In the spirit of debating the proper way to do mundane things, we often find ourselves living with someone who does something different than we do (direction of toilet paper unfurling, squeezing toothpaste tube, loading dishwasher, etc.).
Humans, being how we are, our reactions can run the gamut from “Huh, that’s odd”, to “Please sign these divorce papers”.
For me, I recently observed that my spouse washes their hands differently than I do. For me, I wet my hands, then use soap to form a lather, scrub, then rinse. My spouse begins with dry hands, gets a few pumps of soap, scrubs with just soap, then rinses. (Of course, this discussion is really only meaningful with liquid pump soap.) I find this to be wrong wrong wrong. But I am not going to comment on it lest we get into an unpleasant dispute.
So, SDMB, I ask you - How do you wash your hands?
Do you start with wetting the hands? Or do you start with dry hands and add liquid soap? Or something else?
I start with wet hands, then add soap. I’m pretty sure I do this because I first learned to wash my hands with bar soap, which of course only works if your hands are wet, so whenever I encountered liquid soap I just followed the same procedure. It seems like it rinses off more easily if my hands are wet first as well.
I remember the first time I encountered a bathroom attendant when I was a teenager (at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando). As I was walking away from the toilet he basically demanded that I hold out my hand (at least that’s how I remember it), and when I did he squirted some liquid soap in it. And I was like “I wasn’t ready for soap. My hands aren’t even wet yet.” Actually, I hadn’t intended to wash my hands at all :o. In hindsight, maybe he was trying to insure that I did.
I used to start with wetting my hands. Then one of the faucets at work, which all have auto-turn-off, started turning off too fast. I didn’t like pressing the faucet again with soapy hands, so I started soaping first. If I do that, the faucet usually stays on long enough to rinse off, and if it doesn’t, my hands are sufficiently de-soaped that I don’t mind pressing the faucet again.
From what I understand, you need more water than just what’s in the soap, since the soap is a sort of emulsifier for the grease on your hands. That’s why I wet first, and then even add a little bit of water as I go.
This is in the ballpark of my understanding also. Essentially, my takeaway is that soap works in conjunction with water. So using only soap is sub-optimal.
detergents. lipophilic on one end, hydrophilic on the other. so squirty soap on dry hands to bond the detergent to the grunge, then water to bind to the detergent and wash away. wet first and you’ve made a barrier between the detergent and the hydrophobic grunge. I don’t care if any of that is true or not but it’s how I do.
Little water, liquid soap, lather up, under water to scrub and rinse. I seem to remember from 1st aid class to wash for 20-25 seconds. I don’t go that long, but I take longer than a quick rinse.
Who uses bar soap anymore?
Working with elementary students, if there’s no soap by the sink, I will squirt soap into their hands before they get to the sink. Saves time and prevents mess.
That’s what I’ve heard as well, except that you need water to start the process. Water breaks the soap into hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts. One binds to the water and one binds to the dirt or grease on your hands, and they repel each other. The scrubbing action breaks down the dirt into small bits that can be rinsed away. Soap on your hands without water isn’t going to do much.
This being the Dope, I expect someone will be along soon to expand on that, or to tell me I’m wrong.
Back when I was a poor grad student I switched from using liquid body wash in the shower to bar soap when I realized how much cheaper it is.
Then several years ago I bought a huge pack of Dial bar soap to use in the shower just because it was the cheapest per ounce, but discovered when I used it in the shower it made my back and chest incredibly itchy. So I started using the bars of Dial at the bathroom sink just to use them up, and switched to Olay bars in the shower which don’t make me itchy and while more expensive than other bar soap I think are still cheaper than liquid body wash. I will probably switch back to liquid soap at the bathroom sink once I use up all the Dial.
A little water first helps but it also depends on the liquid soap. Those thick syrupy ones like Dial need water. It is just not going to work well without it. However, those foamy ones work mostly OK without water.
There is some kind of weird anti-bacterial crap in Dial soap that can irritate your skin. Better to buy a crate of original Ivory soap, or, even better, Marseille or Castille soap. (For the real curmudgeons, there are also huge blocks of hard soap that you have to break up yourself; presumably these are cheaper than bath-size bars.)
[ul]
[li]Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.[/li][li]Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.[/li][li]Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.[/li][li]Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.[/li][li]Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.[/li][/ul]
The trains have powdered soap, so I’ve gotten used to always making sure the water works before getting any soap. So, water to wet my hands, soap to do the actual washing, and water to rinse.
For drying my hands, I follow the 12 shake rule, even if I have a cloth towel or an air dryer. How to use one paper towel
My mother just got told by her doctor to never use Ivory soap because it is very drying.
I have a bar of soap in my bathroom (Rum bar soap), part of a tolietry kit which was given to me. Had to go buy a soap dish just for it.