Bar Soap

[AJPTaylor]

Genuine question as can't find the answer from a quick Google. Recently changed to bar soap ( well dd bought bars of soap and put them in the bathrooms). Can corona virus/other nasties remain on the soap and spread to the next user or does contact with the soap kill stuff?is it different depending on what kind of soap it is? (Ie whether it is carbolic vs unicorn glitter ?)

Omg, I am in my 70's,and just read that someone washes their bar soap before they wash their own hands with it , is this real ?

When you wash your bar soap before you wash your hands, do you wash it with your hands?

I use bar soap but now I’ve read the word soap too many times and it’s lost all meaning

Bar soap possibly safer than some hand washes because it actually contains soap.
As others have said coronavirus has a fatty lipid layer and soap dissolves it and destabilises and kills the virus. There is no way it could live on soap.

wonder if there's a market for "display soap" as a thing hmm

I used to work for someone who banned us from using the ‘display soap’ in the ladies’ toilet ...

I've always preferred washing my hands with bar soap - when liquid soap first came into fashion (probably about 30 years ago), we had both at work. One day I washed my hands with liquid soap and they still felt dirty so washed with bar soap and OMG the extra 'dirt' that came off! My hands never feel properly clean with liquid soap however many verses of 'Happy Birthday' I sing under my breath whilst busily washing !

OK for those asking, I pick up the bar, two fingers only, rinse it off, then use to wash my hands.

If I'm sure no one has touched said bar since I last used it, then I will just pick it up.

I rinse them all before and after use. I mix dettol with water in spray bottles and if i thought they needed it then yes they could get a squirt of dettol and then be rinsed off.

I would not use a soap with pubes etc on it, they need to be washed thoroughly and put back into soap dish after washing.

I would not use a soap at someone else house. If no soap I use hot water then hand sanitiser from my bag as needed.

I also would not never rinse my washing up, so only take drinks and food from peoples houses who I know rinse their washing up.

I have a few other rules that may or may not be batshit but I'm willing to own it.

r

I think peak Mumsnet has hit.

I'm loving the soap protocol!

Tune in next week and hear Dr Bob say....

Anyone else humming the theme tune?

flirtygirl that is extra but you’re not hurting anyone so crack on.

I wonder if there's a market for "display soap" as a thing

Of course there is - what else do you do with the fancy little bars of soap that you steal from nice hotels?

I think that's an urban myth, possibly originating from companies who wanted to market liquid soap?

My favourite being from Dettol with their no touch dispenser, ominous music, cartoon like scary germs shown living on the push down part of dispenser, germs can still live on the bit you ARE ONLY TOUCHING BECAUSE YOU ARE ABOUT TO WASH YOUR FEKKING HANDS

Soap Protocol 😆

Soap Protocol - wash your soap with hand sanitizer. But only using (no more than) 2 fingers!

Please don't do that without adding a preservative. Liquid hand soaps have preservatives in them to prevent things growing in the water. Bar soaps have a high pH, and low to zero water content. As soon as you add water and leave it sitting around that becomes a ground for culture. Unless the pH is still really high. You can get mould and fungal growth that way. 1% by weight of a preservative like phenoxyethanol will work. Ideally just use the bar...?

I would not use a soap with pubes etc on it, they need to be washed thoroughly and put back into soap dish after washing

Totally agree. I always make sure my pubes are thoroughly washed before I put them back on the soap dish.

@CarolHasAnotherUTI

@flirtygirl

Your soap protocol is absolutely the best thing I have ever read on Mumsnet (I've been here too long and read some absolute crackers).

I do think you could take it a little further though.....

Scald it with boiling water
Store it in bleach
Pop it on a boil wash at the end of the day.

Please wash your hands properly with the soap provided at other people's houses after using the loo. You are potentially leaving your filth on other people's taps.

You are not hurting anyone but it is obsessive soap behaviour.

I switched to bar soap about 10 years ago when I 2 kids in nappies. My hands were red raw from constant washing with liquid soap. They were much better with bar soap.

We love bar soap and little shop now refills shampoo and conditioner which is great our plastic generated from personal washing almost down to nothing and I have 2 tweens and dh with very thick hair!

Being of the 70s, I just smile that bar soap is now called bar soap.
It is called soap.
Liquid soap is the one that needs the adjective, because it is new fangled and needs to be separated from soap. although now I suppose ‘liquid’ gas become part of a the noun, as it’s now a Thing.
Hence we have to have a new way to say soap in a bar, which is really just soap.

I am old

I switched to bar soap about 10 years ago when I 2 kids in nappies.

Jesus ghoulwithadragontattoo. At first glance I thought that said you had 12 kids in nappies! I wept for you.

oh @UnaOfStormhold (I love your name, btw) thanks for the tip about making liquid soap. We've switched to bars (we have our own for the shower in an individual hemp bag which is fab) but I've been buying the eco-est friendly liquid soap i could find but haven't been happy about it.