A recent synthesis argues that excessive handwashing and sanitizers can alter skin/gut microbiomes, which in turn influence immune signaling and cognition.
A recent synthesis argues that excessive handwashing and sanitizers can alter skin/gut microbiomes, which in turn influence immune signaling and cognition.
Yup! Studies like these are why I specifically buy non-antibacterial hand soap. It’s still soap so it cleans just fine, including wounds, but it doesn’t have these effects.
ALL soap is antibacterial. And you’re right, you don’t need the extra bullshit. Whole thing is a marketing gimmick, and I’m old enough to remember when it began.
Soap pops their little lipid cell walls. I want to ask the antibacterial soap people, “So, uh, does that shit pop their cell walls harder?”
It’s the difference is shooting someone in the face with a 12-gauge and insisting an RPG is what’s really needed.
Smart move! Are there any specific brands you’d recommend?
I roll my own Castile soap. Recipes abound if you’re interested. All you need is olive oil and a bit of lye, cheaper in bulk of course. Follow the recipe, pour into cheap silicone molds of your choosing, wait. If you have enough molds and make a big batch, an hours work yields a year+ supply.
There’s another chemical I’m adding next, kinda expensive per gram, only takes a pinch per batch, supposed to harden it in days instead of weeks.
Best part is the bar lasts forever. Haven’t made any in awhile, but I’d forget how old the bar was when I finally replaced it. And that was without the hardening agent! Using Irish Spring, I’m clocking a bar a week.
Also, gets you really clean without feeling harsh or drying your skin. No idea how this voodoo works on a chemical level. But the fear of “lye” soap is a modern old-wives tale. Maybe it was harsh in great-grandma’s time? In any case, the lye is no longer lye after it all reacts.
PROTIP: There is a load of water in commercial bar soap. Step-mom would take it out of the waxy cardboard and leave it open in the cabinet. Dries out, lasts longer, feels no different. Takes months to dry enough to notice, buy ahead of time.
I started using (diluted) castile for everything including handwashing, I’ve been liking it.
I roll my own. See my comment above. I’m broke, but I’m getting some olive oil tonight. Spending way too much on Irish Spring. Bar a week vs. a bar every month or two.
Huge fan of castile soap so far too
Honestly soap is extremely effective on it own already at dealing with remove debris and killing exposed cells, I don’t see the need to doing more that unless the aim is surgical/biolab env.
How do you deal with dryness from the castile though?
One of the features of using your own soap! Dilute more if your hands are getting too dry – I like 1:5 dilution for my foaming hand soap pumps, that’s been working well for me. This will change depending on how long you wash your hands for; I use a whole 10-15s even at home so I reduced the concentration. I’m not sure what the “minimum” concentration is for it to be effective, but I just tweaked it so my hands don’t feel oily. If you need it to be highly dilute for sensitive skin, you could consider keeping a very light solution for frequent washing and a separate stronger concentration for more dirty hands.
This is awesome insight, thank you!
Appreciate the recommendation! I’m going to look into it.
Not really. For the most part, soap is soap.