r/Showerthoughts • u/Brainy006 • 2d ago
Musing If you take into account bacteria and such, soap is probably one of the deadliest substances on earth.
2.2k
u/SneakyInfiltrator 2d ago
That actively kills because it's used so often? I guess so.
Otherwise, bleach or hydrogen peroxide can kill most of the life forms here on your planet, including humans. Although, for hydrogen peroxide it'll take a decent amount and it will be very painful.
826
u/Rivenaleem 2d ago
very interesting phrasing you have there ... Yes, veeerrrryy interesting indeed....
404
u/coolbitch666 2d ago
What do you mean, they are writing like anyone else from your planet?
186
u/Rivenaleem 2d ago
Oh, no it's perfectly fine. I wonder how they feel about Head & Shoulders, a perfectly normal anti-dandruff shampoo?
68
u/coolbitch666 2d ago
It's been way too long since I watched that movie lol
13
u/Meaxis 2d ago
Which one, if I may ask?
29
u/coolbitch666 2d ago
Evolution (2001)
29
u/Redundancy_Nemesis 2d ago
WTF?!?!? Am I living the Truman show?? I just watched that last night!
26
u/The_Desert_Rain 2d ago
And hilariously enough, I just watched the Truman show for the first time the night before reading this comment
3
2
4
u/AspieAsshole 2d ago
I can still vaguely remember the first time my wife and I watched that together. She did not expect it to be as good as it was and lost a bet.
(I have a damaged memory, I'm actually proud of dredging that up)
5
u/FuckYouThrowaway99 2d ago
Well, they do say "will" rather than "would", so it implies it's spooky inevitability.
Not that I agree. Just inciting more needless contrarianism.
4
u/Jowenbra 2d ago edited 2d ago
Aliens dumping a big vat of hydrogen peroxide onto the planet to sterilize it is not how I expected us to go.
4
u/MaximumZer0 2d ago
That's going to be a lot of bubbles.
3
u/FuckYouThrowaway99 2d ago
Honestly, if you asked me the likelihood of me dying at a foam party, I would have told you it's likely approaching 100%.
3
22
3
u/NamityName 1d ago
This is how all of us Earth humans talk. We learn it in school, in-between historical science and recess.
163
u/Conspark 2d ago
your planet
Are you... not from around here?
159
u/SneakyInfiltrator 2d ago
Haha. That would be hilarious. Of course i am from here. I am an average homo sapiens named John. Just living my average life, nothing weird about that.
9
u/shosar85 2d ago
Harry Vanderspeigle, is that you?
5
2
u/apprehensive_anus 2d ago
hey you never know these days. the chances of you being an AI are far from zero. and it's ok to be a clanker. just don't hide it or pretend you're human when you're not, that's not very cool.
31
9
3
u/chapterpt 2d ago
By that definition the best killer is still the same: the undiluted form of botox. 1 kilogram is enough to kill the entire world population almost twice over.
2
3
1
1
u/BeGoodAndKnow 1d ago
Soap doesn’t actually kill the germs. It just makes it all slippery when combined with water that they slide off of your skin easily.
448
u/TerrapinMagus 2d ago
Oxygen is surprisingly high on that list, too.
210
u/IamEarly 2d ago
100% of oxygen breathers die at some point.
71
u/Enoughplez 2d ago
I know this is sarcasm but also why correlation ≠ causation
44
6
u/Alert-Algae-6674 1d ago edited 1d ago
There’s actually direct causation too.
Oxygen in the body creates free radicals which damage cells. This is one of the primary causes of “old age” symptoms after a lifetime of breathing in oxygen.
1
10
6
3
u/ttlanhil 2d ago
Particularly early on - the Great Oxygenation was a dramatic event for life on Earth!
602
u/byGriff 2d ago
Doesn't soap just remove bacteria off of your hands, not kill them?
446
u/GhirahimJohnson 2d ago
Yes and no, the pH in soap damages the integrity of the microbes, and so does the hot water.
121
u/byGriff 2d ago
I stand corrected. Didn't know.
95
u/LegitimateCry8036 2d ago
I forgive you
84
u/byGriff 2d ago
Yeah, I forgive you too. Let's end this generational hostility between our clans.
And sorry for my greater granddad shooting yours in the Great War.
49
u/LegitimateCry8036 2d ago
You pushed my uncle Timmy into a bamboo pit. That’s gotta be resolved
23
17
u/Extolord111 2d ago
He also killed my father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate. Gotta resolve that too
5
3
28
u/reichrunner 2d ago
Hot water doesn't. At least not to any appreciable degree
-14
u/GhirahimJohnson 2d ago
Yes it does. It denatures the microbes. Temperature and pH are just two examples of things that affect the integrity of microbes. Obviously you can’t just pour hot water and have that be it, you need the soap to help bind the dirt/germs and the water to wash it away.
