Antibacterial Soap

[Kamahido]

So I was talking to one of my coworkers the other day about handmade soap and he asked "can you make antibacterial soap"? That is why I love having other perspectives. I never thought of that. What could I add to my soap to make bars of "antibacterial soap"?

 

[shunt2011]

Soap is anti bacterial. The ingredients they put in store soaps are proving to not be as good for us used on a regular basis. Like triclosan

 

[cmzaha]

I try to stay away from Tricloson until it is 1
1. proven effective 2. that is it not harmful to us. I do not remember what the deadline is for the big guys to prove the two issues work or they will have to remove it from product. Thinking it is this year, but I could be very wrong. If you want a little more antibacterial kick to your soap you could add in tea tree and/or lavender

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto all of the above^^^^.

IrishLass

 

[paillo]

Tritto! I don't trust triclosan at all in terms of safety, and I stay away from antibacterial products like the plague. I'm of the persuasion that good healthy children get and stay that way from playing in the dirt and not being sanitized every second of their lives. Ditto for adults. There's a lot of science to back up the idea of normal bacteria and their health benefits.

 

[lenarenee]

You may want to do a lot of research before adding this ingredient to your soap. Triclosan is used in farming as an pesticide. The EU is working on getting it banned for many reasons...like the bioaccumulation effect on aquatic life. It's now being investigated as one cause in bacterial resistance, and causing hormone disruption and liver cancer in humans.

 

[Arimara]

Antibacterial soaps don't discriminate the good bacteria from the bad. That's one of my gripes against them. Also, it's has been shown that washing your hands with regular soap is just as effective as using anti bacterial (sans killing unnecessary bacteria on your skin). If you're co-worker's worried about anything nasty on their skin, it's fungal infections that you want to be wary of and that can be remedied with tea tree, rosemary and lavender EOs.

 

[Susie]

I am a nurse, and have washed my hands so much with antibacterial soaps that I am now allergic to all of the antibacterial agents used in those soaps. Proper handwashing performed with regular soap has been proven over and over to kill or remove all pathogens by every reputable research organization as effectively as "antibacterial" soaps. Please let your co-worker know that. If they are concerned about a specific "germ", they need to tell you what it is, then let us know. I will help locate documentation if I have time. (Going back to school starting this week, and life is about to hit a whole 'nother level of busy.)

 

[Seawolfe]

All that triclosan seems to do is make nastier more resistant bacteria. Better to lather properly and break up their stickiness to wash them away - which is how soap is anti bacteria, I do believe.

Now, I seem to remember that some essential oils are considered hostile to bacteria - tea tree and rosemary if I am not mistaken.