4 ms·

How about sponge with soap? I use soap when washing dishes, and after I'm done, I just leave it there (I don't clean the soap from the sponge).

sambe 9y ago
Soap is mostly for helping to remove dirt by helping both scrubbing and the mixture of oils in water. I think it has some side-effect as an antibacterial due to pH or something, but it's not inherently a bug killer (of course, you can get anti-bacterial soap these days. Arguably a bad thing globally).
- yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
  Wasn't antimicrobial soap just banned in the US?
  - tgb 9y ago
    Not quite banned, but a marketing ban: > The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a final rule establishing that over-the-counter (OTC) consumer antiseptic wash products containing certain active ingredients can no longer be marketed. Companies will no longer be able to market antibacterial washes with these ingredients because manufacturers did not demonstrate that the ingredients are both safe for long-term daily use and more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illness and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products. https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/ucm517478.htm https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/u...
josho 9y ago
Soap doesn't kill germs, it simply makes it easier to wash germs off by making water fit into smaller areas. So, a damp sponge is a perfect environment for growing bacteria. Now if you are using antibacterial soap your sponge may be fine like that, but then those soaps have concerns of their own (eg. They kill good bacteria that we apparently want to keep around)
- vbuwivbiu 9y ago
  it's difficult to google but i read somewhere that normal soap makes bacteria pop due to dissolving their membranes
stephengillie 9y ago
(Non-antibacterial) soap just sticks to bacteria, making them more slippery, so they can be washed away. They're still alive in the drain and septic/sewer. But soap doesn't just magically do this - it has to be foaming, as scrubbing allows the soap molecules to magnetically organize. As the hydrophobic soap molecules stick to the non-polar bacteria, they form a bubble shell that's not unlike a cell wall. To produce this foam with normal hand soap takes ~20 seconds of rotational scrubbing - a soap-Rasengan, if you will. Bacteria are in everything, including every breath of air and gulp of water. Our immune system kills the ones which get through our small intestine's mesh system.
- eternauta3k 9y ago
  > scrubbing allows the soap molecules to magnetically organize Do you have any links about this?
- koolba 9y ago
  Is it possible to use electricity to kill bacteria? A soaked sponge would be conductive enough to pass a current through. Essentially a sponge Chidori.

sambe 9y ago

Soap is mostly for helping to remove dirt by helping both scrubbing and the mixture of oils in water. I think it has some side-effect as an antibacterial due to pH or something, but it's not inherently a bug killer (of course, you can get anti-bacterial soap these days. Arguably a bad thing globally).

yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
Wasn't antimicrobial soap just banned in the US?
- tgb 9y ago
  Not quite banned, but a marketing ban: > The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a final rule establishing that over-the-counter (OTC) consumer antiseptic wash products containing certain active ingredients can no longer be marketed. Companies will no longer be able to market antibacterial washes with these ingredients because manufacturers did not demonstrate that the ingredients are both safe for long-term daily use and more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illness and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products. https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/ucm517478.htm https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/u...

josho 9y ago

Soap doesn't kill germs, it simply makes it easier to wash germs off by making water fit into smaller areas. So, a damp sponge is a perfect environment for growing bacteria. Now if you are using antibacterial soap your sponge may be fine like that, but then those soaps have concerns of their own (eg. They kill good bacteria that we apparently want to keep around)

vbuwivbiu 9y ago
it's difficult to google but i read somewhere that normal soap makes bacteria pop due to dissolving their membranes

stephengillie 9y ago

(Non-antibacterial) soap just sticks to bacteria, making them more slippery, so they can be washed away. They're still alive in the drain and septic/sewer. But soap doesn't just magically do this - it has to be foaming, as scrubbing allows the soap molecules to magnetically organize. As the hydrophobic soap molecules stick to the non-polar bacteria, they form a bubble shell that's not unlike a cell wall. To produce this foam with normal hand soap takes ~20 seconds of rotational scrubbing - a soap-Rasengan, if you will. Bacteria are in everything, including every breath of air and gulp of water. Our immune system kills the ones which get through our small intestine's mesh system.

eternauta3k 9y ago
> scrubbing allows the soap molecules to magnetically organize Do you have any links about this?
koolba 9y ago
Is it possible to use electricity to kill bacteria? A soaked sponge would be conductive enough to pass a current through. Essentially a sponge Chidori.