To stop using antibacterial products completely.

[Stormwhale]

I have a confession. I accidentally became one of those odd people obsessed with zoflora. I have many many bottles of it.

The problem is, since starting to use it about 6 months ago, I am sure I have been unwell more often and much more severely. I have had four or five vicious illnesses in that time, during which I have been laid up for days on end. I currently have pneumonia and bronchitis, which I have never had before.

I thought I was getting rid of nasty germs, but I think I have just been knocking out the weaker ones and allowing the stronger ones to thrive. Or is that nonsense?

I have also noticed that the way viruses are passing between dd and I has changed. Usually she would get a cold, i would catch it from her and have a similar period of illness. Now she gets it, then a few days later I catch it and am much worse.

Am I mad to blame the zoflora? Something is different this year and that is the only thing I think it could be. AIBU to chuck out all the zoflora and just use washing up liquid to clean instead?

Apart from bleach down the loo I never use any antibacterial things, I don't think they're necessary. I'm v.v.rarely I'll, DC average one stomach bug a year, DH has the odd cold. Cheaper and better for the environment too!

Yanbu at all. Anti bacterial products are terrible for lads of reason - most scary for me is antibacterial resistance. Nearly all germs can be killed with soap and water, absolutely no need for antibacterial products in the home.

Its, I think I will be following your lead.

I barely use any anti bac products. I'm very rarely ill. A sniffle once a year maybe and a stomach bug every 3-5 years maybe.

Ah now you see that's the bit I'm a tad confused on. Why does killing germs with soap and water not cause antibiotic resistance, but antibacterial cleaners do? Sorry if I am being dim.

yanbu
I go out of my way to buy, for example, toothpaste without triclosan (not easy!) and non-anti bacterial handsoap.
bleach we only use in case one of us has d&v to disinfect. for cleaning soapy water is enough.

I tried Zoflora once and it gives me the nastiest headache, surely it can't be good for humans?

We use a tiny drop of bleach every now and again and other than that, hot water and either baking soda, white vinegar or lemon juice.

Not sure if your illnesses are related but yes stop using them. I never do even if I have to sometimes search around for a product that isn't.

All animals (including humans) have very effective immune systems designed to cope with a fair amount of bacteria. Healthy eating and lifestyle encourage this so it is not necessary to blitz everything. Getting rid (or attempting to) can also destroy helpful bacteria and our immune systems might get a bit out of practice.
Unfortunately there are some who have severe problems with their system for which we can only have sympathy.

Its in toothpaste?! that has really shocked me.

I already use dove bar soap rather than antibacterial hand soap. So that's fine, but I use zoflora to wipe down everything and I use an antibac spray for the kitchen sides, bathroom etc, then bleach down the loo.

I know method do some sprays which aren't antibac. I will switch out for that and stop the zoflora. I like going round with a bucket of soapy water (usually with zoflora in it) so I will just use washing up liquid instead.

I think soap is not antibacterial per se, but removes their medium in which they can grow.
so you still have bacteria around, just not so many that they make you sick.

Oh and I use it in my spray mop for the floors. That will have to stop too then. I'll just use the method almond floor cleaner instead.

As far as I know, soap doesn’t kill germs- it just loosens them so they can be washed away easily.

I use zoflora in the washing machine to make clothes smell nice, but other than that I don’t use antibacterial cleaners. I also stopped getting any antibacterial hand wash as it made my hands bleed.

Soap and water doesn't kill them, just washes them away. Much better than building up antibacterial resistance. I've cut out all antibacterial products after the US warning to stop using them. I hate the thought that my kids might get sick from something we could have easily cured, but that has now built up resistance because some people need to cover themselves and their house daily with antibacterial wipes. It's incredibly selfish this day in age and only a matter of time until they're banned.

I feel like such an idiot for using it now to be honest. I think I feel a lot of pressure to have a really clean home and just didn't think it through really. I was gutted when the Dr put me on antibiotics for the pneumonia as I try and avoid them at all costs, yet I am spraying antibac around my home willy nilly. That makes no sense.

We don’t use anti-bac stuff in our house. Well, at least not the marketed/labelled stuff.

Soap and water.

Two biology PhDs, if that’s an authority

I use bleach down the loo and a basic kitchen cleaner for kitchen abc bathroom. We have anti bac wipes for the potty and I use it on the bathroom floor - DS is potty training so seems a bit grim not to.

But that’s it.

I don't think you should feel like an idiot for using them Stormwhale, I know lots of people who think they're essential. I have antibac kitchen spray, but don't use it very often at all, usually just wipe down with soapy water and dry. Bleach just goes down the toilet, and I keep disinfectant in but only use it to clean up on the rare occasions we're hit by a stomach bug. DS is almost 5 and he's had three tummy bugs - nothing so far since he started school either, other than a slight cold and some flu-ey symptoms after he had his nasal flu spray. DD is also hardly ever ill.

One of the most regularly ill children I know has all of her clothes washed in that dettol laundry cleanser as a matter of course, on top of the other usual disinfecting of surfaces, toys etc.

Everyone who uses 'soapy' water what is the soap? I use ecover products at the moment because of the natural tagline but doing some quick reading on the back of this it seems that even natural antibacterials could be contributing to bacterial resistance. I have bar soaps for hand washing that is not antibacterial but I can't use that in hot water for surfaces.

what soap? washing up liquid or laundry powder.
you could use bar soap, my nan washed everything with bar soap, she had a designated veg peeler to peel of a bit to put in the bucket of water to wash floors/surfaces.
she even used it for laundry.

Washing up liquid or grated bar soap here, whooshed around in hot water in the washing up basin.

Stop chucking bleach down the toilet. No need.

I don't any anti bac products and we barely use soap in our house. Me and two tiny DDs are NEVER ill. Also I let them eat food off the floor.

Ditch the chemicals and embrace building the immune response.

If you want further evidence- I've been following this approach my whole life - never ill. I slept on the FLOOR of an NHS hospital at 7 months pregnant for three nights. Didn't catch a thing.

HTH

I'm a complete sloven. I'll vacuum when it's necessary and wipe sides down when needed. Mopping is an 'event'.

It sounds like I'm gross. I'm not. My house looks fine, smells fine. I'm just not clean obsessed. My son and I rarely get ill.

Comparison to many many moons ago when I had my first house (and had lots of issues) I owned every cleaning product known to man and obsessively cleaned, vacuumed, polished and bleached everything to within an inch of its life. I was always flipping Ill!

Soaps and detergents disrupt the cell membranes of bacteria, so actively destroy the cells.

I buy a bottle of bleach, every few months, to deal with biofilms and mould (plughole, bog, grout) but otherwise I'm a firm believer in hot, soapy water. I am a fan of the method grapefruit spray, mind, but only because it seems to do the degrotting job of soapy stuff exceptionally well, without sending me into a massive coughing fit. And it smells lovely.