I like the pump-dispensed soft soap, but lately it seems all the soaps are anti-bacterial and I want to avoid unnecessary use of antibacterial agents.
What can I use as a substitute to refill the pumps?
I’m thinking either a bodywash or maybe shampoo, either way thinned to a proper consistency.
Would doing either of those create some sort of problem? Either on the dispensing end OR for being a suitable hand cleaning substance?
I’m thinking soap is pretty much soap, but I’m not a chemist, so…
Is there some reason you couldn’t just get some Dr. Bronner’s and dump it into the pump dispensers?
Believe it or not, shampoo’s are specifically designed for your hair. Ultimately it would probably serve the same purpose though. I would guess that body wash would be a good substitute. Try it and see if you are happy with the results.
You can get non antibacterial liquid hand soap. I’ve got some Softsoap-brand hand soap in the bathroom that’s got aloe vera but no antibacterial stuff. I think I got it from Target.
Seconding Dewey. Just walk down the soap aisle at Target and there should be a few products that don’t say Anti-Bacterial.
I use baby shampoo when I am washing my hands to put my contacts in. As someone said, shampoo is designed for hair - and so it helps cut oil and grease better. Also, on those very rare occasions I don’t quite get my hands rinsed completely, the baby shampoo doesn’t burn my eyes.
I second Dr. Bronner’s. You can use it in your soap dispenser, plus there are about a million other things you can use it for (I dilute it and use it to clean my counters). It comes in a bunch of really nice scents…almond is my favorite, but if you need to wake up, peppermint is really good, too.
Another option is plain old Ivory Dishwashing Liquid. Plenty thin enough for any dispenser, and works rather well.
Cite? And what does that mean, exactly?
My soap and shampoo making teacher is adamant that the two are identical save for the fragrances chosen, allowing for differences in soapmaker’s recipes, of course. And by “soap”, of course, we’re talking about “detergent”, not soap.
Go ahead and use shampoo. If you have a foaming dispenser, use half shampoo and half water - that’s what I’ve been doing for over a year now (the foaming dispenser was a great fad that makes teaching toddlers how to wash their hands so much easier, but the cost of refills was just obscene, and now I can’t even find them anymore if I did want to buy them.)
I use Suave shampoo on my head and in my handsoap dispenser, it works just fine and I like the smell better than handsoap. And, as you note, it’s just about the only way to get away from antibacterials these days.
When we’re camping, we have camp soap (low sudsing, better for rivers and streams) that’s shampoo, bodywash, handsoap and dishsoap in one. All “soap” is is a way to break the surface tension of the water so it can rinse better. The rest is fragrance and money in the manufacturer’s wallet.
I third it. I’ve been using it for over 25 years–peppermint, almond, and eucalyptus. I used to go to a health food store that sold it in bulk (bring your own container, pay by the quart) but I think that’s hard to find now.
Just out of curiosity, what’s the problem with anti-bacterial agents?
It’s not that they’ll hurt you now or anything, it’s to preserve their future usefullness.
The problem is that some of every species is naturally immune to any given antibiotics and so those that happen to have that immuninty survive when you kill the rest.
Meaning the next generation is basically immune to that drug. Which means that antibacterial is useless. Better to rely on soap/detergent/ammonia/bleach and the like for non-critical cleaning, and so when you really WANT an antibacterial – like someone in your house is sick with something vile – you can use the antibacterial and actually accomplish something.
The same theory with not handing out antibiotics to every kid with a runny nose.
Dilute! Dilute!
(Seriously, I use about one part Dr Bronners to three or four parts water in my soap dispensers. Works just fine.)
Cowboy8467, the problem with our anti-bacterial obsession is that we are breeding antibiotic-resistent bugs. When you apply an anti-bacterial agent, you kill everything except what’s resistent to the agent. What survives, then, is immune. And one characteristic of life at the bacterial scale is that the little germy guys exchange genetic material with one another, so if you’ve created a colony of resistent bacteria, you could inadvertently cause it to be cross-colonized with a different kind of bacteria, making the second batch of bugs immune to your agent even though they’d never seen it. The upshot is, you make it so you can’t use that agent any more, and you have to go find another one.
There’s been a lot of talk in the news recently about how resistent to antibiotics (aka untreatable by ordinary means) gonorrhea has become. This obviously was not caused by hand soap but the mechanism is the same.
Also, I found that the triclosan-containing hand soap I formerly used irritated my hands more than conventional soap.
And thanks for the suggestions. I think my problem might be that I’m generally shopping is a particular store that happens to be on the direct route from work to home and only about a half mile from home. Very, very convenient, but it’s not a super store, and on the small side for even a ‘regular’ grocery. That is, not must choice in any category.
I will get myself to a Target, and also check out that Dr. Bonner, sounds good. In the meantime I’ll just use the Joy dishwashing liquid I guess.
Hasn’t rotted off my hands yet. 
We use the baby wash from Target. It’s in the baby supplies section, with all the diaper creams and such. It’s a holdover from when the kids were small, but it’s gentle, inexpensive and doesn’t have any antibacterial stuff.
I use Method brand hand soap from the supermarket. Not anti-bacterial, nice scents, well-designed dispenser. You could also try the “natural” brands at places like Whole Foods. They seem to have a greater selection of non-anti-bacterial products.
But the “soap” in a liquid pump dispenser isn’t soap, either. It’s the same detergents as in shampoo.
Any idea where I could get a consumer-oriented foaming soap dispenser and some soap to put into it? Those things are fantastic in restaurants, and I’d like something tolerable-looking in my new kitchen.