Yes. For everyday washing at home, a bar of soap is a good, effective choice. You don’t need a pump bottle to get your hands clean. And yet “Is bar soap hygienic?” is one of those questions that keeps coming up.
I understand the thinking. Someone washes their dirty hands with a bar, puts it down, and the next person picks it up. Surely that means they’re passing their germs along? It sounds plausible. But it misses a rather important part of the process: the washing.
True soap is naturally alkaline
Traditional soap, made by combining oils and fats with an alkali, is naturally alkaline. That makes it a less welcoming environment for bacteria to grow in. And bar that can dry between uses also offers less moisture for microbial growth.
So the idea that a properly kept bar is simply a cosy home for germs misses some useful chemistry. Its alkalinity is part of the picture, alongside drying between uses and the washing and rinsing that happen when you use it. Alkaline doesn’t mean sterile, but there’s no need for soap to be sterile to help you get clean.
The soap helps wash germs away
Soap helps loosen dirt and oils, allowing them and microbes to be rinsed away, so finding bacteria on a used bar doesn’t mean those bacteria will remain on the next person’s hands after washing.
In a study published in Epidemiology & Infection, researchers deliberately added two types of bacteria to soap bars at levels far higher than those previously reported on used bars. After people washed with those bars, neither test bacterium was detected on their hands. That’s reassuring evidence for routine handwashing.
And what about the pump bottle?
We often assume liquid soap must be more hygienic because nobody touches the soap itself. But we do touch the pump. Usually with the very hands we’re about to wash. When did you last clean yours, the pump I mean, obvs! No judgement. There are quite enough things on the household jobs list already. 😂
A liquid soap dispenser isn’t automatically germ-free. Research into refillable liquid-soap dispensers has found bacterial contamination, including biofilms on and inside pump heads. That doesn’t mean you should worry about every bottle beside the sink. It does mean that “it comes out of a pump” is by no means a guarantee of better hygiene.
Soap dishes and dispensers both benefit from being kept clean.
A bar is easy to look after
You don’t need an elaborate routine.
Rinse off any visible dirt, keep your bar on a draining dish, and give it a chance to dry between uses. Clean the dish regularly too. Sensible care for something you use every day, and it helps the bar last longer as well.
The important bit is how you wash
Whether you prefer a bar or a bottle, a hurried dab of soap and a quick splash won’t make the most of either. The NHS recommends washing for around 20 seconds, covering all parts of your hands, then rinsing and drying thoroughly.
You could spend those seconds enjoying the scent and luscious lather of a lovely handmade bar.
So, can you use solid soap with confidence?
For ordinary washing at home, yes, absolutely! A well-kept bar, water and a thorough wash make a perfectly practical combination. If you’ve been avoiding solid soap purely because you thought it was unhygienic, please don’t let that be the thing that puts you off.
Choose a bar you enjoy using, give it somewhere to drain, and let it get on with the job.
Lovely soap. Clean hands. Fewer plastic bottles. Sounds like a good arrangement to me. 😉
Vicki x
