I don't have much knowledge about the ingredients of soap and the differences between composition of beauty and anti-bacterial soaps. I want to know, are beauty soaps effective against germs like anti-bacterial soaps? Is there any benefit of using anti-bacterial ones?
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1 Answer
There may be some benefit in using anti-bacterial soaps in more clinical settings where people already have compromised immune systems, but most of the research points to there being no real benefits to using anti bacterial soaps.
Soap works by reducing the surface tension of the oils and dirt on skin, allowing them to be washed away with water. All soaps achieve this. Anti bacterial soaps add agents such as triclosan to kill surface bacteria. While it does achieve these aims, it also kills beneficial bacteria that reside on the skin, and has not been proven in studies to reduce infection rates. The US based FDA has also raised questions about it increasing bacterial resistance, as well as higher exposure levels than actually reported.
So while there may be beneficial uses in clinical settings, in general for the home, using warm/hot soap and water, combined with a good technique for handwashing should be sufficient.
