Can bar soap transmit germs?

 

Up until now it has been thought that washing hands with bar soap and water can kill a lot of germs but can these bar soaps also transmit germs without us knowing?

There are always two sides to a story but washing hands with bar soap and water is not a story. In fact it is a full flash method of practicing hand hygiene as instructed by World health organization (WHO) and centers for disease control and prevention (CDC). According to both these authorities you need to wash your hands for 20 seconds with an approved bar soap and water and then dry them off.

Unclean hands – A sweet medium

We, humans are quite incapable of seeing germs with our naked eyes and therefore we can’t visualize how dirty our hands are at times. While we are working, eating, or running any errand, chances are we’d have a ton of microorganisms on our hands. Now these microorganism love to spread and proliferate and for that we can provide a sweet medium by not keeping our hands clean.

You need to understand one thing – dirty hands are contaminated hands and can therefore transfer germs from one surface to another without anybody even noticing. When we practice hand hygiene as instructed we are not only cleaning our hands but are also eliminating the possible routes of contamination and germ spread. Now that we do either by a bar soap or liquid hand wash.

How to wash hands?

For those of you who don’t know, here are some hand washing steps that you should learn: Just wet your hands under running water, rub bar soap with your hands until it lathers, then aptly scrub the front and back of your hands up until wrists. Don’t forget to pay special attention to spaces in between fingers and your thumbs. When you are done rubbing all these areas, then open the tap to wash your hands and later dry them with paper towel or air dryer.

Can it transmit germs?

Yes, well bar soaps may prove to be a source of contamination if used for a large office or building. Though bar soaps once used properly become free of germs because of all the antibacterial properties and rinsing but if a very large number of people are using the same soap then it might pose a problem because there just might not be enough soap or time. So, for a household using same bar soaps is completely fine but for large offices and workspaces, alternatives can be considered.

Just like you can wash your body with a shower gel or other alternatives such as bar soap and body wash, you can also use different methods for practicing hand hygiene if you think that bar soaps might add to germ spread. However, as explained above, due to the powerful germicidal properties of bar soaps, chances are very less that these might add to cross infection or unwanted germs transfer.

If you still have any questions, you can ask us right away. We’ll be more than happy to help you out.