to think that soap is not dirty!

[StealthPolarBear]

Everyone seems obsessed with liquid soap these days and I keep hearing that soap is dirty. Please tell me what will happen to me if I carry on using it??
Plus I'm not convinced that these "soap-free liquid handwashe, 95% moisturising cream with extract of ylang ylang and aloe vera" actually WASH your hands.

We were never allowed to use soap in the shower at home growing up because it leaves scum on the glass shower door, if you use it in the bath it makes all the bubbles pop and if you try and use it by the sink it slips out your hands and across the floor therefore soap is rubbish. Not really dirty though so I guess YANBU

h liquid soap and bar soap only do one thing, and that is to get you to rub your hands under water for about the time it takes to rinse the stuff off. This is what cleans your hands.

FWIW, rubbing your hands under a drier actually rubs in more bacteria from your skin's pores, so you end up with more bacteria on your hands than before you started to dry them.

Rubbing your hands dry with a paper towel is the best way to get rid of bacteria on your hands.

Rubbing your hands dry on a preused towel is as much good as rubbing them under your arms.
Think about it - do you dry dishes with an old cloth lying around?? (don't answer that!)

The best way of washing your hands, backed up by research, is to wash your hands under running water (hot or cold) with bar soap, or non-antibacterial liquid wash, for as long as it takes to sing twinkle twinkle little star, and then to rub your hands dry on a paper towel which you dispose of.

Watch out that the door knob to the bathroom is clean or you needn't have bothered...

no, it;s not zazen, we need pacificDogwood, she explained it really well last time I started one of these threads :o Soap lifts dirt off your hands to be washed away.
And yes, if I think I've made the soap "dirty" (raw chicken, or baby poo) I rinse it under the hot water when I've finished.
I just can't believe that we've come on from the stage at which soap+water = dramatic drop in hospital deaths to somehow thinking that it's not good enough now.

Zazen
I will think of you the next time I wash my hands in a public toilet, and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

but then again we have been groomed to think that germs and bacteria at all dangerous. Yet no one seems to mention that without bacterial in our environment our immune systems can go crazy, we are less healthy and more prone to illness and allergies. There are exceptions and immune compromised people require the sterile conditions. But there is a big difference between a healthy environment and a sterile environment (which is unhealthy for most normal people).

In this house we dont have soap bars and we try not to have products that are specifically antibacterial. bloody hard though. Soap bars are only not used because the dont last long enough with small child who likes to see how long it takes for the bar to disolve or play hide the bar of soap. Plus dc will wash his hand until they bleed and was easier to control and prevent this with the soap pump.

that all said i am thinknig about making my own soap bars so that i can garantee the contents of the soap meets allergy/skin condition requirements here.

Threadworm eggs can stay on bars of soap, and if little hands don't rinse and dry well enough, they can be transferred.
And the success of washing bacteria off with the foam is also dependent on good hand washing technique. Doctors at work do not wash with bars of soap.

I'm a bit obsessive about germs so I buy anti-bacterial liquid soap. I don't think you can buy an anti-bacterial bar?

oh yes there are plenty

dettol do one, that's the only one I can think of for now

YANBU

One of the first biology experiments we did at senior school was to use the school loo washbasins to wash our hands, then put our hands onto an agar petri dish to see what germs would grow by the next week...

We were divided up into groups - some washed their hands using the (admittedly quite old and mangy looking) soap bars and hot water, some using the soap bars and cold water, others used just hot water or just cold water.

The next week, those that had washed their hands using the soap had petri dishes covered in far more bacteria than those that hadn't, in the end washing with cold water was the group that had the fewest bacteria growning.

This was starting from the premise that we'd all got relatively clean hands (ie we hadn't just been to the loo and we hadn't got dirt or anything dodgy on our hands) and we all got to air dry our hands to remove any cross contamination from the old fashioned roller towels they had then.

But I think it can show that lots of people sharing soap in somewhere that is potentially germy - ie the loos - the soap can end up making hands more rather than less germy...

So that using a modicum of common sense is sensible when it comes to soap - rather than blithely assuming all soap will make your hands cleaner.

We have bar soap in our bathrooms, but have liquid soap in the kitchen, but only because there is nowhere in the kitchen to hang the magnetic soap holder. My mother got them for us, I don't know where, about 5 years ago. They were quite expensive, but definitely worth it. Soap dries off in between use.

We're not an anti-bac type of family. We're more a "peck of dirt before you die" type of family.

Always wash hands when we get in from work/school, after any toilet use, before making dinner, after touching raw meat. We have normal towels everywhere to dry hands on, but they are changed every day, as are the teatowels that we only use when something has to be dried. Other stuff goes in the dishwasher or gets air-dried after being washed-up.

In the words of Chandler:
"Soap is soap. It's self cleansing"
Nuff said.

There are still magnetic soap holders for sale; this one is less than a fiver!

Just to answer you Stealth:
no, it;s not zazen, we need pacificDogwood, she explained it really well last time I started one of these threads

Here's a link to the recent research in hand drying that I was referencing.

The advantage of frequent hand washing is that it clears your conscience, and you can come to like the choice you made better after washing your hands.

Staying free of flu when you are pregnant is vital also - research shows that unborn babes can be adversely affected by the flu virus. maternal flu damages unborn babe.

The flu virus changes the brain chemistry of unborn babes and makes them more prone to developing schizophrenia. Here's the research

Time to get washing those hands with soap or liquid soap and to dry them very well on a paper towel. Rubbing them together under blowing air doesn't cut it I'm afraid - unless you have a blade dyson machine and don't rub to dry.

We get Ecover liquid handsoap in 5litre containers and refill the little bottles I bought years ago. I wonder if that's possible with other brands?

We were always dropping the bars on the floor: broken, dirty with floor lint, the handsoap seems to stay cleaner for us but I will go back to bars when DC move out.

It's all marketing/media hype bollocks I think.

We use bars. I kind of rinse away the first lot of foam and do it again if i know my son has had his dirty mits near it!

But the threadworm egg thing has just made me cringe and I may need a back up bottle stashed away somewhere in case of that.

no zazen, I was talking about the bit where you said that the ONLY purpose of soap was to make you hold your hands under running water. Soap has other properties - its lather removes dirt.

Can i admit to buying one of those automatic liquid soap dispensers?
Wasn't for me but for MIL who has arthritis in her hands. Its the only real reason I can see for them

We seem to use liquid soap at the bathroom sink out of habit, our old sink was too small for a soap bar so the bottle of soap was on the shelf
For the bath/shower I like to use soap bars made with essential oils, makes me feel pampered planet soap

I have eczema and when I use liquid soap too often my skin starts to peel off my hands.
a bar is much purer, doesn't need preservatives. and if you have a proper soap dish the soap bar dries in minutes and is very hygienic.
plus I hate the slimy feel liquid soap, esp. the "moisturising" kind leaves on the skin.

Communal bar soap is less hygienic than liquid soap as not enough bacteria may be killed and some can remain on the bar. Not a problem at home but could cause cross infection in hospitals/surgeries/nursing homes/restaurant kitchens etc.

Bacteria can especially cling on where the soap has dried and cracked.

I use liquid soap just because it's more convenient.

give me soap over showerg el or liquid soap any day. I love pears soap (although the feckers have recently added a load of chemicals to a previously fab natural product..grrrr!).