The title is for bar soaps but I read PUCKs.
The article basically says if you are in good health you have nothing to fear. But, to be on the safe side, rinsing your puck before lathering would not hurt.
Does Bar Soap Really Hold Onto Germs?
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The title is for bar soaps but I read PUCKs.
The article basically says if you are in good health you have nothing to fear. But, to be on the safe side, rinsing your puck before lathering would not hurt.
Does Bar Soap Really Hold Onto Germs?
I keep mine in a Pyrex after it has dried about 5 hours later.
John
Do you mean a sealed Pyrex dish or an open top Pyrex dish like a mug?
This brings up a good question. I salvage unused lather and put it back in the bowl, container, cup, whatever the soap stays in. Some are sealed (TOBS, MDC, etc) and some are open to the air.
I did not think creams were to be left exposed to the air. OTOH, some of my pucks stay in closed containers. Now, I am not sure about salvaging unused lather. It might not be a good thing but I have never had a problem.
I have always been of the belief that this whole germ thing is vastly overexaggerated. Particularly with people in good health. Our immune systems need to be exposed to germs so that they can make antibodies.
OTOH, you'll never catch me on a cruise boat!
I always thought soap was self cleaning, sort of like our cat. :shrug:
I am not afraid of germs. I have never really worried about any on my soap. I however don't shave my bar soap with three or four thousand of my closest friends. For the average person their bar soap does not get much exposure to many people. I don't think I have ever thought, I must have caught something from that soap. I would expect that most of us are healthy enough it should not bother us. If you just got out of open heart surgery than you might want to be a little more careful, or going through Chemo or radiation. I think many people over think these things.
I seem to recall this coming up once or twice before. No way I'm going to wash my soap own soap. That being said, I avoid public bar soap like the plague.
I am totally with dinnermint on this.
To many people, my wife included, are all about carrying sanitizer and over using these things. Hence our creation of super bugs.....
+1, I haven't worried very much about this.Quote:
Originally Posted by dinnermint
My dishes have lids. I rinse out the extra soap & leave the lid halfway on for 4 or 6 hours, sometimes I forget & its still off the next day. Then I put the lid fully on until the next shave. I never use the same soap/cream two days in a row. I rotate a different cream/soap every shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by rolodave
Creams are closed immediately. I used to leave the unused soap lather in the bowl years ago, but stopped. No reason to do this as I have so many options.
I try to put my risk assessment in perspective. I worry most about things with the higher risk.
I leave my soap damp in an open mug in my basement. It is my soap and most of the germs if any are left there by myself. If they are deposited from the air of the house they are landing on my body anyway. Maybe my neighbor has MRSA and a mouse runs over his soap and then across the yard to my house and across my soap and if I cut myself while shaving the next day I might get infected.... Put it in perspective. I have more of a chance of many other things happening. I would fill up the server if I listed them all. :D
Concerning publicly shared soap even with liquid you usually have to put your hand on the pump to get the soap. That is pushed by the previous person with their "dirty" hands. What difference if they touch the pump or the bar?
At lest the people that use the soap are trying to keep clean. Then you go out with clean hands and touch the door knobs etc. that the people that didn't use soap touched.
Where is my bubble to live in? What if the bubble gets a leak and something leaks in that I have developed no immunity to gets in?
Where do I stop?
I work maintenance in a hospital and part of my job is unplugging toilets and drains. The stuff in the drains and any of the equipment I use are considered not hazardous!:rofl2:
What happens if you have to go to the toilet while in the bubble? :shrug:
The chamber pot is passed through a three chambered positively pressured to the bubble with hepa filtered air ante room system.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
I better read the manual before I have to go.
As I reread my previous post I realize that I typed wrong and it should be positively pressured FROM the bubble. OooopsQuote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
I wash my soap with a bit of water and my brush any time I need to build a lather to shave. All I have is doped with cat hair, anyway. I have antibodies for the bacteria.
Also, to spread the thinking of washing soap before use is a clever idea for a soapmaker.
^^^^I agree, wouldn't soap be self cleaning?
I mean, it's SOAP!!!
Ok, back to the title of the article.
Do germs grow/live on bar soap (or pucks)
I never worried about this until I saw the article. I am still not worried. I do not own a cat, though.
My thoughts, exactlyQuote:
Originally Posted by Dieseld
And to top that off, what about anti-bacterial soap???
If you just stick with the big tub of GoJo in the bathroom you won't get any germs! Tc
What about good ole LAVA?
They don't get us lava out on the rig,, but we always have several one gallon jugs of GoJo,, Tc
Rite on, I guess they want you to still have skin on your hands.
I remember when I was real young thinking that stuff was like washing with sandpaper
I can see where germs would live on soap by becoming dormant but what would they eat to be able to grow. Maybe something I am not aware of.Quote:
Originally Posted by rolodave
Has anyone seen a large germ ball in their soap container after being stored for 6 months or so?
In this case I think that we would be speaking about more residual germs.:shrug:
I have seen old bars of soap with black streaks in the cracks. I assumed the black was bacteria. I did not use the soap.
Sure it wasn't grease.Quote:
Originally Posted by rolodave
Could have been. I played chicken.Quote:
Originally Posted by 32t
Black may have been mildew Dave. Tc
Basically bacteria. I like a fresh new bar of Mitchell's Wool Fat Bath Soap for my shower. BTW, you cannot use MWF Bath soap for shaving soap. The two are very different.Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrideshd
I know how can anyone grow lots of bacteria - Escherichia coli mainly at least - on a soap stick, but I will not tell you, gentlemen, because I don't want to see troubled cats outcrying about those floral-smelling-things on their litter boxes. :p