Why antibiotics shouldn’t be in soap It’s the “soap” in antibacterial soap that’s protecting your hands – not the “antibacterial”. Credit: Moyo Studio / Getty Images. You might assume that a soap or a cleaning product labelled as “antimicrobial” or “antibacterial” is a safer, more hygienic option. But there’s no evidence these substances do anything to improve hand hygiene, and they could be contributing to the much more dangerous problem of antibiotic resistance. In 2016, the US Federal Drug Administration banned 19 of these antimicrobial compounds in household soaps, on the basis that they didn’t clean any more effectively, and they may have adverse side effects.