Are you thinking about switching to soap bars to reduce plastic waste but are worried about their safety especially now with the Covid pandemic and all?
We know we should be casting aside chemical-ridden liquid soaps and shower gels, doing our bit for the environment by using less plastic bottles etc but one concern that continually comes up is - do bar soap carry germs and viruses?
Well, the straight answer is yes and no! Obviously, you want to wash with something clean, right? Germs are not attracted to soap, they are attracted to water. A dry bar of soap will not attract germs.
If you leave your soap in a moist environment, say on the side of the bath in a pool of water, then yes, moist slimy soap molecules will attract low detectable levels of bacteria. You should know that everything is covered with germs of some sort but most of them don't have an effect on us; otherwise we would be sick all the time.
It is highly improbable that the bacteria left on your soap will cause an infection or indeed make you ill. They will have no adverse consequence to you or your skin cells. In fact, most of the germs come from you.
Sharing your favourite soap bar with other family members is nothing to worry about either. You and your family likely all share many of the same micro-organisms in any case.
Using a bar of soap to wash your hands in public areas though is probably not a great idea and generally public facilities don't usually offer bar soaps.
If you have a fragile immune system, it may be advisable to show a little extra caution. In these cases, perhaps using liquid soaps, hand sanitizers that you can dispense from a container, or shower gels would be a better choice.
But for general public health, most of our bodies will happily and productively, fend off the germs and we need not worry.
Soap bars work against viruses too, they destroy the lipid membrane that surrounds the virus leading to it falling apart. Science has shown that a virus cannot live on soap bars either which is why we are encouraged to wash our hands with soap and water as often as possible.
Rinse your soap bar before and after use, keep your soap dry by storing it in a soap dish which raises the soap so that excess moisture can drain away or hang it up in a sisal soap bag between uses and let it dry. I like to keep a separate bar for shower use and hang it up in the sisal bag to dry then have one on a bamboo dish at the basin for regular hand washing. Our natural french soap bars lather really well and leave my skin clean and moisturised too.