Soap instead of shower gel

[Firstaidnovice]

Just wanted to say that based on a thread I read on here probably a few months ago, I swapped my shower gel for soap (I think the original thread was about deodorant, as OP felt a bit whiffy not long after showering, but lots of people recommended switching shower gel for soap instead).
Anyway, the difference is remarkable! I went to a stupidly hot soft play with DS at the weekend, where I had to follow him round the bloody playframe for an hour, (which is a whole other thread!), and still felt pretty fresh that evening, which I never would have been before. Same for the mornings, I usually wake up feeling a bit stinky because I seem to get very hot overnight, but no more! I'm just using Simple soap bars, two for £1. Amazing!

Right, so we need recommendations for gorgeous soaps that are palmate-free...

These.

Sorry, it does contain palm oil.

Sodium olivate (Olive oil), Aqua, Sodium cocoate (Coconut oil), Sodium palmate (RSPO certified sustainable palm oil) Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter)

Contains this.

Jus put popped into Home Sense. Came home with soap. Might be my new addiction.

Went looking for a glass bowl or similar to store some in and remembered I have a nice basket that is probably better than glass in th bathroom anyway.

Was looking for Nesti Dante ones but they didn't seem to have those. Had lots of similar though.

Happy to read this! Have switched from shower gels and liquid hand washes in the past year. Love this soap and stock up when in Spain. Definitely feel cleaner using soap than shower gel. I am also just a “pits and bits” washer. Rest of me just gets water most of the time unless I’m particularly mucky

Wow massive thanks to everyone who mentioned African Black Soap - just had a good scrub with this in the bath and my skin feels amazing

Did it leave the bath in a mess though, Dolly?

love this thread
LOVE LOVE soap
From Scottish finely milled to Marseilles, Pears to Pure
Lavender or Lemon scented ones in linen cupboards and drawers...in glass jars in bathroom.
Some good suggestions and intrigued by African black soap too.
Thanks again

Ah flipflop Heno de Pravia...childhood memories ❤️

Anyone have a view on RSPO certified sustainable palm oil???? I always thought my soap was palmate free.

Shout out for Cole & Co soap! I bought some a few years ago on a trip to Anglesey and now get my fix via John Lewis.

Bore no, nothing terrible - a small brown dribble from the soap dish but no debris in the bath and certainly not as bad as the grot left over from DP's enthusiastic apricot scrub usage.

I feel so CLEAN!!

I can highly recommend This soap dish .

I needed one further away from the shower as DH seemed to be using soap at an alarming rate, I realised he was washing it away whenever the shower was running.

Hasn't fallen off once, no drilling required.

I didn't know glycerine was derived from palm oil! Thanks for the heads up.

I buy the lavender Nesti Dante soaps from Woolworths (SA) Smell soooo nice and you can actually smell it outside the bathroom. Very nice soaps.

I always wash my body with shampoo...
It lathers up well, smells nice and doesn't dry my skin... works for me :)

So then, which smells better Nesti Dante in lavender or cypress tree?? Cant decide

Knights Castile was in Poundland. I love it because it reminds me of my childhood. Wright’s Coal tar is the same

Right you've all convinced me to ditch the shower gel and use soap.
Can I ask how you use it - on a sponge, flannel or shower puff? Or do you just lather up on your hands?

I use shower puff for my bod so that it gets as foamy as poss & flannel for my face. But do whatever you want! And FWIW i bought both ... you all let me down and didnt advise me i take no blame

Soap for bits n pits and shaving, then gel on a pouff for an all over scrub. Every day.

I didn't know glycerine was derived from palm oil! Thanks for the heads up.

It is in fact derived from any and all vegetable and animal oils, not just palm. It is produced specifically when you make soap - for normal commercial soap it is a by-product that is removed so that the soap can be milled. The removed glycerin is occasionally added back into soap or is used for a variety of other purposes.

What we know as glycerin soap, that is, clear soap, can be either a mix of soaps and detergents together with ingredients that allow the addition of glycerin (eg some Lush bars and those brightly coloured transparent soaps that kids like) or a true soap that has been turned clear by a traditional process using sugar (the Waitrose pure glycerine soaps are an excellent example of this, and amazing for the price. Hoyts also make a true glycerin soap).

Re palm oil - generally manufacturers that source from an ethical source will say so.

Someone asked upthread about liquid soap. A true liquid soap is made from the potassium salt of a fatty acid, rather than the sodium salt which makes solid bar soap. Potassium soaps are actually fairly tricky to make so that they are liquid enough to pour and yet remain stable. The only true liquid soaps that I know of, that are readily available are the Dr Bronner ones (Ocado sell them) and Hoyts used to make one as well. So anyone struggling with using a bar could try those, although personally I prefer bar soaps.

Just as an interesting aside, the term 'soft soaping' comes from potassium soaps. They used to be sold in jars and had the texture of a sort of slippery jelly, rather like vaseline. The one most commonly used as a toiletry soap (rather than for clothes or floors etc etc) was usually coloured a rather lurid green. Boots still sold it back in the 70s when I was a teen as it was used for various medicinal purposes. Before the days of detergents, this is what people used to wash their hair with - a scoop of soft soap would be mixed with water to make a shampoo.
I have made my own potassium soaps and tried them on my hair, and I can assure everyone that a modern detergent shampoo is superior in every way...

This seems to be a potassium soap and is pretty widely available Haffiana www.biggreensmile.com/products/dri-pak-liquid-soap-flakes/dpsoapflake.aspx?productid=dpsoapflake I use it for laundering delicates mostly.

Also, those who were expressing nostalgia for the Bronnley soaps shaped like lemons, three in a pack - I've just discovered that Ocado stock them. Also lime ones

I remember the big jars of green soft soap too - when I started nursing it was used for enemas. Big scoop of soft soap mixed with hot water and then poured into a funnel attached to a tube and whooshed up the patient's bottom.

"High, hot and a helluva lot!" as our tutor sister used to tell us

Ah yes, Bore, that is a true potassium soap. There is an interesting one on Ocado made from ‘Pine oil’ for floors as well, and they are still used for spraying plants against black fly and also in various car washes where detergents would be bad for the paintwork.

V interesting about the enemas! In theory potassium soaps are milder than sodium soaps, although I have never found that in practice. However now I am wondering if the mildness is more when they are used internally!