Can You over Disinfect?

Everyone needs alittle of exposure to germs so their immunesystems know how to fight things off, the more you are exposed to the stronger you are.

Kids get exposed to so much in school and if we put them in a plastic bubble now as babies we are weakening them for school. I would rather my kids get the common cold before school age so they are not sick in school and get the education they deserve.

I would relax a little, your dryer gets REALLY hot and disinfects itself, your washer gets bleach in it and hot water so again it disinfects itself.

Cleaning with bleach and antibacterial soaps constantly is making everyone more sick in the long run. Because we are disinfecting everything around us our immune systems are not being exposed to any bacteria many of which won't make us sick but do make us more equiped to fight off the more dangerous germs. Germs and bacteria evolve just like every other living thing and they will become resistant after being exposed to excessive disinfectants over time. Same way antibiotics are becoming less effective due to over use, that's the super bugs we keep hearing about.
Don't buy into the marketing, just good old fashioned soap and water is usually enough. I do use bleach occasionally in the bathroom cleaning but disinfecting the appliances you mentioned seems a little weird to me, I mean aren't the washers pretty clean inside anyway? They are automatically cleaned with soap and water everytime you use them.

so in Mexico, you don't drink the water. why? because you weren't born there and haven't developed any immunities to the germs in it.

So if you disinfect everything in sight, how can you develop any antibodies to your everyday world? My house is clean but not disinfected. My son is very healthy. He misses a lot of the sickness that go around at school.

Some bacteria is good bacteria. Think about your intestines it should be chock full of GOOD bacteria to help you digest and absorb food. Killing all bacteria isn't helpful. People have been living for many generations without antibacterials. I would save that time for something more fun. YMMV

one note, when people are sick, I use antibacterial lotion on my hands constantly.

Seriously, I've never even thought about disinfecting my dishwasher, washer or dryer. Maybe I should.....

I just wanted to add that most people are on the right track about needing to be exposed to some germs, but also, all the anti-bacterial stuff, although good to an extent, is actually bad in terms of global health. It is not so much preventing us from coming in contact with bacteria, but it is actually changing the phsycial make up of the bacteria so that we are no longer immune to this new form of bacteria, even when it wouldn't bother us before (like Liz's Mexico example...same principal) if we continue to change our bacteria it could become more powerful adn more harmful in the long run!

I too am guilty of hand sanitizer, so I'm not perfect either ;) but it's just about balance like Leah mentioned!