To find this bizarre? Friend and soap

[SplodgePocket]

A friend came around earlier as I had a half day. Before she left, she said she was just popping to the loo. I then heard her call a minute later, “Splodge? There’s no soap”.

I have a dispenser, so I assumed it had run out and called back that there was some on the side of the bath. There was a pause and she called back, “No, not here”. I knew it was there so replied, “Just against the wall, behind the shower screen”. Again, a pause before a bewildered “No…”

I was completely confused now, as I knew very well it was there. I went through to the hall and she was standing in the doorway looking baffled. I went in, looked behind the screen and sure enough, there it was. I handed it to her and said, “Here, see?”

She burst out laughing and said, “Ohhhhh!! It’s shower gel!!” I was a bit confused and replied, “Well yes; soap, shower gel… whatever”. She was smiling at me a bit like I was a child who’d made a comical mistake. She said, “You said soap. This is shower gel. Show-er gel.” With the last bit really slowly, like she wasn’t sure English was my first language.

I was really taken aback. Who is this bizarrely literal? Surely it’s all pretty much the same thing? I thought maybe she was looking for a bar of soap and this was what had confused her somehow, but surely when you couldn’t see it you’d think “it must be the stuff in the bottle”? And even if you didn’t, wouldn’t you just have used the shower gel anyway?

I’ve never noticed her take things so literally before. Is it me or is this just really odd?!

I'm with your friend on this one, it feels too intrusive to start looking through someones toiletries in the absence of soap!

Totally with you that it is fine to wash hands with shower gel, if no soap. I would help myself to some if there was no hand wash / soap left by the sink.

You're probably a highly practical person who doesn't not subscribe to doing things the way other people do them, just to fit in.

That's ok, but I can tell you with certainty that most people would find it odd that you use shower gel as hand soap. I totally get why you do (because actually, I've found that shower gel is gentler on the skin as most hand soaps), but other people don't think in that way and they would see using shower gel as hand soap as unconventional.

Her reaction sounded a bit much though as there was no need to be patronising in response to you.

😂

This. She didn't want a shower, she wanted soap to wash her hands after using the toilet. I have shower gel on the side of bath a d hand soap on the side of the basin.

You touch the pump dispenser, but you don’t usually roll the dispenser in your hands…

Also, not everything is aseptic. Most clinical procedures I perform aren’t. The aim is clean, but infection control would quite rightly read us the riot act if they discovered a bar of soap in a clinical area. Current IPC guidelines (you can look them up for yourself) explicitly state that bar soap is not acceptable.

I wouldn't think you meant shower gel.

Shower gel isn't a communal item for day guests popping to the loo, I use oil based scrub not gel but its wildly different to hand soap.

Your thinking is very much the same as my father who used the same bottle of fairy liquid for the dishes, floor, his hands, shampoo, clean the dog, to clean the van etc... 'its all just soap'.

Having only one bottle of washing type liquid that you have to move around the bathroom is odd, but you’ve already explained that it was an oversight that the dispenser had run out. I am finding (mainly at work tbh) that people are reluctant just to take a bit of initiative and instead expect a clearly itemised list of exactly what to do, and then seem to take pleasure in pointing out any slight inaccuracies in your instructions. I mean, she needed something which had washing capabilities and you’d given her permission to use what was by the bath, how difficult is it?

I would just use whatever I could find but do have hand soaps by the edge of each sink.

Shame on you for not using a bar of soap - please tell me you at least take your single use plastic bottles to be refilled?

Yes this, its ok to use shower gel, it is soap, but I'd think that you were pointing me to something called soap, I wouldnt think of using your shower gel, I might think you didnt want me to use your shower gel

YABU

I wasn't responding to OP; I was responding to the PP whom I quoted, who seemed to be scoffing at the idea that anybody might buy both products, as they're both chemically similar.

Exactly. My laundry detergent, washing up fluid, shampoo, shower gel and handwash are all soap and yet all are formulated slighly differently and have different price points. Even if I wasnt fussy, I wouldnt expect guests to make do with anything they find in the bathroom. OP is unreasonable.

Ok you’re the odd one here!
Yes it’s all the same probably and no I wouldn’t care about washing my hands with shower gel BUT why would she think to look for shower gel? She was looking for hand wash and couldn’t find it! It’s odd you’d think she would know to grab the SHOWER GEL to wash her hands! If it was in an unlabelled bottle behind the shower screen then yes maybe!

. I think I would have shouted that we're out of hand wash, just use the shower gel!

This

Fair enough. Yours was one of multiple posters who seem to have got entirely the wrong end of the stick. Or the wrong end of the bar of soap. I picked the wrong one to quote, there were many to choose from!

If that was to me, could you perhaps read my post properly before you ring the ‘shame’ bell.

I very clearly said that I wouldn’t use bar soap at other people’s houses. I use smol products at home, if you’re that curious. HTH

Oh my god. She’s not asking her to look through her toiletries, she directed her to it… on the side of her bath. People on here are getting battier by the day

I feel like I’ve entered the twilight zone on this thread. All these people saying they’d never use shower gel to wash their hands, wtf. Who gives a shit, I wouldn’t think twice if the soap dispenser was empty! You’re not the weird one, OP.

Yep - hand wash is a 'public' facility for anybody who is visiting to help themselves to when washing their hands after using the toilet; whereas the bath/shower is a more 'personal' part of the bathroom, which you wouldn't normally go looking around in if you were just a daytime visitor.

Also, plenty of people like to buy expensive/luxury bath and shower products for their own use. I can just see another thread on here complaining about 'CF friend who snooped behind my shower screen when she'd only gone in there to use the loo and touched and used my posh expensive shower gel to wash her hands after having a poo'!

Oh ok, yeah that changes it , I’m with the friend here !

It’s unreal, I’m sure people just do it for a reaction

Its not about not using shower gel, most people would use that if out of hand soap, but in someone elses house, when directed to 'the soap', thats what you would look for. All OP had to do, was say, you can use the shower gel its on the edge of the bath

I find shower gel a lot thicker than handsoap also.

What do you think is different to shower gel and liquid hand soap?

Shower gel IS soap.

Why do you think it's different?