There's Nothing to Fear from Bar Soap
There's Nothing to Fear from Bar Soap
Many folks believe that liquid soap is best for cleaning the hands and body because bar soap is somehow unsanitary.
I've even read that bacteria can grow on soap bars, and that people
shouldn't share bars because it can spread disease.
So I
went looking for some evidence that bar soap is this vector of
contagion. I found several studies that show that bar soap, especially
when left to sit in a puddle of water or in a wet soap dish can harbor
colonies of bacteria. It makes sense since bacteria love to hang out in
wet places.
But one study in 1988 went a step further and asked
the question, "Can the bacteria found on soap get transferred to someone
else?" That's really the issue, isn't it? What happens to the bacteria
that is living on a bar of soap?
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3402545)
So the researchers
took some bars and spread a whole lot of bacteria on them: 70 times more
than anyone had ever found on any soap bars before! Then they asked the
volunteers (brave volunteers) to wash their hands with the soap. When
they tested their hands for bacterial contamination, there was no
detectable bacteria on any of their hands. So they reason that it's very
unlikely that germs that are present on soap bars will be transferred
to someone using the soap to wash their hands. It makes sense to me,
since that's one of the great things about soap, that it dislodges
bacteria and makes it much easier to just rinse it away.
I don't
make liquid soap, by the way, because I believe that handmade bar soap
is better overall for the environment. It doesn't contain any detergents
or petrochemicals that can get into our waterways. And there is much
less packaging involved with a bar of soap: some shrink wrap (like mine)
or maybe a paper wrapper or box. While plastic pump bottles may be
recyclable, I still like the idea of trying to make less of the plastic
stuff to begin with.
And you can't beat handmade soap bars for variety! You could never get bored with all the scents and colors and designs...
So fear not! Use your bar soap, keep it in a draining soap dish to let it dry out between uses, and enjoy!
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