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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

dh has watered down the liquid soap

184 replies

EricaNernie · 08/04/2020 07:07

i dont like this practice
it doesnt feel nice for a start
is it safe?

OP posts:
Tonyaster · 08/04/2020 10:07

Dettol baths are a thing. The instructions are on the back of the bottle.

pigsDOfly · 08/04/2020 10:07

What ever people are using on their hands, and as long as it's some sort of soap and their hands are washed properly it will do the job.

I'm just hoping that all the hand washing advice we've been given, and, for some people, the new awareness of the importance of hand hygiene, will mean that when this is all over we will no longer see people leaving public lavatories without washing their hands at all, or the equally pointless act of delicately waving their fingers briefly under a runny tap.

SharonasCorona · 08/04/2020 10:08

I've seen people use hand sanitizer after using the loo and thought ugh.

That's disgusting. Also the advice is that sanitiser efficacy is reduced if hands are dirty or sweaty so wash first you can.

JinglingHellsBells · 08/04/2020 10:08

@AmelieTaylor Anti bacterials do not kill a virus. Just like anti biotics don't work for colds and flu.

Wiping a surface with bleach etc may help remove it but so would hot soapy water (eg washing up liquid.)

SharonasCorona · 08/04/2020 10:08

Dettol baths are a thing. The instructions are on the back of the bottle.

I think the why is more concerning than the how.

Tanith · 08/04/2020 10:09

DH tried this once. Pressed the nozzle and a jet of soapy liquid shot straight at him and watered his trousers liberally.

Being soap, it didn’t dry well. A day of looking as though he’d wet himself put a stop to his penny-saving Grin

ArriettyJones · 08/04/2020 10:09

It’s so dilute, (half a cap in a full bath) I doubt it does anything at all, good or bad, but gran believed very strongly that dettol baths were the answer to any problem and they smell divine.

JinglingHellsBells · 08/04/2020 10:11

Dettol baths are a thing.

Well maybe that's because they want to sell gallons of it. And like all the anti-bac PR they are preying on people's ignorance and creating a 'need'.

It's nonsense. As is putting Dettol products in your washing machine do 'destroy bacteria'. The minute you take clothes out, they are covered in millions of bacteria, many of them essential for health.

Most people are so confused over all of this. Not all bacteria are baddies. many are essential for life.

JinglingHellsBells · 08/04/2020 10:11

Dettol baths......... they smell divine

FFS.
I'd rather have Chanel. thanks

DateLoaf · 08/04/2020 10:12

For those recommending bars of soap, they do do just as good a job as liquid soap, but once first used they hold on to most germs (presumably including Covid 19), especially whilst still wet. Which is why I gave up using bar soap years ago.

No. This isn’t a reason not to use bar soap at home to help to protect against COVID virus transmission. The point is that viruses are permanently compromised by all soaps, soap affects their covering on the outside and then exposes their genetic make up. These two effects means viruses like COVID can’t then go on to attach to our cells and get in and infect them, then can’t ‘reproduce’ by hijacking our cells to infect us further via our own cells to make us ill.

Bar soap is also environmentally much better (no single use plastic containers) as others have said.

Tonyaster · 08/04/2020 10:12

I will admit that I had a terrible skin rash after having my legs waxed at a new salon once. Got loads of infected hair follicles. Dettol baths every day for a week got rid of them. No mucous membrane irritation Smile

EricaNernie · 08/04/2020 10:13

currently we have liquid soap,
and also a bottle of water mixed with a variety of soaps, some of which are anti bacterial, shampoo and shower gel. For DH Wink

OP posts:
ChickenCluckWaddle · 08/04/2020 10:13

Soapmaker here - I'm afraid it's not necessarily safe. It's to do with the potential for bacteria growth.

Solid soap relies on the high pH and low water content - contrary to what a previous poster has said, it doens't give a suitable environment for bacteria/viruses to flourish in. Bar soap performs well in tests and hygiene-wise it's only a problem if the soap is not left to dry between use, but left to sit in a puddle of water.

