# Does lye soap really clean



## Nana

I have been asked by numerous people to prove that the lye soap I make is really cleaning their hands. Many are healthcare workers and are paranoid. Does anyone know of any research I can send their way.


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## swgoats

I found this 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/1212-fighting_cold_and_flu_germs.htm

It did specify if the soap it mentioned is soap or a bar of detergent.


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## Nana

Thank you that is good. I will print that article for them. It acts a surfactant and doesn't kill germs but just washes them away.


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## Aja-Sammati

There are a lot of articles out there about anti-bacterial soaps being unhealthy, too.


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## todog

I saw something just yesterday that stated what ever soap you wash with you need to wash for a certain amount of time to wash away the germs. those quick washes, wet hands apply soap rinse, doesnt do the trick. Norovirus is the hardest to kill or wash away and it is the stomach flu virus.


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## MF-Alpines

My standard answer: All soap is lye soap.


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## Trysta

:yeahthat 
What you (and all of us soapmakers) make is just lyesoap with better ingredients and the good stuff left in it, as opposed to the lyesoap they buy now.
Marion


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## VickiLynne

Just something I came across some time ago..........

The History of Hand Washing 

by Vicki Racker MD

Did you know that during the Civil War, more lives were lost to infection
than to weapons?

During Lincoln’s presidency, doctors did not wash their hands. Doctors did
not understand how diseases were spread.

Dr. Ignac Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician who practiced during that
time, was the first to suggest than hand washing would be a good idea.
One in four women whose babies were delivered by doctors at a hospital in
Vienna died of childbed fever. He observed that the death rate was highest
among doctors who did internal exams on women after working in the
morgue.

He concluded that the doctors were carrying some sort of particle, now
understood to be bacteria, that they transmitted to their patients. After
doctors routinely wash their hands in chlorine solution, the death rate
dropped from 25% to below 1%. His recommendation saved the lives of
millions.

Surgeons have elevated hand washing into a ritual that's as complex as a
formal tea ceremony. You don't need to do that; just rub soap on your
hands for the amount of time it takes to sing the ABC song.

Skip the antibiotic soap. Bacteria divide quickly and reshuffle their DNA to
create another strain of bacteria resistant to the soap that's even more
capable of making you sick. And most colds and flu are caused by viruses,
which antibiotic soaps will not touch.


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## hsmomof4

> My standard answer: All soap is lye soap.


Given who is asking, I don't think that this addresses what they're getting at. They are meaning, does this plain old bar soap clean their hands like their antibacterial liquid syndet stuff does?


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## Guest

Well it sure gets my barn clothes clean and they get very dirty... I haven't washed my hair with shampoo in over 10 years, I have very healthy hair.. I use my bar soap to wash my hair.. When I am forced to use commerical soaps ( visiting, in a restroom etc) I don't feel clean and I am one to wash my hands a long time.. and really scrub my hands and they come away feeling dry and itching using commerical. Handmade soaps have really helped my hubby with his ezcema and other skin issues ( he has Crohns disease).. So needless to say, I am a believer in handmade soaps.. and will never go back to commerical products..


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## hsmomof4

I'm with you, Barb!


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## VickiLynne

:yeahthat 

What Barbara said!

Vicki/NC


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## Greylady

MRFBarbara said:


> Well it sure gets my barn clothes clean and they get very dirty... I haven't washed my hair with shampoo in over 10 years, I have very healthy hair.. I use my bar soap to wash my hair..


Just a question, do ever feel a build up in your hair? Reason asking is because I was reading somewhere just as soap scum build up like in your tub it will in your hair so to use a vinegar rinse to prevent that. I like the way mine feels when I use my soap too. It took about a week for it to adjust though getting all the other junk off of it. Do you make a special shampoo bar that you use?


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## Guest

No special bar here and no I don't have build up, but I rinse really well..


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## MF-Alpines

And just so you folks know, Barb does have beautiful hair!


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