anti-bacterial cleaners, good or bad?

[NickInTheNorth]

Just following on from a discussion I have been having elsewhere, I just wondered what people's opinions are about the massive use of anti-bacterial products in the home.

For me they are yet another con job foisted upon us by the marketing departments. We have managed to keep our homes and persons clean for centuries without them. Were we have needed to kill germs bleach has done it superbly, and cheaply, and without any long term detriment to the environment. For the most part even that is not required and we can maintain good hygiene with basic soap and water.

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Just following on from a side road in the Blair good or bad topic I just thought I would ask what people think of anti-bacterial products.

For me they are yet another con job foisted upon us by the marketing departments. We have managed to keep our homes and persons clean for centuries without them. Were we have needed to kill germs bleach has done it superbly, and cheaply, abd without any long term detriment to the environment. For the most part even that is not required and we can maintain good hygiene with basic soap and water.

There are many interesting reports available on-line that suggest that household use of these products is causing many problems.

For example this one from Australia (http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Antibacterial_cleaning_products?open)

Anyone any thoughts?

[Dadie]

I tend to use my steam cleaner for most jobs around the house it works well and doesnt use nasty chemicals for other jobs i still use bleach im not really a fan of the antibacterial cleaners they tend to leave my hands in a mess so god knows what they do to the environment!

[Ash]

there is nothing wrong with using antibacterial cleaner, the one i use doesnt have a strong smell like bleach, doesnt mess ur clothes if u accidentally get it on urself, so im all for it! would rather use that in the kitchen that bleach
but bleach for the toilet! :roll:

[MadPict]

"Eat a peck of dirt before you die" is a good adage - perhaps our lives are too 'sterile' with kids suffering higher rates of asthma etc than before. Some experts believe it is down to living in double glazed, sealed homes where the bugs can live as comfortably as we do.

The current obsession with cleaning is only helping the companies selling the products....

[henry20]

"Eat a peck of dirt before you die" is a good adage - perhaps our lives are too 'sterile' with kids suffering higher rates of asthma etc than before. Some experts believe it is down to living in double glazed, sealed homes where the bugs can live as comfortably as we do.

The current obsession with cleaning is only helping the companies selling the products....

Or 'It takes a tonne of dirt to kill poor folk' ..... have to agree with you MadPict. I work with someone who is very paranoid about dust/dirt/sell by dates and she is a lot more susceptible to colds, flu etc and has asthma and just about every allergy you can think of. In fact, her yearly sick days is more than everyone else put together.

[Angela]

"Eat a peck of dirt before you die" is a good adage - perhaps our lives are too 'sterile' with kids suffering higher rates of asthma etc than before. Some experts believe it is down to living in double glazed, sealed homes where the bugs can live as comfortably as we do.

The current obsession with cleaning is only helping the companies selling the products....

I agree, Madpict. I stick to pretty basic cleaning methods!

I find that the more "advanced" cleaning products are, the more havoc they seem to play with my sinuses [evil]

[MadPict]

"We" ensure "our" kids don't touch "that" and plead with them not to put "those" in their mouths and from an early age wipe everything down with antibacterial products, so their natural defences are not exposed to many of the things older generations were exposed to, so it is little wonder they seem to develop allergies to many everyday items.

Hospitals are now battling strains of viruses with not much success even with the modern armoury of gels andhand washes. Is this down to the reduction in staffing numbers so staff are more 'sloppy' with their precedures due to lack of time?
Where were all these MRSAs 50 years ago? Matrons ensured their wards were clean. Hospitals weren't run like businesses with the contract for cleaning going to the lowest bidder. They certainly didn't have the wide range of cleaning products we have today. So I do wonder if our obsession with cleaniness is in part due to the increase in these problems...

Right I'm off to clean the bathroom....

[pat]

Too many sanitisers and 'smelly' cleaners.
I use a steamer for ovens, hard surfaces, bathrooms, in garden for getting rid of algae and various growths, vinegar and water on the wooden floors, vinegar for quite a lot of cleaning around the house, clothes and garden. Use non-bio powder in washing machine.
Windows open in the morning on the days we do not have rain, quick blast of fresh air gets rid of a lot of smells, bugs and freshens the house and wakens me up.
I avoid those 'smelly' shops like the plague - find I do not like the false smells, start coughing and cannot stop.

[Angela]

Hospitals are now battling strains of viruses with not much success even with the modern armoury of gels andhand washes. Is this down to the reduction in staffing numbers so staff are more 'sloppy' with their precedures due to lack of time?
Where were all these MRSAs 50 years ago? Matrons ensured their wards were clean. Hospitals weren't run like businesses with the contract for cleaning going to the lowest bidder. They certainly didn't have the wide range of cleaning products we have today. So I do wonder if our obsession with cleaniness is in part due to the increase in these problems...



Better not let me get started on "hospital acquired" infections, MadPict!

Got one last year, it nearly killed me...

I could rant ALL day! [evil] rant, rant, rant, rant, rant, rant......

[Margaret M.]

