Is Antibacterial Soap Really Necessary?

Reader Contribution by Staff
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Dawn is the owner of Seattle Hill Soap Company and formulates natural and safe soaps and skin care items that are enhanced by herbs, botanicals or clays. You can find Seattle Hill Soap Company at www.seattlehillsoaps.com.

I recently came across a new website, www.fightgermsnow.com. The site’s primary focus is to alleviate concern about the safety and effectiveness of antibacterial soaps. While I’m unimpressed with the new Fight Germs Now website, I’d like to scream from the rooftops, “Antibacterial soaps aren’t necessary!” 


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Antibacterial soap manufacturers want consumers to believe what this site is selling … antibacterial soaps kill more germs than regular soaps. Yet both the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) have made statements that hand washing with regular soap is just as effective at removing germs as antibacterial soaps.

According to WebMD, “An FDA advisory panel considered the question of the effectiveness of antibacterial products in the fall of 2005; the panel overwhelmingly concluded that there was no evidence proving that antibacterial soaps were more effective than regular soaps for preventing infection.”

If you want to make sure you’re getting your hands clean, read the CDC’s basic hand washing techniques. These techniques will get your hands squeaky clean with regular soap and water. In fact, these same techniques need to be practiced even when you are using antibacterial soaps. So my question is, Why do we need another product with another chemical that really doesn’t deliver? I think a good old fashioned hand washing works just fine.

Read More: Plain Soap as Good as Antibacterial – WebMD
Triclosan: What Consumers Should Know – U.S. Food and Drug Administration
OPRP: Handwashing Guidelines – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Published on May 23, 2011
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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