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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH and I disagree about Soap 😳

630 replies

anotherdaytosmile · 13/06/2026 12:27

DH has put a fresh bar of soap out today, his trusty Imperial Leather. He thinks it’s a classy soap based on his childhood perspective in the late 1970s. I think it’s one step up from carbolic. I want Jo Malone soap 😢

AIBU - imperial leather is pure luxury
AINBU - what next, waxy toilet paper?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
FatRosie · 13/06/2026 13:55

@BigAnne , you can still get Lux.
@Inthezone5578 , the low bar MNers have for men never ceases to amaze me. LTB.

Differentforgirls · 13/06/2026 13:53

tinyspiny · 13/06/2026 13:30

We have a mix of hand wash and bar soap on our basins , currently using L’Occitane cherry blossom , which is lovely . Of the soap available in supermarkets imperial leather is one of the better ones .

What about Pears?

dementedpixie · 13/06/2026 13:51

likeafishneedsabike · 13/06/2026 13:17

I assumed that everybody had left their soap bars in the 80s and now used shower gel. And yet everyone here is behaving as if bars of soap are normal, not retro. Mind blown.

Edited

Dh and I use soap in the shower (a different one each) but the kids use shower gel. Soap lasts much longer than shower gel. We have handwash for washing hands at the sink

ScotiaLass · 13/06/2026 13:51

To make Imperial Leather really classy he needs to get one of those magnetic holders to attach it to. A lady in my street growing up had that and she was our resident Hyacinth Bucket. I always thought it was metal in the paper sticker that made the bar attach to the magnet, but I've just discovered via google that she probably pushed a magnet into the centre of the bar.

Bristolandlazy · 13/06/2026 13:50

Team DH, it smells nostalgic.

Aiming4Optimistic · 13/06/2026 13:50

What's wrong with sharing soap? It literally binds to the dirt/germs and gets rinsed down the sink. Presumably you wash off any residual dirt on the bar when you rinse the suds off, before it goes back on the dish.

StarlingTheConqueror · 13/06/2026 13:49

anotherdaytosmile · 13/06/2026 12:36

I genuinely never thought of that. You should work in the diplomatic core

Really? You didn’t think to just have your bar of soap each? That’s the first that came to mind.

Using a ‘poll’ on MN to somehow (hopefully) shame your dh into using a soap he doesn’t like is weird sorry. Much weirder than using Imperial soap

SapphireSeptember · 13/06/2026 13:49

Inthezone5578 · 13/06/2026 12:44

I remember when me and DP got our first place together (3 years ago so not the olden days) and I put a bar of soap in the bathroom. He looked at me like I'd shit in the bed. He vanished it to the bin and replaced it with hand wash. Fair enough 🤷‍♀️

I'd have fished it out, what a waste of good soap!

I like the ones you get in TK Maxx. They have different ones at different times of the year, big chunky bars and they last for ages.

CaptainMyCaptain · 13/06/2026 13:48

jannier · 13/06/2026 13:42

Do people use bar soap

Have you read the thread

PrayForPlagues · 13/06/2026 13:48

Pears all the way for me. My husband buys fancy man soap from The Black Stuff. Smells amazing

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 13/06/2026 13:48

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/06/2026 13:43

Those big chunky bars would slip out of my hands and land on my foot and I'd break something !

I bought some Nesti Dante soap a while ago (on a recommendation from MN), pretty picture on the wrapper , huuuge bar .
I spend many days admiring how the bruise on my foot went from purple to yellow as it faded , the corner of this behemoth bar bounced right off me .

Omg! Never knew huge soap could be such a hazard!

FatRosie · 13/06/2026 13:47

@MrsEndeavourMorse , your reply to @dementedpixie showed you'd either not read her post properly or you'd not understood it.

@Diorling , yes, you are right.
...real soap does clean the skin much better (but watch out for those that look like soap but aren’t - they are usually marketed as beauty bars).
(The primary difference is that traditional bar soaps are made from fats and oils through a chemical process, while beauty bars are generally formulated with synthetic detergents...

The long list of chemicals I listed in a pp was from a brand that's considered fairly luxurious. (MB). The plain brand was Simple.

TeaAndStrumpets · 13/06/2026 13:46

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/06/2026 13:43

Those big chunky bars would slip out of my hands and land on my foot and I'd break something !

