AOBiome is making washing obsolescent with a line of bacterial cleansers Are you some sort of post-shower trend forecaster who thinks that the whole ‘washing’ should have died out in 2007? Well you’re not alone! Water haters AOBiome have released a line of cleaning products, called Mother Dirt, which are revolutionising the way we clean ourselves with the skin-friendly ammonia oxidising bacteria Nitrosomonas eutropha. Traditional soap products may leave us squeaky clean, but they damage something called the microbiome – the population of bacteria that live on our skin – which results in inflammatory skin problems, as well as sensitivity and dryness. “We hypothesize that the modern lifestyle has largely stripped us of our delicate and crucial skin microbiome,” explains the company’s website. “The pervasive use of harsh surfactants has continually been damaging the skin microbiome, preventing it from performing it’s crucial role and potentially leaving the skin more susceptible to a variety of skin problems.” The Mother Dirt products act like probiotics, with the good bacteria basically eating the dirt on our skin without irritating it. They turn ammonia and urea into skin-friendly compounds, and reduce the numbers of unwanted odour-causing organisms, simply by spraying onto the skin – meaning there’s absolutely no need to get wet. Still hungry for more? Sign up for our weekly supplement featuring the latest news, profiles, features and innovation