Introduction: Hands play an important role in the transmission of infection, so it is very important to maintain hand hygiene. One of the best ways to do this is by washing hands with soap regularly. With so many types of soap available in the market, consumers need to be careful in choosing the right type of soap according to their needs. Objective: This research was conducted to test and compare the antibacterial activity of antibacterial liquid soap and moisturizing liquid soap against Escherichia coli bacteria. Methods: This study is a laboratory experimental study using the agar well diffusion method to determine the diameter of the inhibition zone formed. This study tested eight soap samples, namely four brands of antibacterial liquid soap and four brands of moisturizing liquid soap from various brands, with a positive control using trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and a negative control using distilled water. Results: The formation of inhibition zones on all soap samples, both antibacterial and moisturizing, indicated the presence of antibacterial activity on the growth of E. coli bacteria. The average diameter of the inhibition zones for antibacterial soap and moisturizer against E. coli were 20.03 mm and 18.81 mm, respectively. The p value obtained was p ≤ 0.001, which means that each treatment had a significant difference in the diameter of the inhibition zone. Conclusion: This leads to the conclusion that H1 is accepted, which indicates a significant difference in antibacterial activity between antibacterial soap and moisturizing soap against E. coli bacteria with the greatest antibacterial activity found in sample AB4 (24.52 mm).

hand soap

antibacterial

moisturizing

hand hygiene