I have gone back to the basics when it comes to cleaning too -- I make sure that anything I use in the house will not pour toxins into the air. As I understand it, antibacterial products should never be used. Although they kill most of the bugs, the ones that survive go on to produce stronger, more resistant new generation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. If the products contain triclosan, they can also form byproducts including chloroform, when combined with chlorinated water.

[Jeemag_USA]

get rid of all your anti bacterial cleaners and buy a big bottle of distilled vinegar and use a vinegar and water solution instead. Save a lot of money too.

[Mister Squiggle]

When my first baby was born, I went through a bit of a "sterilise everything" frenzy. All the new mothers I met were doing the same thing, using anti-bacterial this and that, taking 20 sterilised dummies out with them to play group in case one should be dropped on the floor etc
When my daughter was coming up for 18 months, I looked out to see her sitting on the back lawn, sharing her ice cream cone with the cat. One lick for her, one for the cat etc.
Obviously, this had to stop and I in no way endorse allowing kids and pets to eat from the same plate :D but I realised that, as she had not (thankfully) had any serious illnesses or allergies, nor had she started purring, my daughter was probably getting exposure to lots of germs which were in fact strengthening her resistance; from our cat, from the hens, from the dirt she loved playing in (and often eating too).
This all might sound like common sense, but I think a lot of parents are really frightened into thinking they have to hermetically seal off their children from germs in the early years and it takes a big leap of faith (or a hungry cat) to accept that dirty fingers, mud cakes, drinking from the garden hose etc will not in fact cause instant death. The companies that flog this stuff would have you believe otherwise, but then they have another agenda, don't they?
From the cat-ice cream incident onwards, I started to relax about germs. Out went the anti-bacterial stuff and (fingers crossed) I have two quite healthy, often a bit dirty and very happy kids.
Common sense rules in our house now, rather than the chemical companies.

[peedie]

since i was a a coal-chewing, mud pie making, mud chewing, drinking from the garden hose, ditch guddling, kinda gal when i was wee (who shared every item of food with the dog) [lol]

and i have never had, asthma, allergys dont take the cold bad, never had anything serious wrong with me (touch wood)

i dont think anti - bacterials cleaners are not as important as the adverts make out

[karia]

Hi Pat,
Got to agree, steam cleaners are both fantastic & natural!

(mind you, the ants are back!)

Karia x

[WeeBurd]

I wouldn't be without my anti-bac spray for cleaning the WeeBurdies high-chairs, super quick and convenient when you're running around after the little blighters![lol]

[mums angels]

I use anti bac cleaners alot and i couldnt do with out them but i know a couple of people that spray away at everything all day everyday , bleaching floors constantly etc ...and all i can say is that thier houses are spotless but thier kids are always off school ill , wheras my house is quite clean most of the time (toys clutter mainly) and my kids are rarley ill.

[NickInTheNorth]

I wouldn't be without my anti-bac spray for cleaning the WeeBurdies high-chairs, super quick and convenient when you're running around after the little blighters![lol]

We just let the dog clean it. She does a grand job. Very natural, no chemicals involved.

Keeps the dog food bill down too! :D

[Lolabelle]

We have a septic treatment system, so I don't use bleach or anti bac cleaners. I try to use environmentally safe cleaning products because to the septic system. Otherwise all the bugs in the septic will die, and then it would stink.
And I like more natural cleaning agents anyway, like bi carb soda and vinegar. They work really well and dont cause dramas for the environment.

[emszxr]

i just usually use a watered down bleach sloution in a squirty bottle for the kitchen and downstairs toilet. i just use the soapy dish water to clean my youngests highchair and the odd jet wash in the back garden( the highchair not the child)
my oldest has not had many colds and bugs probably because she is outside in the muck and dirt all the time. she goes around very often with her favourite chicken in her arms and she helps the cats eat their food.
my youngest who is nearly 11 months has had 1 tiny cold which was only a wee sniffle. i believe that they dont get much colds and bugs is because i breastfed both of them too.

[badger]

I'm with the "peck of dirt" school. How can children build up resistance if they're never exposed to bacteria and germs? Children playing in gardens with pets are likely to be a lot healthier than the ones who are protected in a germ/bacteria free environment. Anti-biotics are my other pet hate - handed out far too quickly for every little thing. I wouldn't let children have them unless it was really absolutely necessary. The more you have the more you need until they don't work any more.
As for hospitals, like Angela - don't even get me started. It's accepted these days that if you go in for one thing you're likely to come out with something worse. It's the one place that should be super-hygienic. They could also do with turning the heat down. Lack of basic handwashing and overheating - guaranteed recipe for disaster. How did four prem babies in hospital get a serious infection? Are they all mad ??
rant over (until next time).

[Mr_Me19]

This is one of the best threads I have read. I totally agree with this whole thing. There is far too many anti-bacterial things nowadays. Why cant we go back to soap and water? I am one of those people who can quite happily drop things but then pick it up and continue eating. Yet I am hardly ever ill. Only around 1 day of school a year roughly. (touch wood) And yet I have a friend who is obsessed with cleanliness. He won't touch anything that someone else has even held. Yet is off school every second week.