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?!

Nah, you're bizarre. She isn't.

Bar soap is so much better, I bought some from Chateau de Savon. Not the cheapest but lasts for ages and they always have deals on. I also wouldn't think to wash my hands with someone's shower gel but have on occasion had to use washing up liquid.... yuck.

Now come on....hand soaps have moisturisers and the like too...

It is all just soap. The marketing has worked on you!

I'll bet if we looked at the ingredients is Supermarket A Hand Soap and Supermarket A Shower gel the ingredients would be similar...

In fact I checked... Compared Tesco essentials shower gels and hand soap. And they practically the same. With slightly different humectants etc..

It's all just soap!

I think most people accept you can use shower gel
as soap. Your friend was confused because you said there was soap. So whilst shower gel can be used as soap you should have said “the dispenser needs refilling so can you use the shower gel” or similar.

If your friend had then said “FFS how can I clean my hands with shower gel” then you wouldn’t be unreasonable to think she reacted strangely.

If someone said there was soap, I would be looking for an actual bar of soap / soap dispenser,
I wouldn’t be looking at the shower gel as an option as I had been told there was soap, If I was told there was no soap then I would have had no problem using the shower gel

Personally I wouldn’t feel like my hands would be clean after washing with shower gel.
I believe that soap has more antibacterial properties, shower gel doesn’t really even clean you properly it’s just good for smelling ‘nice,’ And yes I wash my whole body with soap and go over with shower gel for the scent benefits.

Your friend isn’t weird, OP. Yes, hand wash and shower gel are the same thing, and I have used shower gel in the past to wash my hands but when I think of soap to wash my hands I generally think of either a bar of soap or a bottle of carex handwash or similar. If someone says, ‘’The soap is on the side of the bath’’ my brain would look for bar soap. If you mean shower gel, say that.

This takes me back to Lock Down when the hand wash section was empty in all the shops but the shower gel, body wash, shampoo, bubble bath, etc was still all adequately stocked. 🤦🙄 Soap is soap is soap. Especially if it's just for washing your hands with!

I do use shower gel or washing up liquid if I run out but I know the difference, if at some one else’s house if they told me there was more soap on the bath I’d be looking for soap not shower gel.

Why wouldn't it clean your hands, but can clean your arms, or leg or feet? What's so different about your hands that the soap that cleans your forearm, can't somehow clean your fingers?

exactly this. although the odd few people have derailed by insisting they would never and could never use shower gel, most people would be fine with it if it was explained it was an alternative to the hand soap they were told to look for, rather than pretending it's the exact same thing.

Like if someone said 'Can we have eggs for breakfast,' that covers everything, but if they said 'Ooh great, I love fried eggs,' while tucking into boiled eggs with soldiers you'd be a bit confused.

Yes, they have a different consistency. But they clean just the same...

Of course it's the same...I sometimes buy shower gel to refill a liquid soap bottle. What do people think is different about it? Do they have different skin on their hands to the rest of their body?

She directed her to 'soap' though ,she didn't say there was no soap left and the shower gel was what she meant....so if I was the friend here I'd be looking for a hand wash or bar of soap, I would not have thought she meant shower gel!

And so...you get out of the shower after having washed your entire body in one sofa, and then wash your hands with another soap presumably? As the soap that just washed your entire body, wasn't somehow able to clean your hands...?

Despite the hand soaps being EXACTLY THE SAME as the shower gel,. except with slightly different perfumes or humectants?

They've fallen for the marketing.

I use a hand wash that's got soap and cleansing things in it because my hands get dirtier than the rest of my body does multiple times a day?

My shower gel is soap free and much gentler, it doesn't really foam and is more moisturising.

They're both still soap. Because otherwise are you telling us you don't actually wash your body...just moisturise it?

It’s more that they have different names than whether it’s ok to use them. I wouldn’t claim to have a mandarin in a fruit bowl full of oranges on the basis that they are both fruit.

Wot! Shower gel IS a cleanser/"soap"

I think some people come on AIBU just to be difficult.

I've found this thread most enlightening.

I did not realise that so many people did not know that shower gel/hand soap/body wash are the same thing in differently labelled bottles.

No, soap is a specific thing. It's saponified oils and alkalis. You can get other cleansers without it that are a different pH and less harsh on skin, you need it for eczema prone skin sometimes.

OP. YANBU. Weirdos abound.

I just wouldn’t want to be touching the shower gel bottle with hands I’d just gone to the toilet and wiped with and wouldn’t expect my guests to either. That’s the weird part for me rather than whether the shower gel would technically clean my hands 🤷‍♀️

You’ve misread my comment. I don’t use it to clean my body as I never feel clean after just using it. I use it only after washing my body with soap, purely to smell nice.