Why You Should Get Rid of Antibacterial Soap

In our society right now, there is a strong emphasis (and capitalization) on a broad fear of germs.  More and more schools and parents are teaching proper hand-washing procedures, and that's great.  But we need to stop doing it with antibacterial soaps!  


I know, they kill 99% of germs, and reading that on the label makes everyone feel safer and cleaner.  But we don't actually need them.  In fact, by using them we're making the germs worse.

First of all, you can't keep your kids in a bubble of constant health by keeping all germs away.  If your kids don't have reasonable exposure to germs, their bodies won't develop solid immune systems; and when they do come across germs, they won't be able to fight them off.  So, take reasonable precautions and then relax!

But put away that antibacterial soap.  Antibacterial products kill almost all germs: 99.9%.  But that means that 0.1% of the germs were immune to the antibacterial agent and lived.  Those 0.1% of bacteria then breed, and the process repeats.  The result is that we are beginning to create new or stronger strains of bacteria, ones that aren't killed by antibacterial cleaners.

Scary, huh?

So save those harsh antibacterial products for the dangerous messes, and pull out that sweet-smelling, fancy soap you have in a cabinet somewhere.  Enjoy it.  It's good for you and the world!