My grandmother and mother watch the Game Show Network at night at times

[conuly]

If I'm down there, I watch with them. Now, unlike NY1, the GSN is not predominately sponsored by the Humane Society with their awful ads that made Ana cry hours later. (I told her flat-out that they WANT you to cry so you send them money without checking first to see where the money goes. I think it's an incredibly tacky move and will support just about any animal organization *first*, no matter what the percentage of tortured rescues is.)

No, they seem to be largely sponsored by Lysol. Ah, Lysol - the people who give me terrifying ads about how bleach "doesn't really clean" toilet bowls.

My grandmother's reaction to this is "But why don't they ever clean the outside of the toilet?"
Mine is "WTF? Who CARES if the inside of your toilet bowl is 100% sterile? You're just gonna poo in it again, and it's not like you drink from it! (And if you do, it's a toss-up as to whether dirty is really worse than sterile-but-full-of-toxic-chemicals. Don't drink out of your toilet, guys.) HONestly.

Yesterday they had a new one talking about how the pump of a soap dispenser can (logically) get covered in germs, and that's why they're selling new pump-free dispensers for home use.

Aside from the fact that it's highly unlikely that your family members are carrying plague, here's an interesting question: Once again, who the fuck CARES? It's the pump of your soap dispenser! You pump. You soap up, you rinse. At this point, any germs you picked up from the dispenser are now safely in the u-bend of your sink. End of problem.

I mean, unless their argument is that their soap is so sucky it barely kills pre-existing germs, much less the ones you pick up in the bathroom, I think I'll pass. Real soap is better for your skin than detergents anyway, isn't it? (Yes, yes it is.)

Comments

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

I think the reasoning is that your soap pump is one more sourse of germs for your faucet controls.

Seriously though? I don't use antibacterial soap. The world isn't sterile, and I want my children's immune systems to be robust enough to cope.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I belong to the vintage_ads LJ comm, and I've seen ads that recommend actually douching with Lysol.

Yes, they suggest squirting Lysol into an incredibly sensitive part of your body.

Why?

Because apparently your husband won't want to have anything to do with you if your lady-parts smell bad. And apparently you won't actually be aware if your lady-parts smell bad, but he will.

[conuly]

Gosh, I find a little bit of water when I shower gets rid of any unpleasant odor right away. And I should hope my partner isn't such an unpleasant metaphorical douche as to not tell me if I smell like death, because that could indicate a serious medical condition.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I think the reasoning is supposed to go something like this. I touch the pump when my hands are dirty. The pump gets germs on it. Those germs will spread and climb into my bed to attack me in my sleep. AAAAAHHHH!

[peebs1701.livejournal.com]

What on earth is the difference between soap and detergent anyway? AFAIK they both have a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic end which is how they encase the dirt to allow the water to wash it away so what is the vital difference between them if they do the same job?

[conuly]

Detergent strips away the natural oils in your skin, leaving you (eventually) with dry, cracked skin or forcing you to use lots of lotion to make up the difference.

[peebs1701.livejournal.com]

I'm actually wondering more of the chemical difference rather than the difference in experience. What is physically different about detergents that make them behave differently than soap?

/should have just googled it already

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

What is wrong with these people that not only don't clean the outside of their toilets, but also lack the wit to wash off their liquid soap-dispensers from time to time? I mean, really; you go to wask your hands, you see the thing's got a bit of schmutz on it, you hold it under the hot faucet: it's not rocket science.

Lysol shmysol; the chemical corporations can make all the horrifying scare-tactic commercials they want, but I am never buying their toxic waste.

We have two awesome local all-natural soapmakers here, Townsend Bay Soap Company (http://tbsc.bizhosting.com/) and Bunny's Bath (http://www.bunnysbath.com/): OMG delectable fragrances.

[conuly]

Yes, you should have.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=soap+detergent+difference

/snarky

[conuly]

But these germs came from THEIR bodies! Already!

The madness never ceases.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

They say the bottle's instructions specify the dilution for that usage -- I've always wondered what it would be.

It makes more sense when you learn that Lysol was commonly used as a contraceptive douche, post-coitus, but the ad-makers could only hint at that. Of course, douches don't work as contraception, but that's never stopped people from trying throughout recorded history.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Last I checked, bleach kills things real good. "Real good" is enough for me.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they may have just gone to the bathroom. And well, icky things happen there. If we didn't completely sanitize everything anywhere near someone's butt, we'd all die! This is why families that have children too young to be toilet trained and have to change diapers regularly have a large percentage of their family members die before the children can be toilet trained. Right? Right?

[conuly]

Well, fair's fair, rotovirus (which is spread through fecal oral transmission) is a fucking bitch that needs to DIE.

But it probably won't kill you, you'll just wish it would.

[leora.livejournal.com]

True, although that is what proper hand-washing procedures are there to protect you from. As pointed out, you are touching the pump when you are about to wash your hands. I'd worry a lot more about the handles for the sink, because you touch those before and after you wash, whereas the pump you only touch before. And yet people generally manage okay, even though most people will use the bathroom at least once a day.

[conuly]

Yeah, I've never understood why foot pedals for sinks haven't caught on. They'd be more reliable than light-sensitive sinks in public bathrooms (and you could better control the temperature), and presumably the accessible sink would still use the normal taps, so why not?

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I like your advertising rants.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Foot pedals! Brilliant! I want a sink like that! (For that matter, why don't toilets use a foot pedal to flush, too?)