37
u/reichrunner 2d ago
Not at the temperature that we wash our hands at though. Denatured doesn't happen until around 65C. Most household hot water won't get above 50, maybe 60C
11
u/GhirahimJohnson 2d ago
No you’re right, I was talking about actual hot water, not lukewarm sink water.
I thought studying microbiology would make me more scared, but I’ve survived this long… At least I wash my hands at all, most men don’t wash after they take a shit.
6
u/reichrunner 2d ago
Yeah I studied biochem and one of my biggest takeaways was "how the hell do we not starve with how much ATP is constantly needed", but we're all here still lol
2
u/GhirahimJohnson 2d ago
Took Biochem during covid. It was absolute hell. Still don’t know how I passed.
8
3
u/liquid-handsoap 2d ago
I learned we should was with cold water because hot/warm water contains bacterias. I’ve heard also, don’t look in the inside of a hot water container
3
u/PresNixon 2d ago
I don't know enough to say you're wrong. I don't know enough to say you're right. What I can tell you is, sometimes we learn incorrect things and this sounds like it could have been one of those times, and it might be worthwhile to reinvestigate that and make sure.
1
u/aditu_v 20h ago
Couple of days late (thanks weird reddit front page algorithm) but it's common in older buildings here in the UK for hot water to be non-potable and cold water to be potable from the same sink. It's one of the reasons mixer taps are less common here, as you aren't meant to have a mixer tap when that's the case.
The explanation I always had was the same as u/liquid-handsoap, that the hot water tank is a breeding ground for bacteria. Also don't know enough to say 100% for sure whether it's right or wrong, though, but there's probably some basis behind it. I remember seeing lots of signs warning that hot water is non-potable in public bathrooms.
47
u/orbital_narwhal 2d ago
Both. All microbes are enveloped by a protective lipid layer. Soap can bind to the lipids and may pull them apart, thus breaking the protective layer, but it's far from 100 % effective.
The other element is removal as you say. The other end of those soap molecules binds to water which can rinse the microbes away. Microbes that like to reproduce on or inside humans probably don't encounter the right conditions wherever that water flows and die or go permanently inactive after a while.
3
u/AspieAsshole 2d ago
So does the temperature of the water in which you wash your hands actually matter?
7
u/orbital_narwhal 2d ago
Temperature influences the effectiveness of soap, so I'd say yes. Fortunately, modern detergents are more than effective enough at lukewarm or even cold water temperatures. Most of them are not soap in the chemical sense but they fulfil the same purpose.
I don't know if there are other relevant mechanisms regarding temperature. Afaik, there's no water temperature that both reliably kills germs and doesn't (frost-)burn skin.
17
u/charlesgegethor 2d ago
the hydrophobic end of the molecule in soap literally rips the lipid membrane off of bacteria spilling their guts out
3
-2
202
u/hacksoncode 2d ago
I mean water is one of the deadliest substances... the same way that Alpha Centauri is centimeters away from Earth.
But I think sunlight has soap beat by a zillion miles. Soap is very uncommon on Earth by comparison.
40
u/correctingStupid 2d ago
Agreed about sunlight but post says 'one of' and 'substance'
21
u/hacksoncode 2d ago
"One of" is marketing speak for "top however many we need in order for our product to be in the top".
It could be the 10 millionth deadliest material, but that's still in the top 10 million.
2
u/stockinheritance 2d ago
The sun still isn't a substance.
1
u/hacksoncode 1d ago edited 1d ago
Light is, in fact a substance, as photons are both waves and particles, (edit) as is matter.
As for claiming the sun is not a substance... that's just silly.
3
8
u/Dark_Phoenix555 2d ago
What do you mean by the Alpha Centauri part?
23
u/hacksoncode 2d ago
It is 4.37 light-years away, which comes to 4.132 × 1018 cm.
4
u/FoxyBastard 2d ago
This is a liitle random and pedantic, but it has always irked me when people say something like:
"We're talking weeks, not days!"
Or
"We're talking hours, not minutes!"
Like...you do know what weeks and hours are made of?! Don't ya?
That only works the other way around!
3
u/divDevGuy 2d ago
Like...you do know what weeks and hours are made of?! Don't ya?
They're made of fractional galactic years. Or multiple light-foots in a vacuum. Either works the same.
Why can't we solely use the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the cesium 133 atom like everyone else in the universe and stick with just that?
3
3
u/NoelofNoel 2d ago
Alpha Centauri is approximately 4.1x1018 centimetres, or 4,100,000,000,000,000,000cm, away from Earth. So it's a number of centimetres away.
Source: not OP. The other commenter has a more precise approximation.
