Miscellaneous desk
< November 13	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 15 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 14[edit]

Sharing bar soap; hygenic?[edit]

Is sharing bar soap, like in a public bathroom, hygienic? Does the bacteria from the previous user's hands get stuck on the soap and transferred to your own hands when you use it? Acceptable (talk) 20:45, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Our article on Soap suggests that the primary purpose of soap is to remove oils and grease from the skin. Some soaps contain metal particles that when rubbed against bacteria destroy the surface and, as a result, kills them. I would conclude that some bacteria does remain attached to the soap and that the metal particles do not successfully kill all the bacteria (and therefore would not recommend sharing a public bar of soap). TheGrimme (talk) 21:21, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

To follow on the question...is it more hygienic to not use soap? I would (possibly incorrectly) assume that it's better to use used-soap than no soap at all? ny156uk (talk) 22:01, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) It's pretty much unheard of (at least in the UK) to find actual bars of soap in public facilities these days, possibly because of hygiene concerns, and also for practical reasons - what happens if the soap gets lost, falls on the floor, etc? It's soap dispensers everywhere. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 22:05, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think you would find bar soap in public restrooms in the US, either, except maybe in vey old ma-and-pa kinds of establishments. I do think it would depend on the type of soap. I would trust an anti-bacterial soap more than other kinds, given the alcohol content which is supposed to kill the critters off. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:02, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Antibacterial soap doesn't contain alcohol. Instead, it contains some nasty chlorinated compound, typically Triclosan in liquid soaps, and Trichlocarban in bar soaps. Buddy431 (talk) 02:41, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Aha, indeed it does. Whatever. As long as it kills the critters. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:34, 16 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

An article about the medical practices in the Us and Russia, several years ago, mentioned the likelihood of disease transmission by soap bars. Visiting US doctors were horrified to see the Russian doctors using a common bar of soap by a sink to wash their hands in the operating rooms, and a common towel to dry them. Not the article I read, but similar. Semmelweis, in the mid 18th century, wanted doctors to rinse hands in bleach solution, likely more effective than washing with soap. Edison (talk) 02:42, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Bleach on the hands is rather nasty, and would destroy the skin in short order, leading to infections which could then be spread to others. StuRat (talk) 04:16, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I expect the recommendation was to dilute the bleach to an acceptable level, but I agree that bleach is not kind to either bacteria or skin cells. Dbfirs 08:01, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Semmelweis apparently did use a diluted bleach solution. Such a solution is still used medically, as "Dakin's solution". See Henry Drysdale Dakin. I saw it used on bandages applied after surgery in the 1990's. Several other more harmful chemical solutions were regularly used in skin contact in the early 20th century. Edison (talk) 20:18, 16 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Old competitor to Waldenbooks[edit]

I am trying to find the name of a company that used to compete with Waldenbooks in the 80s and 90s that I used to shop at. It was not Borders. Waldenbooks may or may not have bought them out before Borders in turn bought Waldenbooks. I have searched the web and not been successful. I want to say the store name had initials in it like J.C. Penney does, but I may be wrong on that. RainbowOfLight ^Talk 23:55, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Was it Books-A-Million? Their stores are sized and layed out much like Waldenbooks. If not, then maybe it was B. Dalton; which was of the same type of store, and has the "Initial + last name" thing like JC Penney. If not either of those, perhaps Category:Bookstores of the United States has some more leads. --Jayron32 23:59, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It's got to be B. Dalton, which had the same format as Waldenbooks and was acquired by Barnes & Noble. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:17, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

As noted in B. Dalton, the store began in the 1960s as a subsidiary of the Dayton's department stores based in Minneapolis. In the 1980s it was sold to Barnes & Noble, which slowly phased out the B. Dalton stores over time, closing the last remaining stores a couple of years ago. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:57, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No initials, but the OP might also be thinking of a place like Brentano's. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:00, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! It was indeed B. Dalton that I was thinking of! RainbowOfLight ^Talk 07:23, 15 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]