# can soap get dirty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2006, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075 "2006-11-04T09:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/1 "2006-11-04T09:39:43Z")
If I handle raw meat and then wash my hands with a bar of soap, isn’t the soap bar crawling with bacteria all over it? What if there is a piece of fecal matter on the soap that I don’t notice and I wash my hands with this matter of soap and fecal matter, are my hands really cleaner? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/2 "2006-11-04T10:41:26Z")
[QUOTE=copperwindow] If I handle raw meat and then wash my hands with a bar of soap, isn’t the soap bar crawling with bacteria all over it? What if there is a piece of fecal matter on the soap that I don’t notice and I wash my hands with this matter of soap and fecal matter, are my hands really cleaner? [/QUOTE] Soap is just a “wetting agent” that allows water to mix w/ oils and other foreign matter to put it into solution. The mechanical action and the water should remove most harmful bacteria, even if the soap is slightly contaminated. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/3 "2006-11-04T13:45:15Z")
[Yes](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_398.html) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/4 "2006-11-04T14:23:51Z")
My sister, with three small boys at the time, said that in her house the soap had to be washed before each use. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/5 "2006-11-04T15:48:40Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] My sister, with three small boys at the time, said that in her house the soap had to be washed before each use. [/QUOTE] Seems to me that is due to wanting the appearance of everything being spick and span, more than being a necessity. FYI my mrs spingears is a clean freak, she would do as your sister, whether it is needful or not. :rolleyes: When you wash with dirty soap, the soap first, and then your hands get cleaned up in one operation. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/6 "2006-11-04T18:34:26Z")
Well, what’s the last thing I wash with the bar of soap in the shower, and what’s the first thing you wash? Yeah, it was funnier in context on _Friends_. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/7 "2006-11-04T22:08:42Z")
I am reminded of the the Law of the Conservation of Filth I once read about. “Nothing can become cleaner unless something else becomes dirtier.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-soap-get-dirty/379075/8 "2006-11-05T06:17:56Z")
[QUOTE=copperwindow] If I handle raw meat and then wash my hands with a bar of soap, isn’t the soap bar crawling with bacteria all over it? [/QUOTE] Soap will kill a sizable share of bacteria on its own. And many brands now have ‘anti-bacterial’ ingredients added to enhance this effect.