Soap

So yesterday I had gotten home from a Zumba class at the gym which is a lot of fun. Zumba by the way is a Latin moves and grooves dance aerobic style of class that really ends up with horribly cheesy dance moves but simple enough that most people can follow the dance party. At the Gold's gym locally, it tends to be all females just shaking it and partying on. Anyways, I got home from the gym and decided to soak in the tub for a bit. When it occurred to me, how does soap work? I mean we are told we need to wash with soap since we were kids, but no one ever explained how it kills germs or removes them. How do we know it isn't just some conspiracy to sell you more stuff? With all the different features such as moisturizing or antibacterial, is it worth the extra bucks? Do you even need antibacterial soap?

So I called up a guy I know that is a laboratory science major and asked him about soap. The basic answer is that because soap is slippery, it removes the germs from the skin because they just slip right on off. It is also recommended that unless you need antibacterial soap that you do not use it on a regular basis because you are kiling all the germs and your body won't be exposed to them to build up a natural resistance. With out the natural resistance to germs, you are actually leaving your body defenseless for when it does encounter everyday germs. Anyways now that I have that question answered, I am off to head to the work for the day and see what else I can ponder up.