I bought some Nesti Dante soap a while ago (on a recommendation from MN), pretty picture on the wrapper , huuuge bar .
I spend many days admiring how the bruise on my foot went from purple to yellow as it faded , the corner of this behemoth bar bounced right off me .

They do make little soaps too, I've often bought them as stocking fillers. Agree the bath soaps are too dangerous to take into the shower!

SleepingStandingUp · 13/06/2026 13:46

just by two soaps and don't use each others.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 13/06/2026 13:45

Orange Imperial Leather reminds me of my grandparents, and is definitely a smell of childhood!

I have very sensitive skin, and a lot of shower gels made it very dry and cracked, so it is soap bars all the way here. To stop the scummy bits of soap sticking to the side of the bath and sinks, I have several of these soap dishes, which have a drip tray to catch it all (and stops the soap from flying off the side of the bath when it's wet): https://yorkshiresoap.co.uk/product/soap-dish/

Soap Dish – The Yorkshire Soap Company

https://yorkshiresoap.co.uk/product/soap-dish

JohnBullshit · 13/06/2026 13:45

Do you both use the same kind of shampoo? Probably not. I don't see why soap is any different.

FeliciaFancybottom · 13/06/2026 13:44

I switched to bar soap when perimenopause (sorry) caused my skin to itch so badly, and shower gel just seemed to make it worse.

dementedpixie · 13/06/2026 13:43

MrsEndeavourMorse · 13/06/2026 13:19

Imperial Leather isn't coal tar. You're thinking of Wright's coal tar.
I like classic soap and fancy soap, get one either side of the basin

I never said imperial leather was coal tar. I buy a 4 pack of wrights coal tar soap for dh and whatever I want for myself. Think its sanex I currently have. Took a pears green one to use on holiday

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/06/2026 13:43

FinallyHere · 13/06/2026 12:31

Those big chunky bars would slip out of my hands and land on my foot and I'd break something !

I bought some Nesti Dante soap a while ago (on a recommendation from MN), pretty picture on the wrapper , huuuge bar .
I spend many days admiring how the bruise on my foot went from purple to yellow as it faded , the corner of this behemoth bar bounced right off me .

untamedheart · 13/06/2026 13:42

jannier · 13/06/2026 13:42

Do people use bar soap

No, nobody on this thread who said their favourite soap actually uses it Confused

untamedheart · 13/06/2026 13:42

If I use shower gel under my arms, it doesn’t seem to shift my antiperspirant and I get stinky and sweaty quickly
a flannel and soap and I feel clean for ages

jannier · 13/06/2026 13:42

Do people use bar soap

Bedroomdilemmas113 · 13/06/2026 13:41

likeafishneedsabike · 13/06/2026 13:17

I assumed that everybody had left their soap bars in the 80s and now used shower gel. And yet everyone here is behaving as if bars of soap are normal, not retro. Mind blown.

Edited

Snap. I didn’t actually realise people still used soap until this thread, let alone that Jo Malone makes it too!

cariadlet · 13/06/2026 13:41

The posters going, "Urgh" about bar soap are weird. You might be able to recycle plastic bottles but it still uses energy and other resources. Much better not to create the need for recycling in the first place.

I use supermarket own brand bar soap - cheap, vegan and gets you clean. The op must think I'm a complete pleb.

Diorling · 13/06/2026 13:40

I grew up with bar soap - Pears and imperial leather - but I’ve been using liquid soap for years. However I have recently moved back to bar soap - though still usually leave both out so folks can choose.

I magage holiday accommodation. The changing point for me was running out of my own liquid soap at home so using a bar of the complimentary soap we leave out for guests instead (they come wrapped in their own box).

The difference was incredible. My skin was so much better, but the main thing was how much fresher we all stayed - and for so long.

I’ve since done some research and indeed real soap does clean the skin much better (but watch out for those that look like soap but aren’t - they are usually marketed as beauty bars).

(The primary difference is that traditional bar soaps are made from fats and oils through a chemical process, while beauty bars are generally formulated with synthetic detergents (syndets). - according to AI).

I’m currently using soap from Yorkshire Soap - I slice it up from its big bars- I love it but just wish it had curved corners. I also keep Pears in as well, the small bars.

I would never bother with Jo Malone, despite being an avid perfume collector, as I’m just not a fan and think the soap way too expensive, but if you love it, then why not?
Personally though I’m with you husband - but surely there is room for both as a compromise ?