aren’t all the soaps antibacterial? How come some soaps (e.g. Dove) don’t mention anything about its antibacterial properties?
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Not sure where you live, but here in the USA retail sales of antibacterial hand soaps were banned by the FDA several years ago, IIRC.
Soap has traditionally been made from fatty acids (usually from animal fat), because fatty acids have a rare combination of one end of the molecule being polar (like water), while the other end is non-polar.(like oil). Similar to the like-dissolves-like rule from chemistry class, this allows them to react and break down/dissolve both organic/oil-based dirt and grime, as well as water-based materials.
While soap is good at dissolving a wide variety of substances, it isn’t specifically designed to kill bacteria.
Rather than through generic break-down of substances, antibacterials/antimicrobials target specific functions of the target bacteria. One may attempt to trigger natural cell death (apoptosis), another may interfere with DNA replication and cellular division, and there are many more possible functional targets.
Since the FDA ban, some hand-soaps have moved towards incorporating alcohols into their formulation. These alcohols aren’t usually considered antibacterials, since their action is also generic like the fatty acids, and they also are able to effectively dissolve both polar and non-polar molecules. They are highly effective at killing micro-organisms though, and it allows them to slip into a bit of a gray area so they can continue to label their soaps “antibacterial”. The alcohol can be useful for its drying effect as commonly exploited by hand sanitizer gels, though repeated use can lead to chronic dry skin.
Dove brand products generally even avoid soaps, which can also cause dry skin, though not nearly as significantly as an alcohol. They typically emphasize their lotion content instead. It wouldn’t make sense for them to add alcohol to their formulation simply to be able to market it as antibacterial.
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