Bar soap is superior to liquid soap

There is no problem. People used nothing but bar soap for 100+ years.

Not generally, no. But oils/fats and pipes are a different issue. And with heavy superfatted soap, there is a small amount of oil/fat (which is not soap as it has not been saponified) which gets washed down the plughole each time. This may build up over time.

I was simply adding my own experience and the thing I changed which stopped my issue.

Shea Luxury - All Natural Soap Co - Award Winning Handmade Soaps

All natural and will keep your skin balanced - but coming off Dove you're going to find anything drying for a week or two while your skin adjusts. That's not accidental... persevere and you won't ever go back. But there is a limit to how much you can expect your soap to moisturise you; when my skin used to get super dry I'd wash, cover myself in baby oil when I was still wet, air dry, and then if necessary add moisturiser. That worked much better than any of the dermatologist creams - or Dove.

I use bar soap when I want my hands really clean with no residue, especially if i'm planning a crafting session. Everyone else in the house uses liquid soap though.

But, I wouldn't use other people's bar soap as the thought of them using it, leaving their dirty bits behind gives me the boak. Could be I was influenced by the soap in my Grandparents house always looking dirty as they had a coal fire and were keen gardeners and the soap always seemed to have dirty gritty bits stuck to it!

There's no problem with bar soap and pipes.

I'm also hoping you share your recipe please:)

@Planttreeseverywhere1 good to know, I may try it when I have a quiet weekend

I haven't read the full thread yet but reading a few comments about blocking pipes I feel like I have a bit of insight as I make my own soap.

I think the clogging can happen when soaps are heavily superfatted - so there's more leftover oils in the bar and therefore it's not as harsh. It makes a more luxurious feeling soap but it does mean a certain amount of oil/fat heading straight down the plughole and that may build over time. I noticed buildup when I made more superfatted soaps, and now I've changed my recipe there's no issue.

They're lovely. The rose one has a beautiful scent.

I didn't smell, ever. Shower every day, use some kind of a scrubber like charcoal gloves. Your skin will be smooth, moisturised, shiny and stable and the effects get better and better. If super worried start with water everywhere apart from the pits to ease into it.

I’m a big fan of Faith in Nature, especially the coconut one. Lovely - a holiday smell! It’s a good size - not too big so doesn’t last too long - and it fits nicely into the square Joseph plastic soap fish that comes apart to wash it.

...which isn't to say that soap isn't necessary when one needs to disinfect,it is

@Planttreeseverywhere1 I've heard that a number of times tbf and every female gp I've had has told me not even to use the most natural soap for feminine hygiene - water only.

Never quite been able to bring myself to drop soap though, and I couldn't cope waiting a few weeks for my body to adjust & stop smelling. I think that's what stops 99% of people going soap-free tbh.

What else am I suspicious of? You think it's wrong to have an open and critical mind? IMO being hoodwinked into using your personal cash to buy something you cover over the biggest organ in your body every day that causes only harm to you and the environment for absolutely no benefit at all is worthy of attention.

I’m a complete convert to bar soap and would now never buy liquid soap, but I’m fussy about my bar soap though, as it does last a long time so I have to like it as I’m too much of a cheapskate to throw it away if it is not finished. I have discovered that in general, only the cheap multipack stuff cracks. I now get loads of bar soap at christmas time so it’s usually pretty nice smelling stuff. Some of the ‘hand made’ ‘online market stall’ types are to be avoided though, as they go all squishy and fall apart.

How ill informed of that plumber.
People used bar soap for literally hundreds of years. Growing up in a family of 8 that's all we used. Same with neighbours and friends. I only saw liquid soap as an adult.
Never any clogged pipes.

It must be exhausting to be suspicious of everything down to a bar of soap.

Last try! Soap removes the natural oil your skin secretes which is designed to keep you clean. Odour from bacteria can then penetrate into your skin making it super hard to clean. Of you stop using soap the bacterial odours stay on the surface of your skin so water can wash it off easily. Is it so hard to believe capitalism can sell us products we don't need? It takes a couple of weeks for your skin to recover so don't give up if it feels weird at first.

Think I should have tagged @ThatOneUncomfortableEyelash not oakleaffy sorry!

I prefer bar soap. I find shower gels don't really do the job for me any more. Possibly perimenopause? Anyway, they smell nice for an hour or so but then I start feeling grubby again. The bar soap is much more effective at keeping unwanted smells away for longer.
It's also cheaper and lasts for ages.

I don't like the idea of using someone else's bar soap or other people using mine. I have liquid soap for guests and individual towels (flannel sized) for them to dry hands.

https://www.frenchsoaps.co.uk/
Do some lovely palm oil free soaps, which you can also buy in guest/travel sizes for when you have people to stay. They also do ones on a stick so you don't have to worry about soap dishes .

A friend gave my some beautifully wrapped organic, palm oil free, soaps for Christmas which I'm a recent convert to as well https://www.emmassoap.co.uk/

@oakleaffy that's really interesting. I don't know if it's widely remembered now but in 2020 scientists found soap was really effective for killing covid-19. Bleach, anti bacs* etc didn't but bog standard soap did.

• obviously, of course, because they're anti bacterials not anti virals

I only disagree with your first bullet point, op.

I use lovely, locally made palm free bar soaps.l, one for each sink and everyone in my home has their own personal bar for washing.

The only time I had a soap bar that cracked, it was made with palm oil. As for grubbiness...if one's hands are so dirty as to make the bar dirty, just rub the bar under clean water before placing it back in the dish 🤷‍♂️

Use free draining soap dishes that are cleaned every week so you never get that build up for soggy soap at the bottom.

We have an ongoing dispute over this in our house 😂

I prefer liquid, it's just nicer and less messy. Put off bar soap for life by seeing soggy bars hanging around grubby sinks, and childhood memories of the cracked one with black bits in it that my dad used for his wash after work!

Agree with PP faith in nature is a good liquid one, doesn't dry my hands out and can be bought in larger quantities to refill economically.

DH prefers bar soap, for no reason other than it's what he has always used. It makes such a mess and a bar lasts him less than a week so it's not cheap either. He's in charge of scrubbing all the soap residue off the sink/slime out of the plughole, and unblocking the pipe every so often... 🤢

If I lived alone I might use nice smelly bar soaps sometimes, but I don't like sharing them. When I am given the occasional posh one as a gift DH uses it up straight away!

I use unscented goats milk soap on my face and find it isn't drying at all
https://capure.co.uk/products/goat-milk-soap-unscented

You can get it from Amazon too

@UnaOfStormhold Lather?

Bet you live in a soft water area...where we are, the water is so hard it almost gives you a black eye if you look at it in the wrong way.

So limestone rich.

Soft water creates a magnificent lather.