Everyone seemed to jump on the antibacterial bandwagon years
ago when it was thought that it could rid hands, dishes and laundry of germs.
Health Briefs TV reviews some of these claims and explains why sometimes less
is more when it comes to antibacterial products.
Triclosan, the ingredient in antibacterial products such as
liquid hand soap, is effective when used to wash hands for longer than a few
minutes. However, most consumers use liquid hand soap for 30 seconds or less
rendering it useless. In fact, regular bar soap works just fine to clean hands
since most people spend about 30 seconds washing their hands. Lab studies have
proven that both antibacterial liquid soap and regular bar soap work just the
same.
The same general rule applies to dish soap and laundry soap.
There is no evidence that the antibacterial products work any better ridding
dishes and laundry of germs than traditional dish washing soap and laundry
detergent. Health Briefs TV realizes that there will be readers who will stick
to using antibacterial products anyway. There is no harm in using them. Most
often, they tend to make consumers feel more confident about total cleanliness.
Keep in mind that the way our bodies learn to fight off germs is to allow some
in.
