this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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Today I Learned

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[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago (3 children)

There is no such thing as "anti-bacterial soap", on the basis that all soap, by it's very function, is anti-bacterial. Because of this fact any company can add the words "anti-bacterial" on their soap, as it's never technically wrong.

How does soap kill bacteria?

Soap is an emulsifier type chemical. That is to say, soap has molecules that like water and hate oil on one end, and hate water and like oil on the other. The molecule looks kinda like a hairpin, and you cannot have soap without it.

Cell and bacterial walls have a double layer of similar molecules that create a barrier between the inside of the cell and the outside world. The soap molecules attach themselves to the bacteria's walls and then tears them apart.

Your skin is largely protected because it's made of many layers, the top most being made of dead skin cells. But high enough concentrations of soap can cause serious chemical burns, as what the soap does to bacteria it can do to your skin cells. However, very low concentrations of soap is all that's needed to wash yourself.

[–] bitwaba@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The difference between regular soap and antibacterial soap is that the antibacterial agent is usually something like triclosan or triclocarban, which is meant to slow the growth of new bacteria.

This gives soap a 1 2 punch as when you wash you kill pretty much 100% of the bacteria, but bacteria is everywhere so you almost immediately start picking more up as soon as you start coming into contact with other surfaces (the shower knob, the door handle, your phone, etc) so the antibacterial agent will help prevent the explosive bacterial growth after you've acquired it.

To be clear, I'm not defending antibacterial soap. In 99% of cases regular soap does exactly what people need. As a regular person, if you're worried about bacterial contamination that much, you shouldn't be using antibacterial soap in place of regular soap when you wash - you should just be washing more often.

I personally do have a very specific benefit that I experience when I use antibacterial soap: it takes longer for me to start smelling after I start sweating. The difference is noticeable for me. Presumably it is noticeable for the people around me as well. I could fix this problem by showering more often, but when I already shower once a day I'm not gonna go grab a quick one after lunch just for the hell of it, especially since excess water use is a problem anyways. Also where the fuck am I gonna find a shower that I'm just free to use at lunch time? So, antibacterial soap, and deodorant, fills that time gap for me.

[–] graymess@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for explaining this simply. Somehow I never learned this in school.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Seriously!? Huh...

This was my very first subject in college level chemistry here in Denmark.

[–] graymess@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I managed to graduate having taken no chemistry classes lol.

[–] areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Most countries don't have colleges like the American ones. It's called University and you only do things related to your degree. We also don't normally do the whole major and minor thing. It's very weird that you have people in who aren't doing a chemistry course and take chemistry classes in degree level education. Instead in most places you do college or sixth form before starting University, that's a separate institution. College and sixth form does some of what high schools do in America (starting at 16), but are also just a general educational institution that anybody can attend to do any number of different qualifications. Some even offer courses that form part of a degree where you spend your last year at University.

[–] GoosLife@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

That is literally how the school system works in Denmark, too. I'm not sure why he's taking for granted that anyone would have taken college level chemistry classes. We can pretty much pick and choose what classes we want to take starting around age 16, and once you get to a college level, your classes are just related to whatever degree you're getting.