Liquid soap may or may not have a preservative added - this depends upon the precise pH and the dilution. If it's a commercially-produced liquid soap, it probably does have a preservative to be on the safe side. But by diluting it you are altering the recipe that the manufacturer/cosmetic safety assessor has deemed safe. You don't know what the new pH is, or the new concentration. Do you sterilise the water first, or do you just use tap water? You don't know what bacteria you're introducing into the mixture with the water, and you don't know whether your new pH will be low enough and your water percentage high enough to render the preservative ineffective. This could allow all sorts of things to flourish. It might be safe but it might not. It hasn't undergone any of the appropriate assessments.

Please don't dilute your soap unless you are sure you know what you are doing. And please could non-chemists stop saying, 'yes it's safe, it's soap, it gets water added when it's used' - the water added in normal use is quite different, as it's being added briefly and then the entire mixture washed down the plug hole - the mixture in the bottle isn't compromised and any bacteria in the water on your hands are not being given the chance to grow and flourish.

OP, your bar soap is perfectly safe if not left in a puddle of water. It won't 'hold on to most germs' and particularly not Covid-19 as contact with the soap is likely to kill it. If it does end up in a puddle of water accidentally, rinse it off and dry it.

ArriettyJones · 08/04/2020 10:14

I'd rather have Chanel. thanks

Grin

That comes after the bath.

Tonyaster · 08/04/2020 10:14

Well maybe that's because they want to sell gallons of it. And like all the anti-bac PR they are preying on people's ignorance and creating a 'need'

They've been a thing for absolutely years, very old fashioned. I doubt its because they want to jump on the anti bac pr.

Tonyaster · 08/04/2020 10:15

Please don't dilute your soap unless you are sure you know what you are doing

Absolutely classic Mumsnet.

ArriettyJones · 08/04/2020 10:16

also a bottle of water mixed with a variety of soaps, some of which are anti bacterial, shampoo and shower gel. For DH

A what?!

Like pushing all the soap scraps together to make a new bar? But in liquid form?

ArriettyJones · 08/04/2020 10:19

They've been a thing for absolutely years, very old fashioned. I doubt its because they want to jump on the anti bac pr.

Yes, they were definitely “a thing” during the blitz. Probably earlier. I suspect one of those pre-NHS semi-placebo things people used to do, to ward off trouble.

Tonyaster · 08/04/2020 10:21

I suspect one of those pre-NHS semi-placebo things people used to do, to ward off trouble exactly!

MajesticWhine · 08/04/2020 10:25

When you are nearly at the end of the bottle it makes sense to water it down because otherwise you waste the last few squirts which won't come out.

YangShanPo · 08/04/2020 10:32

Must admit I love the smell of dettol, wouldn't have a bath in it though.

I suspect one of those pre-NHS semi-placebo things people used to do, to ward off trouble

Like a TCP gargle.

JinglingHellsBells · 08/04/2020 10:34

@Tonyaster If you take a look at my other posts a few down, I did say it was a 1950s thing [or maybe sooner ].

JinglingHellsBells · 08/04/2020 10:35

@Tonyaster I meant they had been doing it for years, as you said, but other companies have pursued the same idea- preying on ignorance and fear over 'bacteria'.

squeekums · 08/04/2020 10:36

I don’t understand why anyone buys bottles of soap
It's more convenient, nicer on my skin as bar soap way to harsh, no annoying soap dish. Bar soap makes me squirm, especially if it's left dirty or with hair on it.

That said, I don't water bottled stuff down, I just buy a new one. If my dp did this we would have 2 different bottles, a his and hers. Like we do with body wash and shampoo and conditioner as we like different products

goldenorbspider · 08/04/2020 11:10

But why would you do that? Bar soap is much cheaper, lasts longer and is more effective.

^^ I just can't get worked up over spending 2quid. Boots can take my money