Bars of soap

[ivykaty44]

Anyone returned to using bars of soap rather than shower gel and how much cheaper is it?

It is a good deal cheaper and cuts right down on packaging, but you need to teach everyone a bit of soap management or things can get very messy!

Leave them in the airing cupboard for a bit before use - dries them out and they last longer.

You used to be able to get moulds for reshaping all the ends into new cakes, but I haven't seen one for ages.

I've always used soap and I only recently realised that most people use shower gel instead. I use the supermarket's own brand unperfumed soap at £1ish for 4 bars. I don't know how that compares to shower gel. We have been using liquid soap for handwashing but the children are a bit too pump-happy and make a terrible mess so I will be switching back to bars of soap for that too.

I use soap. Daughter does too. Son has oilatum on prescription. I buy a two pack of Dove every two months or so. Do have shower gel/bath soak in, as I get a Sanctuary set from a friend most Christmases. Lovely treat:)

I make my own soap - cheaper than the supermarket stuff (though not if you buy from me at a craft fair .

Making your own soap is easy - the gylcerine (called melt and pour) kind - it IS cheaper than buying in from a supermarket and you will notice a difference in your skin. The kind I make is more complex, and is miles better for your skin, but this can be costly to learn how to make.

You can buy kits from Hobby craft but they are expensive, but you can buy from sites on the internet, but a basic 100g bar of melt and pour soap that you can make yourself with essential or fragrance oils works out to be about 60 - 70p. They last ages and are better for you. My hubby also uses them to wash his hair

And, the M&P soap is a great way to spend time with the kids - easy and fun cos you can use different moulds, colours, glitter etc and you can use the soap the very next day.

I went back to soap bars simply because husband will not use shower gel. My young son is too pump-happy as well. I remember when I was a child there was a mum who waited for all the bits of soap to get really small. Then put them all in a saucepan in a bain marie, melted the leftover bits and poured the melted soap into a teflon coated baking mould. When the soap cools down she would get it out of the mould and cut it with a knife. The resulting soap was all multicoloured too. I am waiting to have enough leftover soap bits to try this!

Soap bars in bath and shower. I found that in the basin that everyone uses in the loo -guests included - that the bar soap would be swimming and grim. So I use a pump refilled with Tesco bubble bath at 19p a litre . I have sensitive skin and its never affected me - it's not too thick and gloopy.
Plain unscented soap is about 20p a bar in our local pound/hardware store.

I used to be able to buy bars of fruity glycerine soap in the supermarket (like the ones Bodyshop does, but at a fraction of the price) but they all seem to have stopped doing them now. i'm reduced to the Simple soap (am fussy about smells of products). I may need to reinvestigate making my own (did that for presents one Christmas, sadly no-one admired by crafty skills, and wondered why I'd bought everyone baskets of soap )

i ask for shower gel for christmas, last year i got so much i am still using it and have another couple of bottles in storage so no spending for me

We have a dispenser with 4 bits in the shower for shampo, conditioner, showergel for me and showergel for hubby. Because you only get a little at a time ( and it is plenty) it seems to last for ages........

Hubby insists on bars. I buy mine from Aldis and its great - I have used it near my eyes too and to no nasty effects.

Very cheap comes in packs of 3 or 4 under £1.

We use soap too, Waitrose own usually, though got some from Poundland last time - £1 for 2 bars of dove sensitive

We switched to soap after shower gel seemed to stop working so well on DH post gym armpits! Definitely more effective and much cheaper, even using his preferred Pears soap which is pricier than own brands.

I love Nesti Dante soap (on Amazon £4.50-ish for huge bar), it smells divine and lasts ages without going soggy. It doesn't dry your skin out either.

I’m a soap girl! My favourite is the Portuguese brand Castlebel and it last ages. Their smell perfumes a big bathroom. Lately tkmaxx has some great offers of Italian fine milled soaps. But if all fails, a bar of Dove does the trick.

I have.

I remember the magazines saying not to use soap as it strips your skin, but mine is fine, and it also feels cleaner. I tend to get supermarket own brand bars costing 1 € each, which are fine. I just check that they contain no palm oil.

Inspired by a thread on Style and Beauty, I started using soap instead of shower gel last year not to save money but because I find it's more effective at keeping me fresh all day. I am quite sweaty and I was very self conscious about it! The soap (just Simple antibacterial or Supermarket own brand) plus a good deodorant (Mitchum) has made a huge difference. It is also cheaper. I last bought a 2 pack of Simple antibacterial about 2 months ago and I'm still on the first bar. The 2 pack was 85p

I always wash myself with bar soap unless I am given some shower gel as a gift. Find it cheaper and less waste. Kids have sensitive skin and use prescribed bath stuff.
We do use hand wash though as soap bars get soggy and yuk otherwise.

We've successfully switched to soap, and I've now got obsessed - but they last so much longer. The oatmeal one by the Scottish fine soap company is so lovely and exfoliating too.

You can buy little soap saver pads for a few quid each that I put inside the soap dishes to stop it going slimy. Not had any issues with that. Also the sisal or bamboo soap bags, you put the soap / bits of soap in there and use it as a sponge, and it goes in the wash.

A silly question, but when using bars of soap do you rub it onto a sponge or straight onto you? And how do you stop it going gross?

I’d forgotten I started this thread back in 2011 🙃 have been using pears soap

I switched back to soap a few years ago after reading on MN about how shower gel can make u smell more. I have found soap to be much better. As I live near the factory that make Scottish Fine Soap have a fantastic collection if there soaps from their Au lait to a fantastic cinnamon one they work out at less than 50p each and last for ages.

I have successfully eliminated shower gels for the whole family.
Everybody has their own bar and soap dish to keep it dry.

@QueenOfCatan
It depends on what you prefer:
I use a rough flannel that goes into a hot wash;
others rub the soap directly on their body and use their hands to clean themselves
others put soap on their hands and clean themselves that way
As everybody has their own bar, it doesn't really matter.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus I like the idea of a soap and dish per person. Will have to do that.