Does Anti-bacterial hansoap kill more bacteria than non-antibacterial hansoap?

Anti-bacterial soaps probably "kill" more bacteria than non-antibacterial soap, the important apsect of soap is that it is used to "remove" bacteria from your hands. Therefore the technique and time spent washing you hands is more important.





Soaps (both liquid and bar) rely on the mechanical scrubbing of you hands to remove germs. The soap acts as a detergent that breaks down water tension to "make water wetter" This makes it hard for bacteria to "stick" to you hands.





Just a word about antibiotic liquid soap. The active ingredient in most liquid soap is Triclosan. In the mid- to late-90s, Triclosan was thrown into any and every consumer product to make it "antibacterial" (soaps, plastics, even steering wheels). This misuse and overuse of triclosan has the potential to select for triclosan resistant bacteria. One of my former professors who is now head of National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Systems (NARMS) for the FDA is a staunch opponent of the overuse of Triclosan. When he would question the effectiveness of Triclosan, the reply of the industries using triclosan was always "We do not make any claim of the effectiveness of Triclosan against bacteria". Ok, then why does your product say "Antibacterial"?





I am not trying to make you take a position on Triclosan but you, and the public in general, should be aware of the controversy of the use of it in everyday products

Does Anti-bacterial hansoap kill more bacteria than non-antibacterial hansoap?
A little, perhaps. But it also dries out your skin.
Reply:Yes of course it does
Reply:Hello Mille,


Based on various studies in this topic, the hand washing technique and the time spent on the hand wash matters more than the type of soap/hand wash used.


Although, many hand wash liquids claim that it contains moisturisers many of them dry your hand especially if you wash your hands very frequently. It causes the skin become dry and cracked. It increases the chances of bacterial invasion through the micro-cracks. Hence, it is mandatory to use moisturising hand cream after every hand wash to keep the skin supple.


Regardless of the type of soap/hand wash, spending 30 seconds on hand wash proved to be effective which removes most of the microbes from the hands.


Hope, this helps.
Reply:no

ivy