DailyDirt: How Clean Is Your Soap?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Soap has saved countless lives by preventing the spread of disease and reducing the number of disease-causing microbes in our world. But we've become a bit too focused on killing germs with soap, and we might want to cut back a bit on the over-use of antimicrobial agents. The human microbiome is changing according to our habits and environment, and it might only take a few soapy showers to kill off a healthy microflora balance. After you've finished checking out those links, take 10% off any $50+ order from our Daily Deals using the promo code DAILYDIRT.
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Filed Under: antibacterial, antibiotics, antimicrobial, germs, microbes, microbiome, microbiomics, microflora, probiotic, soap, triclosan


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Dec 2015 @ 6:40pm

    no other animal gets clean with soap!

    Well, except for our pets.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Dec 2015 @ 7:58pm

    Re: no other animal gets clean with soap!

    No other animal cooks its food, either. Let's let the parasites have our digestive tracts again!

    Honestly.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Gracey (profile), 15 Dec 2015 @ 8:31pm

    Re: Re: no other animal gets clean with soap!

    Well, they can have my digestive tract, but not the rest of my body thanks.

    Scent free means scent free ... and a body that smells (like onions or pot) isn't scent free. Also not big on greasy hair.

    I transitioned to natural scent free products a while ago, but it seems they still would kill the little devils just as fast as chemical products.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 15 Dec 2015 @ 10:33pm

    There Are Good Bugs, And There Are Bad Bugs

    Normal soap just washes away the bugs without killing them, giving a chance for the good bugs to come back. Part of the function of the good bugs is keeping away the bad ones.

    Surgeons have to use antibacterial soap, because bugs that might be good on the surface of the skin may not be so good if they get inside you.

    One interesting side effect of this is that they are prone to warts, caused by viral infections, which are normally held in check by the good bugs on the skin.

    There are natural bugs that live in your hair and keep it clean. Unfortunately they are killed by soap and shampoo, and can take weeks to come back.

    Going weeks without washing your hair is hard, but many people have found it worthwhile.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2015 @ 1:45am

    Re: no other animal gets clean with soap!

    No other animal posts on the internet!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Lisboeta, 16 Dec 2015 @ 4:02am

    Re: Re: no other animal gets clean with soap!

    No other animal posts on the internet!

    Not true! It's common knowledge that dogs have been doing it for years....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Rekrul, 16 Dec 2015 @ 11:33am

    Re: There Are Good Bugs, And There Are Bad Bugs

    Going weeks without washing your hair is hard, but many people have found it worthwhile.

    I went through a time where I did that when I was younger. It didn't make my hair clean, just greasy. So greasy that it would actually leave stains on pillows.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    nasch (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:14pm

    Re: Re: Re: no other animal gets clean with soap!

    I transitioned to natural scent free products a while ago, but it seems they still would kill the little devils just as fast as chemical products.

    The stuff you use is also chemical products.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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