9 'Good' Habits That Are A Total Waste Of Time

6. Cleanliness

Cleanliness is next to godliness, right? So surely the surge in popularity for antibacterial soaps can only be a good thing.

Well, not exactly. Apart from anything else, after 42 years of research, the FDA has concluded that soaps and hand gels containing the active ingredient triclosan are no more effective than good, old fashioned soap and water. Those antibacterial gels that have become so popular are only really practical in hospitals where it’s not practical to wash one’s hands every couple of minutes.

As well as being a waste of time and money, there’s evidence to suggest that antibacterial soaps could be actually harmful.

Whenever you regularly use an antibiotic, such as triclosan, to kill bacteria, you run the risk of creating a resistant strain. As soap and water don’t actually kill bacteria, but just wash them away, there’s no risk of this the old fashioned way. Antibacterial soaps, on the other hand, could well be creating unkillable superbugs, which is sort of the opposite of what you’d want them to do.