"Anti-Bacterial"

[amanda131]

What makes store bought soap Anti-bacterial? Why do some soaps say they are and some don't? Are our home made soaps anti-bacterial? If they clean they kill germs right? That means they're anit-bacterial? Am I completly off the mark here???

 

[Saltysteele]

this is something i've wondered about, as well. i know some additives are antibacterial, such as lemon powder (i believe), but it has still been bugging me, what would make it antibacterial

 

[amanda131]

I'm kinda a germophobe so it freaks me out. I wash my hands a million times a day with a 17 month old. I want to know I"m sanitized ya know??

 

[holly99]

I'm not the expert on this but I've heard those anti-bacterial soaps can kill off some of the good stuff as well as the bad. The best way, IMO, is just using a nice soap, such as we make, and a little rubbing, and all the "bad" germies wash away.

 

[needtosoap]

Antibacterial soap has an antibacterial chemical added to it but in order for the chemical to work it has to be left on for 2 minutes. Who does that? You might as well stick with regular natural soap which by it's very nature is antibacterial without all the chemicals ya' know.

 

[carebear]

triclosan, most often.

 

[Guest]

The antibacterial soaps usually have triclosan , alcohol or trilocarbon in them , they need to be left on a surface 2 minutes in order to work , most people do not wash for 2 minutes (not even close ). Common viruses are not prevented by antibacterial products .
The CDCP says washing with reg bar soap is one of the most effective ways to ward off infection.

Kitn

 

[ChrissyB]

Yep, it's triclosan.
There was a thread about this a while back. I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[Guest]

I was told to avoid anything that says antibacterial because the chemicals used in the product cause regular bacteria to change, making some of them stronger and harder to combat. Then it's necessary to use stronger chemicals to fight them off. Sounds kind of goofy, I know, but I've heard it more than once. I've heard regular soap, like homemade, works just fine.

 

[holly99]

Kinda goofy, I ran across this article just a bit ago, on weather.com of all places.

http://climate.weather.com/articles/dca ... undeclared

 

[JenniferSews]

Antibacterial soaps do kill off the beneficial bacteria on your skin that would normally help keep the bad bacteria in check. Washing your hands well with regular soap is just as good if not better, as it actually removes the bacteria from your skin. Those antibacterial gels that you leave on will kill most things, the alcohol denatures the bacterial cell walls and also kills viruses. Not every kind, but the majority of the kind you will run into on a daily basis. You also leave it on, allowing it to actually work.

Killing all the bacteria may eventually lead to resistant strains, much like we have found with antibiotic overuse. Those resistant strains are more virulent and then harder to kill when we really need to kill them, like when they are making us sick.

 

[honor435]

There are articles about how " antibacterial" soaps and hand sanitizers are becoming ineffective, you become immune to the chemical that kiils germs, the best way to kill germs is soap and water.

 

[amanda131]

You guys are AWESOME! I feel so much safer now! And germ free!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Alvonia]

I`m scared of the effects from triclosan.
I allso read the other day that hand sanitzers where no-good in the antibacterial perspective - its better with plain water and soap. (think it was our government saying it, in all this swineflu hysteria)

On the other hand, there are ingredienst we can use in our soap to make it more anti-bacterial. Lemon and teatree is the most common ones. But I dont know actually how effective they are.

 

[dagmar88]

:wink: In my opinion, teatree is very effective. But I don't think any handmade soap would need it as an additive.