There's a couple of different mechanisms at work here. First, the antibacterial stuff kills of most, but not all of the bacteria, encouraging the "stronger" ones (more resistant to the anti-) to proliferate. Second, the antibacterial chemicals are present in low concentrations in the retail products, so it takes a long time (if ever) for them to do their job. Couple this with the fact that most people only wash their hands for a few seconds (if at all!), and the stuff has no chance of working.
Third, research is showing that exposure to a variety of germs can help to keep our immune system active and healthy. Killing the germs off can result in a "bored" immune system, thought by some to be a contributing factor to allergies and asthma.
All this together means that we're really no better off (and possibly actually worse off!) using antibacterial soaps in most instances than using regular soaps.
Whoda thunk?
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