DailyDirt: Did You Wash Your Hands?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Washing your hands with soap is an activity that most Americans probably take for granted. However, even doctors need to be reminded sometimes how important hand washing with soap is. This isn't just a conspiracy from the big "soap industry" for people to use more soap. Plenty of soap is bought and wasted, but hopefully, more people will use soap appropriately and wisely around the world.... Before you go off to wash your hands, take a look at this holiday gift guide for some awesome deals at the Techdirt deals store.
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Filed Under: cleanliness, health, myriam sidibe, sanitation, shelley berman, soap
Companies: sundara


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2015 @ 5:07pm

    hmm. better soap design needed for hotels?

    I suppose soap isn't that expensive, but you'd think there'd be a better way to dispense soap... but public restroom liquid hand soap dispensers are probably too tacky for hotels.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2015 @ 5:52pm

    So is the "Daily Dirt" putting itself out of business with this soap thing?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    CynicalChris (profile), 23 Nov 2015 @ 7:05pm

    Too clean

    As a side comment, there is the "too clean" hypothesis, that the rise in allergies, asthma etc. is because we're too clean. Lots of links to look at like http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/homehygiene/pages/are-we-too-clean-for-our-own-good.aspx

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2015 @ 8:40pm

    Re: Too clean

    That's just a theory. By far the biggest *known* reason for the increase of allergies is that ragweed populations have exploded worldwide. It's hard to imagine that Common Ragweed (as it's now known) was a very rare and geographically isolated plant back when forests blanketed much of its native North America.

    http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/25/8654333/ragweed-pollen-climate-change-allergies-study

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2015 @ 9:19pm

    Re: Re: Too clean

    Nice theory, but why are rates going up where ragweed doesn't grow?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2015 @ 11:22am

    Re: Re: Too clean

    Allergy to ragweed is completely different to "allergies" in general.

    One allergen that is making a huge spike is "balsam of Peru" and similar substances. Where do you find these? In the perfumes found in...

    ...soaps. This includes bar soaps, liquid soaps, laundry detergent, dish detergent, and other similar soaps.

    It's very difficult to find soaps and detergents that don't have these allergens in them; "perfume free" just means the manufacturer doesn't add perfume; but these scents come in the chemicals from THEIR suppliers; they often don't even know if they're in there.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2015 @ 11:27am

    On the flip side...

    On the one hand, people should wash with soap after soiling their hands with anything bacteria-heavy.

    What people should NEVER do is use "anti-bacterial" soaps. These have been found in study after study to breed anti-bacterial-resistant bacteria. This is due to the fact that people don't tend to use them properly, soaping down right up to the elbow and rubbing it in thoroughly for 30 seconds or so. If you fail to do this, there WILL be bacteria at the soap border who learn its structure and develop defenses against it (via natural selection if nothing else).

    Also, anti-bacterial soaps aren't picky: they'll kill off all bacteria, meaning that you're a clean slate for the next bacteria you come in contact with. Depleting your skin's defensive flora means that not only bad bacteria, but also viruses have a higher chance of both penetrating the skin to cause real problems in your body, and to gain a tactical advantage against the good bacteria on exposed parts of your skin.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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