I agree with Frank & Kelly. Besides, how will our bodies (or our children’s bodies) learn to fight off bacteria if we are killing them all with chemical goop?

Washing with plain soap and water is enough. The antibacterial effect of the soap is lost when you rinse your hand, anyway. Also, the use of hand sanitizers does not protect you from bacteria and viruses. It stays in your hand for only five minutes. After that, all bets are off.

No, sometimes at work but not at home

No. I use CLOROX bleach in EVERYTHING. Ha! I use it in my dishwater, my bath water, I use it to clean fruit and vegetables (lettuce included), and … I use it on my toothbrush. Wait! Don’t laugh. And, don’t recommend I see a shrink. I know there are dangers when exposed to too many chemicals. But, I don’t like the alternatives. Bacteria and viruses kill. My sister has a degree in microbiology for UC Berkeley. And, I have a friend who is a hospital administrator, and another a doctor. All tell me that more people die from hospital born infections, and subsequent complications, than from the disease or injury, which brought them the hospital. But, your local hospital will not confirm, admit, or release this fact. From my own experience, each time I’ve been hospitalize, ESPECIALLY when tubes or catheters have been used, I became infected. The truth is, I might have exposed my body to too much chlorine, but I’ll continue to stay stocked with my bottle of CLOROX bleach in my kitchen and bathroom. OH! I also bring CLOROX spray with me when I travel. Yes. This habit is excessive, but I feel safe.

Rarely, it scares me. I don’t think it’s healthy to be putting all those chemicals on the skin day after day. Once in awhile if you really touched something foul I guess, but otherwise I think soap is good enough.

Since when have we become obsessed with things like “anti-bacterial soap”? To me, it’s a just a ploy by the makers of such things, so we’ll spend our money on their junque! My grandmother used to say something like, “A child grows healthy by eating a peck of dirt in their lifetime.” It’s not the same, but it’s close enough. Don’t think it was literal, just an expression folks. Kids aren’t as healthy as we once were, because they are coddled too much. Their parents fret and worry about the smallest things, and then pass that fear onto their kids! And those kids grow up and continue the cycle. A little dirt never hurt anyone - and not all bacteria is bad, much of it is what KEEPS us healthy! - just like Frannie, Maggie, Sam phyllis, caro,l & Frank have said.

I used to use Clorax on everything - ended up ruining so many shirts, jeans and shorts - I am now using peroxide - does wonders on sink stains and that bit of mildew at the back of the water dispenser shelf on the frig. Does a great job cleaning coffee stains from cups and I use it in the laundry as a whitener. Two products that I now live with are vinegar and peroxide - throw a splash of both in the dishwasher and be amazed. As to the washing of hands I had heard years ago if you did the Happy Birthday bit in your head you had to sing it twice. Having attended Catholic schools that was the excuse used to convince us to replace the Happy Birthday 2x bit with one Hail Mary plus all sorts of good things would result. Now my daughter-in-law learned from her Doctor Uncle to sing twinkle twinkle little star twice and her Dad chided both of them insisting the song to sing OUTLOUD was “The Eyes of Texas.”

Just remembered my earliest school years - yep, dating myself - this was pre-WWII - for those of you who were in grade school in the late 1930s remember Lifeboy soap and we were all given a box with a bar of soap along with a note to our parents that encouraged them to take a bath more than once a week using Lifeboy - words like deododrant or disinfect were not in the vocabulary. And then later, Sweetheart Soap. All the frilly things we did with Sweetheart soap, net and a bit of ribbon. It was probably one of the first commercially produced scented soaps.

No I don’t use anything that is antibacterial. I do keep some of that waterless stuff in my purse but I don’t use it very often. My theory is that our bodies need a bit of bacteria in order to build up some resistance to the negative stuff. It’s working for me anyway! Haven’t had the flu or even a cold in many years. I don’t get flu shots either.

A couple years ago mom and I went on a cruise for 10 days. After we set sail we found out that it had been a ‘sick ship’ just prior to our boarding. They were constantly cleaning and disinfecting everything everywhere. We had that disinfectant gel at every door into everywhere. Luckily, I only got sick for three days. A man and his wife who dined with us got sick and made the mistake of seeing the onboard doctor. They were from Great Britain and spent 8 of the 10 days of the cruise quarantined to their cabin. We had a stateroom attendant from India and he gave me instructions for a quick cure without the doctor. A few drops of Bitters in soda water. I also travel with many of the over the counter meds I would keep at home for emergencies. Both my mom and I are immuno-suppressed and very cautious. Mom and I have traveled all over the world and manage quite well at keeping from getting sick. Not only that, life’s too short and we are gonna travel any and everywhere for as long as we physically can.