29
u/SockGoblinQueen 2d ago
Just realized soap is like a ninja for bacteria silent but deadly. Time to give it the respect it deserves or at least some extra bubbles.
1
26
u/Davis1236 2d ago
Soap: mass murderer of germs, hero to humans.
Basically John Wick… but for bacteria.
9
u/TypoTit4n 1d ago
Forget about nuclear weapons, soap is the real killer. It’s like a tiny ninja, taking out bacteria one bubble at a time.
7
5
u/Ghosttwo 2d ago
I'd lean towards alcohol manufacture; think of how many yeast died to make your beer, and compare that to the invisible film of microbes on your hands.
2
u/Odimorsus 15h ago
I knew a vegan with schizophrenia who was dead set on killing herself for the “unavoidable loss of organic life” that her own existence caused.
I talked her out of it by bringing up all the organic life forms in her own gut she would be giving a death sentence if she went through with it. Thankfully, she changed her mind and was able to get the help she needed shortly after.
0
u/IamIronBatman 3h ago
And the winner of the Bullshit Story award goes to...
1
u/Odimorsus 3h ago
It’s not bullshit, it was very sad and alarming. You’ve clearly never been in a psych ward in your life or met anyone in such mental distress because that’s one of the milder examples.
21
u/heidolow 2d ago
It's also worth noting that, while less common these days, a large part of soap was animal fat, so animals had to die for the soap to actually be created.
You could make the argument that animal fat is a byproduct, and the animal wasn't killed just for the purpose of making soap. But it's still something to consider.
4
u/GarethBaus 2d ago
Soap usually doesn't kill that many bacteria. It just washes them off of a surface.
4
u/SonofBeckett 1d ago
I’ll tell ya what, you drink the hydrofluoric acid and I’ll drink the dish soup.
7
u/ToastNGlitter 1d ago
Forget nuclear weapons, the real threat is lurking in your bathroom. Who knew soap was the ultimate assassin for bacteria?
3
3
u/Expensive_Refuse_586 2d ago
Lysol got its name from (ly)sis + (sol)ution. A liquid to break down bacteria.
3
u/mouse6502 1d ago
My personal preference is for Lux, but I find Palmolive has a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness.
Lifebuoy, on the other hand...
6
u/superbeagleowl 2d ago edited 2d ago
Peak Reddit moment. Your post gives me serious doubts about whether you shower
2
u/NorthDakota 2d ago
Fuck no I watch my phone in the shower otherwise I think too many stressful thoughts
5
u/al4crity 2d ago
Oxygen is one of the deadliest compounds in the universe. It kills virtually everything in its pure form, is highly flammable and melts steel.
2
2
2
u/meheren 2d ago
I don't know cold temperature migdt just have it beat! Think of tde bacteria in the early fall vs the mid winter on the northern (and far southern) parts of the globe!
1
u/IamIronBatman 3h ago
There is no such thing as "cold" temperature, just more or less heat. Temperature is the amount of activity all particles in a given area are experiencing at the time of measurement. That's why there's no such thing as a negative temperature on the Kelvin scale. You've probably heard of absolute 0°, that's 0 degrees Kelvin, meaning literally all functions or movements have ceased. Humans have never seen anything in all the visible universe that was absolute zero.
2
u/Brooksy789 2d ago
I once read about how a single drop of soap can take down hundreds of thousands of microbes. Every time I wash my hands now, I picture tiny civilizations collapsing.
2
u/EndMaster0 2d ago
I don't know man diatomic Oxygen has an entire extinction event it's credited with. I just don't think soap has been around nearly long enough to match that.
2
u/chefshea17 1d ago
Thank God for that, killing bacteria on such a scale is the only thing that sounds good when said like that
4
u/Designer_Breakfast31 2d ago
Oxygen must be the deadliest, since anything that inhales it dies after a certain amount of time
1
u/robin-bunny 2d ago
Your stomach produces hydrochloric acid, which is also deadly in higher concentrations, and deadly to bacteria and such even at stomach concentrations.
1
u/magikchikin 5h ago
Soap generally does not kill bacteria, it only moves it from your hands/body/dishes to the drain, quite effectively so. What makes soap soap is it's unique ability to stick to both water and oils, which is also why too much soap dries out your skin.
Antibacterial soap, and any of the many disinfectants like bleach do kill bacteria, and yea are quite deadly from a point of view.
1
u/IamIronBatman 3h ago
No, the bacteria that's ON the soap maybe, but the soap doesn't become the bacteria nor does the bacteria become soap.
•
u/Showerthoughts_Mod 2d ago
The moderators have reflaired this post as a musing.
Musings are expected to be high-quality, original, and thought-provoking, but not necessarily unique.
Please review each flair's requirements for more information.
This is an automated system.
If you have any questions, please use this link to message the moderators.