"Too Clean"

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moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
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Look at all the ridiculous things kids are allergic to these days. There's your clue.
Yep, that and eczema, asthma...

We are too clean. Personally, I stay away from triclosan as much as possible. Did you know triclosan is even in toothpaste? Ugh... no Colgate Total toothpaste for me.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
I blame my mom for my shitty immune system, she never breastfed me. Outside of that she wasn't over protective at all with this kind of crap. Hell I had to wait a week to get a broken wrist checked cause she thought I was being a pussy when I was 13 lol.

When I was a teen, I sliced up the side of my knee pretty good - 2 inches long, 1/2 inch deep. My mom wouldn't take me to get it stitched, she just told me to put bandaides on it. I had to keep my leg locked stiff for days so I wouldn't open up the cut while it was healing. I still have a huge friggin scar from it.
 
Mar 11, 2004
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OP, not sure why you singled out Lysol or disenfecting wipes as I believe they don't even use this stuff.

Huge difference between using crappy, weak disinfectant soap (keep in mind not all disinfectant soap sucks either), and say using wipes to clean up after you've prepared raw meat.
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
12
56
When I was a teen, I sliced up the side of my knee pretty good - 2 inches long, 1/2 inch deep. My mom wouldn't take me to get it stitched, she just told me to put bandaides on it. I had to keep my leg locked stiff for days so I wouldn't open up the cut while it was healing. I still have a huge friggin scar from it.
Scars can be cute. ;)
Seriously though, look how you turned out by having a Mom who didn't coddle the crap out of you.

You aren't a spoiled brat are you? :p
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
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OP, not sure why you singled out Lysol or disenfecting wipes as I believe they don't even use this stuff.

I mentioned Lysol because it's a part of the entire ethos of oversanitizing that too many people have.

Huge difference between using crappy, weak disinfectant soap (keep in mind not all disinfectant soap sucks either), and say using wipes to clean up after you've prepared raw meat.

Sanitizing wipes aren't needed after preparing raw meat/poultry. What's needed is common sense is. Unfortunately, we as a nation have too many sanitizing wipes and not enough common sense.
 
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fire400

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 2005
5,204
21
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op, are you retarded or something? it has been a known fact for quite a while that using antibacterial soaps etc restrict the immunities your immune system would normally build. this is far from new news...

retarded? why?

there is no such thing as a stupid question, is there?

our genes are breaking down from medical treaments anyway. might as well help these companies profit from American families before China beats our GDP in 2020.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
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op, are you retarded or something? it has been a known fact for quite a while that using antibacterial soaps etc restrict the immunities your immune system would normally build. this is far from new news...

Retarded? No.. but the next time you create a post in here I'll be sure to ask you if you are retarded, because posting something you're already aware about must be a sign of retardation. :rolleyes:
 
Mar 11, 2004
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I mentioned Lysol because it's a part of the entire ethos of oversanitizing that too many people have.



Sanitizing wipes aren't needed after preparing raw meat/poultry. What's needed is common sense is. Unfortunately, we have too many sanitizing wipes and not enough common sense.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. You can both use common sense and sanitizing wipes. In fact, I'd say if anything sanitizing wipes exhibit common sense. You seem to be suggesting that just because people use these products it constitutes overuse, which I don't think you're actually intending that. I'm not sure that I agree about overuse being worse (if its killing the stuff, I'm not sure how it can build up immunity to it...), but it is pointless and could be causing problems of its own due to excessive exposure to the chemical.

That's actually what this study seems to be showing more than what you're claiming. Its just showing that they're seeing a relationship between some allergies and extensive use of this stuff. Huge difference.

"It is possible, for example, that individuals who have an allergy are more hygienic because of their condition, and that the relationship we observed is, therefore, not casual or is an example of reverse causation," said Aiello.

The researchers even admit that their results might even not be correct for that conclusion (that these products are causing the allergies).
 
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keird

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2002
3,714
9
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The only reason I buy this is beacuse it didn't say 'anti-bacterial' anywhere on the package. I wish I could find a dish detergent that wasn't anti bacterial.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
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You can both use common sense and sanitizing wipes.

Not at all. If you think you have to sanitize everything.. and are willing to pay for a special wipe to do so.. you're not using common sense.

That's actually what this study seems to be showing more than what you're claiming. Its just showing that they're seeing a relationship between some allergies and extensive use of this stuff. Huge difference.

