Bar soap is superior to liquid soap

[Twistybranch]

• feel you have it in your for hands longer and have to scrub longer to get the squeaky feeling off the skin- thus feels cleaner
• less waste of packaging
• less waste of product. I feel you use so much more than needed with liquid soaps and bar soap lasts an age
• much much cheaper than liquid soap (standard bar soap vs standard liquid soap, not the fancy stuff)
• looks pretty in a soap dish
• can get really beautiful smelling and looking handmade bars
• hands feel softer

I do keep liquid soap in the bathroom too (for guests to use) but I never see bars in peoples bathrooms anymore.

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

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.

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.

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.

@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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

There's no problem with bar soap and pipes.

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!

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.

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.

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

And I agreed. Soap does not clog pipes. Oils and fats do, as I experienced when I hadn't refined my own soap recipe enough. Me. One person.

I'm not sure why you think that means I'm saying soap clogs pipes when I explained that in my own experience it was the superfat.

Anyway. I think some people on here should have paid more attention in Science, going by the claims about skin and bacteria etc!

I dislike most liquid soaps and if they're moisturising then I particularly dislike them. They don't feel like they wash off properly

A bar of soap causes scum in the sink, which is harder to clean- obviously not a problem if you have a weekly cleaner 🙄

Or just rinse the sink with hot water from the tap.

Tell that to the men in my life 😅

I've not put my scallop shell in the dishwasher, I didn't think it would last as not designed for hot water. The ridges on the shell are brilliant for getting my foundation out of the make up sponge. I just rub the sponge over the outer ridges.

I can't go back to ceramic soap dishes now, they all have to be shells of some sort from the sea. Unfortunately I have a tiny basin in the downstairs loo and there isn't room for a soap dish so I have to have liquid there

YADNBU. I much prefer bar soap. I also use it instead of shower gel and my skin is so much less dry. Also, even when I bought the moisturising liquid soaps, my hands were horrendously dry. I didn’t believe it was the liquid soap to start with, but I read something online about it being very drying, so experimented with bar soaps, and the difference in my hands is incredible. Much cheaper on hand cream too!

Edited to add - I do wish you could still get those little stainless steel ‘racks’ to put bar soap on. Everywhere I go has dishes and I hate the way the water collects in them. What in earth has happened to those little racks that were everywhere when I was a child?

I am a recent convert back to bar soap.