The soap you should never use

[Sassy]

Aside from mild soap and water, which you can use on most surfaces, another all-purpose cleanser that works great for kitchen counters, cutting boards and bathrooms is 3% hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. Simply put each liquid into a separate spray bottle, then spray the surface with one, followed by the other. In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually all Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and surfaces when used in this fashion, making this spray combination more effective at killing these potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner.
         http://lewrockwell.com/mercola/mercola137.html

[IronRanger]

Thanks, Sassy.  I'll have to give this a try.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks!

My wife has always said not to use antibacterial soaps etc because she believed (rightly so) that they do more harm then good and that not using them insures a higher likelihood of developing natural antibodies to the bacterias.  So we never buy them.

However, when her daughter (my step daughter) had her sons someone always brought around antibacterial hand washes to use for those wanting to hold the babies....I didn't argue but hated to see them.

Thanks to this article which I shared with her, I suspect any remaining ones will be tossed out (if any remain).

Nothing beats soap and water and I see no reason to change using it

Thanks!

[considerations]

I agree, with the added comment that I think an immune system actually needs "exercise" (read exposure) to stay strong. 
If one has NO contact with a "bad" bacteria, it would make sense to me that it could "forget" what to do and might not respond. 

Isn't such a "controlled exposure" the underlying concept of a vaccine?

That doesn't mean I advocate rolling around in the pig pen or things equally overt. 

But working with animals and just generally getting dirty (knowing I'll get cleaned up after) seems like it would do much to expose me to a lot of common "bugs" that keep my immune system active and alert.

I may have been living rural for too long.   

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

We never use anti-bacterial soaps for this reason.  My thought was plain soap had done a fine job most of my life, no reason to change now when all the hand sanitizers, etc., became "necessities".  Are the plastics that they're referring to the "microban" type plastics, such as you find in some pet waterers/feeders?  If so, I hate the things!  We have regular plastic barrels we water the goats from... if they get slimy, I have a scrub brush and hot water from the hose that has been laying in the sun and they are clean.  However, we also have a couple of the "microban" waterers, and once they get slimy, they are impossible to get clean again... it is almost like the mold meshes with the plastic or something.

[Windpower]

I have been using Miracle II for the last 10 years. It is great stuff and really leaves your skin feeling clean. It is unscented too.

It is a very good general purpose cleaner for lots of things (I used to use it to clean bugs off the wings of the 170 -- now I use Simple green aircraft cleaner -- it cuts the exhaust stain from the belly like nothing else)

Miracle II, good stuff

[Ernest T. Bass]

I'll second the Miracle II stuff. Don't know how many years we've been using it, but it's great for everything. Best natural shampoo too.. Little pricey though. We used to use it exclusively, now we use our probiotic EM bar soap (http://home-n-stead.com/soaps) for most of our daily necessities and the Miracle II to supplement when we need it for difficult female hair or something...

[Gary O]

I agree, with the added comment that I think an immune system actually needs "exercise" (read exposure) to stay strong. 
If one has NO contact with a "bad" bacteria, it would make sense to me that it could "forget" what to do and might not respond. 

Isn't such a "controlled exposure" the underlying concept of a vaccine?

Makes sense to me

I work with people that seem to carry a vial of Neosporin around wherever they go.
Their kids are a tad sheltered, and never seem to ever be allowed to get dirty.
Sani-wipes, tubes of all kinds, and germaphobic practices.
Sick, colds all year long.
Ever once-in-awhile I'll see a commercial showing two mothers, watching their children at a playground, leap toward their kids when the possibility of coming in contact with terra firma occurs, purse size atomizer Neosporin at the ready...
As a kid, we used to smear mud and horsetail on stingin' nettle rubs, and, well, play in the dirt, all day.
I think consumers have gone 'sanitary' nuts.

[Sassy]

I forgot to mention the EM (effective micro organisms).  That is very good, too.  The stuff is good to clean with, get rid of odors, even to take internally...  all around good stuff.