My claims are not based entirely on this study. My claims are also based on life experience.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
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Big fucking duh. I've been saying this for years when my wife was trying to bring antibacterial soap and hand sanetizer into our home; I would not let her as that stuff is terrible. It's too weak to do anything and just ends up making the bugs stronger. That was my theory anyway, not sure if it's true or not. :D

KT

Depends on which ones you're talking about. It is unlikely that bacteria will ever become resistant to hand sanitizers as they are just ethanol suspended in a gel. Solublizing the membrane like that is nearly impossible to evolve around. With triclosan, bacteria can slowly become immune to it, but it takes a long time. I also find it amusing that they put triclosan in dish soaps now. Don't people realize that soap kills bacteria?

As for the thread topic, I would still disinfect cuts (MRSA is no joke, and I know a guy who lost a hand from a cut he got cutting a fish), but the obsession with sanitizing households is over the top.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
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The only reason I buy this is beacuse it didn't say 'anti-bacterial' anywhere on the package. I wish I could find a dish detergent that wasn't anti bacterial.

I remember ranting about this to a former roommate, that soap kills bacteria anyway, and his response was "but I'd rather buy the one that I'm sure will kill them all." Therein lies the problem. No one will fault you for adding function, but you could get screwed for leaving it out.
 

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
25
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This is news? MDs have been warning of this since what, the 40s?

@KeithTalent It's not that the antimicrobials are too weak, in fact, the stuff in hand soap etc, is incredibly potent, 100s of times the levels taken orally for illness. The problem is that there will always be a certain percentage of microbes which are not killed. These naturally resistant microbes are then the only ones left around to breed, as all of there natural predators have been killed by the antimicrobial. Repeat for endless generations and you start ending up with microbes nothing kills.

Hand soaps and whatnot have very little effect overall though. The real problem is that we put this stuff in ALL our processed food and we spray all the chickens and cows, etc. with it, thereby ensuring that we come in to contacts with and ingest microbes which are resistant.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
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Big fucking duh. I've been saying this for years when my wife was trying to bring antibacterial soap and hand sanetizer into our home; I would not let her as that stuff is terrible. It's too weak to do anything and just ends up making the bugs stronger. That was my theory anyway, not sure if it's true or not. :D
Of course it's true. Doctors have been saying this about antibiotics for years. Antibiotics should be a last resort because they force bacteria to evolve.

In general I only use soap because it makes my hands feel nice. I'm washing my hands because they feel sticky or greasy. I don't really know if they have bacteria, nor do I really care.
(Don't worry, I wash my hands a lot and cover my mouth with my arm if I have a cold)
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
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But Jenny McCarthy says if I vaccinate my kids they will become retarded.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
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Look at all the ridiculous things kids are allergic to these days. There's your clue.

This. growing up I hardly ever washing my hands, and was rarely sick. We used to play in this nasty stream that came off of a swampy pond, we would come home soaked and filthy.

Now kids get a little muddy and the parents sanitize them from head to toe.
 

palswim

Golden Member
Nov 23, 2003
1,049
0
71
www.palswim.net
Look at all the ridiculous things kids are allergic to these days. There's your clue.
This. growing up I hardly ever washing my hands, and was rarely sick. We used to play in this nasty stream that came off of a swampy pond, we would come home soaked and filthy.

Now kids get a little muddy and the parents sanitize them from head to toe.

I can't look down on "kids these days" because I have allergies and asthma as well; I think I grew up a little bit too clean.

But, I'm trying to find the balance between clean and dirty before I have kids of my own (and trying now to convince my wife of the merits of filth:D).
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,971
34,173
136
No sh!t. Gosh, how did we humans manage to survive before Lysol and their ilk came along with a sanitizing wipe/spray for everything and before bottles of hand sanitizer were found every 10 feet. :rolleyes:
Well, lots of people died from infections of minor wounds, that's how.

Oh and dysentery.
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
1,379
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Hmmm. I don't mind getting really really dirty (working on old trucks, going mudding/camping for a week at a time, etc), but when I'm done playing I like to get really clean. My favorite soap is Dial, which has the antibacterial stuff in it. It's one of the only soaps that makes me feel clean though. Anything with pretty much any moisturizer, or ANY liquid soap leaves me with a slimy feeling on my skin.

I never get sick though, maybe once every 4-5 years. Maybe a mix of both is good? Don't be afraid to get dirty, and don't be afraid to get clean after?
 

angminas

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2006
3,331
26
91
I use Ivory liquid soap at home. It's not full of triclosan and all the other stuff. Leaves my hands clean enough to handle my contacts. Last I heard, you could still find it in gallons at Sam's Club.