The Down and Dirty of Antimicrobial Soap
Lurking around the corner of 2019 was…COVID! Well, it was the Corona Virus at the time, until people ran so many beer memes. They told us to wash our packaged groceries up for gosh sakes! Everything needs washed! Wash! Wash! No one on the planet now will not have 2020 etched into their brains that major events happened that year.
Ironically, late 2019 is when I noticed people were asking more and more for an “antibacterial” soap.
Long before, back in 2005, I looked into Triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient at the time found on just about everyone’s kitchen and bathroom counter. People lathered that chemical multiple times a day, feeling "clean" and "healthier." They washed their dishes in it, some even had it in their body wash. I didn't commonly use it. IF I don’t know what an ingredient is, I usually take a sharp U turn. We only used a triclosan "soap" after working with our sheep or cows and only during calving, lambing, or worming. I mistakenly wasn’t trusting my own soap when it came to parasites! What I learned about triclosan is written in this piece below, that I captured from the Wayback Machine. Basically what I remember is that it only took a drop of the undiluted chemical in a football field sized swimming pool to kill all the fish. I couldn't believe it was being washed into our water tables right through our sink and shower drains. Many people don't know, but when we rebranded, we changed our logo to the fish to embody our commitment to the health of the people and planet. (If the All Good Things name confuses you, that'll be a future blog, but we were under that name until 2017.)
Webpage from 2008, what I had written about Triclosan:
Ok, I couldn't really see it well either, but it was cool to remember that website I built SO LONG AGO, when there weren't "website building apps." It still worked better than most government sites I have to say!
Since then, in 2016 FDA did ban triclosan chemicals citing “insufficient evidence demonstrating their safety and effectiveness for long term daily use.” Told you. Sounds a bit like more recent FDA approved items.
But in 2019 people kept asking and I kept telling them, "Plain soap (or better yet, wonderful soap like ours) and water is the best thing for common removal of germs," as said by the medical community for years. I believe why it is best is partly because of the alkaline content inherently in real soap as opposed to non real soap and that soap makes water “wetter” enabling it to reach into all the little nooks and crannies of the skin. The friction of rubbing the hands together, the bubbles and water, all contribute to washing away undesirables.
Some companies cause worry among people about the alkalinity of real soap, but the human skin has the ability to correct itself back to an acid mantle. (Hair does not, that’s another blog)
My explanations of germ destroying washed over and past them, the people wanted more, more! So I started looking into antiseptic essential oils and found what I believe to be the perfect blend for hand washing. We use a blend including these essential oils and others: Lemon Eucalyptus, Clove, Lemon, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Palmarosa, and Lavender. They provide a wide range of aromatherapy benefits due to the synergistic effect. Many of these oils are known for strong antimicrobial actions. They can purify the air when diffusing by reducing airborne pathogens, and can also disinfect. Specifically Lavender, Rosemary and PalmaRosa are skin healthy oils that can be anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and have healing properties assisting with minor skin irritations, acne and more.
Oregano, thyme, sage and lavender have been researched for the antifungal properties and when used in proper dilutions (as with most essential oil) can be useful in preventing or managing fungal infections both on skin and the environment.
We took these highly functioning Essential Oils and added them to our all natural blend of saponified botanical oils and the result-Auntie Microbes, a super mild but effective germ destroying fighter, and in my opinion, it's the best way to safely rid oneself of unwanted microbes on the skin.
Wow did my Auntie Microbes Soap get popular quickly in 2020! People were purchasing 12 at a time! We could hardly keep it in stock (except for the fact that no one was out shopping, only buying online, and we weren’t need all of our 55+ essential oils soaps made as often!) You can purchase it here in 1 or a 3 set bundle.
It’s a great soap for the household sink when bad microbials are lurking around, or year round at the bathroom counter. I do have some customers that use it all over! During cold and flu season it's a best seller! It's completely biodegradable, including the box. Pair it with our Biodegradable Nail Brush, and rest it on a Made in USA Soap Lift made from plant plastic!
Nail Brush/Auntie Microbes Bundle
We also sell it as an essential oil blend here.
I must share just one more memory. It was just when people were getting a crazy look in their eye about the Covid, I was the the Big Box store for something that I couldn't find elsewhere. A panicked old man was looking frantically from person to person and then directly at me and said, "I can't find the soap! Where is the soap? I think they're out of soap!" I said, "If you want to drive downtown, I have enough soap there for everyone here!" He was way to panicked to understand and went his frantic way. The irony.
**Antifungal Activity**: Research has shown that many of these oils, including oregano, thyme, sage, and lavender, possess antifungal properties, which can be useful in managing or preventing fungal infections both topically and environmentally.[](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291810483_Antifungal_activity_of_lemon_eucalyptus_thyme_oregano_sage_and_lavender_essential_oils_against_Aspergillus_niger_and_Aspergillus_tubingensis_isolated_from_grapes)