Hydrogen peroxide is used largely because it will stop capillary bleeding and as a debriding agent, not for any antibacterial properties. So it depends on what your definition of "better" is.

"Soap and water might work just as well."

Screw that, I'm not giving up the bubbly action for some fancy soap and water that "might" work just as well.

Someone once told me that it bubbles to tell you there's infection. Nothing will make me believe anything else and soap can't have such insight into your cuts.

Hydrogen peroxide is also good for creation of scars from the old cuts.

It also hurts a lot more than soap and water.

@IT-Chick: Someone told me that too, though I don't know if it's true..

@IT-Chick: Me too! It has to be true - no one would lie to a kid, right?

a teaspoon w/an equal part water,swished in the mouth while you shower, is great for whitening your teeth.

Hydrogen Peroxide bubbles in the presence of blood. It won't bubble if you put it on unbroken skin. It's good to use immediately after you're injured, but you don't want to use it to clean a healing wound, as it will actually eat away clots and freshly healing skin. It's best to just clean once, apply antibiotic, and bandage the wound. Then change the dressing every other day or so without cleaning, but if you must clean the wound, sterile saline works best.

@IT-Chick: It wasn't just anyone that told you that. It was THEM!

To treat a festering abscess:
Step one: to pack it full of Mentos™.
Step two: splash it with hydrogen peroxide.
Step three: tell neighborhood kids*, "Run!"

* Err the survivors of the minty-frothy explosion, 'natch.

@Jessica Haas: That means it's working.

@WiiPoleNotIncluded_GitEmSteveDave:

Gross!!!!

(I'm going to try it)

@Jessica Haas: Not if you have a friend punch you on the arm as hard as he can the same time you swab the injury.

@Jessica Haas: Wow, really?

I never feel anything more than the bubbling, it's never been painful at least not MORE painful than the wound.

@Shoelace: "This won't hurt a bit"
"Pull my finger"
"That dog is only pretending to be angry"
"Dog food doesn't taste bad. You like dogs, don't you?"
"Jalapeños taste just like peppermint pickles"
"Dad's only kidding when he says, 'Don't touch the parking brake!'"
"No matter how many newspapers you set on fire, you'll be able to stomp them out"
"Clothes driers are like Ferris Wheels - in your home!"

Ahh, brings me back to fond memories of childhood... Bitter? Me?!!

@Trai_Dep:
"We'll do whatever you want on your birthday"
"This medicine tastes just like candy"
"If you're bad you'll have bad children"
"The sooner you go to bed the sooner the Tooth Fairy will come"

Yeah, I'm not bitter either.

@Trai_Dep:

Are we related??

I believed until I was about 19 that my first dog really did go to a farm.

@Trai_Dep: "If you cross your eyes, they'll stay that way."

"The sooner you go to bed, the sooner Santa will come...not that it matters, since all you're getting is a lump of COAL!"
(oh wait, that one wasn't a lie.

@IT-Chick:
Our cells naturally make hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of normal cellular reactions. If this were to build up in our cells, it would ruin our whole day. So we have an enzyme called catalase which breaks hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water and oxygen, and it does it fast so our cells don't die. This is a good thing.

When you have a cut, you dump extra peroxide into the wound, and all that exposed catalase gets busy with it, making a lot of water - and the bubbles you see are the oxygen being released. It's a fun experiment I do with my students too - you can use chopped beef liver for the same effect (beware the kid who takes one look at liver and barfs, however...).

I hope I didn't ruin anything for you.

@subtlefrog:

Considering I am a science failure and didn't understand much of your post (unless you can translate it into computer terms) I will take that all to mean, "yes IT-Chick, it bubbles if there is an infection, you are so smart".
And I thank you.

@IT-Chick: Hah! No, it means that the bubbles are the result of natural things, not infection. And if there were no bubbles, it would mean your cells were seriously messed up. Or that you'd managed to wash all the exposed enzyme away, perhaps, before anyone freaks about about that one time, at band camp, when they had a cut...

@IT-Chick: But yes, I'm sure you are still very smart, even if science wasn't your thang (and I do mean that, based on many of your other posts...). :)

my mom (she's a RN) claims that there's research showing that H2O2 may be worse than nothing - in theory, it is eating away at some of the scab, causing heal times to increase (she says to just not overdo it, once or twice a day is plenty)

@Megalomania: My wife's mother was a nurse and she never used H202 because the bubbling could actually spread bacteria rather than killing them.

@HogwartsAlum: give it a few days, but don't do it after brushing. The baking soda in the toothpaste reacts w/the h2o2 and makes it fizz like mad. My Dentist has remarked how good my teeth(the ones I have left) look.

@IT-Chick: Marshal Brain explained it on the "brain Stuff" podcast: [science.howstuffworks.com]

Hydrogen peroxide is great for cleaning stitches and for getting blood off clothing

@Jessica Haas: My experience has been just the opposite - soap hurts much more. What kind of soap are you using?

H202 is good right when you're cut...it'll essentially wreak havoc on your cut, oxidizing (hope I remembered chem right...) everything thats exposed. Which is good when its fresh and full of germs. Not so much when its nice and clean and healing. So H2O2 when its fresh, nice clean water and dab dry when its not. I dont know much about soap and cuts, but it stings and you have to scrub it in there and that just not good for you or your cut.

@James Johnston: Wait - do you mean it minimizes scarring, or maximizes it? "Good for creation of scars" sounds a bit body-moddish.

Hydrogen peroxide is GREAT for cleaning up blood off the floor and inducing vomiting in dogs. put a little on dry blood and it disappears in seconds.

I worked in a veterinary ER... not a serial killer!

Sorry consumerist, I'm not going to take health and hygiene advice from the same people that advise shampooing less than daily. As far as peroxide is concerned, it's useful in rinsing fresh cuts and scrapes as a first step in disinfecting and cleaning the wound for quick dressing. If you aren't somewhere where you have enough water to rinse away soap (or can't trust the water), peroxide can be invaluable in preventing infections. Additionally, everyone should keep it under their bathroom sinks to be mixed half and half with your mouthwash of choice (I use listerine) for use after brushing once every day or two. After the first several days, you will be amazed at how smooth your teeth feel and how tight and pink your gums will stay.