates. So smear it over and wait for it to dry.

OytheBumbler... that makes sense actually, as fairy liquid gets rid of grease doesn't it (not that I'm saying your hair is greasy!)

Soap does kill some viruses as it acts on the lipid layer that they live inside. Very bad explanation but it basically pops their skin.