Carbolic soap ...is it still made or what soaps do you recommend?

[C_Claycomb]

I imagine that you could drop the "mosquito" part and that it would still hold true! Truly repellent.

In one of the Jim Corbett books on India he describes arriving in a village after a long hike and falling asleep on the bed in an apparently unused hut, only to awake to find the owner, in the final stages of leprosy, squatting next to the bed. Corbett scrubbed himself and his kit raw with carbolic soap and managed to avoid contracting the disease.

Corbett observes: “Leprosy, the most terrible and the most contagious of all diseases in the East, is very prevalent throughout Kumaon, and especially bad in Almora district. Being fatalists the people look upon the disease as a visitation from God, and neither segregate the afflicted nor take any precautions against infection.”

I think there may be times when you really do want the most antiseptic product you can get, and to heck with whether it is skin gentle!

 

[Janne]

A year or two ago the US organ FDA tested the antibacterial properties of several compounds manufacturers put in antibacterial soaps, and the effectivness of those sosps vs normal soaps.
The result was interesting, as the normal soaps are just as effective as the anti bacteriel.

The antibacteriel gels are very effective, if the instructions are followed.

 

[Woody girl]

There is a school of thought that we are using too much disinfection which means we no longer have any resistance to the natural bugs that abound in everyday life. This causes allergies and means bugs evolve a resistance to the antibacterial substances and we have to keep upping the anti. Eventualy we run out of options and the things run wild as they can no longer be controlled
A bit of dirt never hurt anyone.... well within reason. Wash hands before food and dealing with wounds and after toilet should be bible. Smelly crevices are not pleasant. As Janne says ordainary soap works just as well in normal circumstances.

 

[Janne]

True. Problem is that 'science' is lacking.. but sometimes we do not need a bunch of scientists to tell the age old truth.
Look on 'primitive' people. Check how much soap, toothpaste and shampoo they use.
Zero.
I do not want to disgust you but I only use soap for the male bits, body crevasses, ears and hands. Shampoo 6 times a year, after my long haul flights..
No dandruff. No exemas. No dry skin.
If I feel extra dirty I use salt water. I have salt water in a large old shampoo bottle in the shower. Highly concentrated, so much salt it does not dissolve anymore.

 

[Robson Valley]

It's simple ecology: Don't make clear space for invaders (nasty yeasts and bacteria).
It takes about 30 seconds of serious scrubbing to disloge your resident microflora.
Some hand soaps such an Zest and Irish Spring are more caustic that others like Palmolive and Dove.

The proof, if you want real proof, is to get a bunch of TSA (trypticase soya agar) microbiological plates
and use a bunch of sterile swabs to take samples for regrowth on the plates.
See for yourself and it is smelly-gross..