As part of home hemodialysis I have an annual home visit by the dialysis center to ensure I am following established procedures, and and recommendations for cleanliness and infection control.  
During my last visit I mentioned that it was almost time for me to refill my small liquid soap container from the bulk bottle I purchased. The dialysis nurse said that they now recommend that the small liquid soap bottles be replaced each time they are emptied, and not refilled, to reduce germs and contamination of the plastic container.

I thought about this and decided that I will continue to refill my soap container, not replace it each time it’s empty. Here’s my logic; during my decades of employment I worked as a technology consultant to manufacturing and distribution customers. I worked in many companies assisting with their implementation of technology for both manufacturing and distribution. I recall manufacturers making products similar to liquid soap.

When the products are completed a person loads 12 to 24 of the products into shipping container for shipment to a distribution center. The employees that do this task are sometimes paid both an hourly wage, and a piece wage to encourage quickly loading their products into boxes. The more they load, the greater their wage. They are very good at this, and do it very quickly. They also get very little time for restroom breaks or for lunch. I never asked any of them, but I fear many do not take the time to wash their hands after a restroom breaks. I also witnessed employees who were sick, who still came to work to earn their badly needed wages. If they are sick while working, their germs and bacteria end up on the products they are packing for shipment.

Eventually those products arrive at the retailer in boxes. The retailers pay contractors or employees to unload the boxes and place those products on the shelf. They have the same issues as the people loading the products into shipping boxes. Did they wash their hands after using the restroom, or do they also work when they are sick, inadvertently getting germs and bacteria on the products they are unloading and placing on the shelves of your favorite store?

If these new soap containers don’t yet have enough germs on them, what about the parent of a sick child who is at the store browsing for liquid soap after touching their sick child, picking up the soap container to read the labels or prices prior to making a final purchase decision?

I contend that the new soap containers from any retail store are potentially more contaminated than the one I have been using, refilling and had control over in my own home.

Every time I refill my soap container, I also thoroughly wipe all exposed surfaces with a Chlorox wipe. I have been doing home hemodialysis and refilling my soap container for over five and a half years, and have never had an infection with my fistula. That’s a good thing because a sepsis infection in an AVF fistula can be lethal.

I also get a lower price on bulk soap refills, and feel better about reducing the amount of plastic waste I put in my trash, that ends up in the local landfill. If you disagree with my thoughts here, please leave a comment and let me know why, maybe I’ll change my approach. But for now, I will continue to refill my liquid soap container, and not purchase a new one each time I empty one.