How long do your bars last?

[houseofwool]

This thread had me wondering how long my soaps last. I just stuck a 3.5 oz bar in the shower today.

I think they last about a month with me, a tween boy, and a pre-schooler.

 

[AnnaMarie]

....with a hyper-clean, 17 yr old- one day :-D :-D

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Too often I only try the ends for myself, so it's hard to tell. Love the idea of taking measurements and weights after each use, though...............................

 

[jade-15]

But you would have to develop some sort of way to account for the variations in water left on the soap after each wash... Do you weigh it immediately prior to use so it's dry? Or immediately afterwards assuming it will always have the same amount of excess water ...

Ok enough of that.

I can't say how long my bars are lasting - there are only two of us, and he alternates with shower gel, and I have about 6 soaps on the go right now.
But they are lasting quite some time.

I have re-purposed a sponge caddy like this to let my soaps dry out between uses - I stuck it on the wall beside the shower head, so the soap doesn't get wet just by turning the shower on.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00196LI8C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Very minimal gunk build up and I don't have to worry about keeping soap on dishes outside the shower etc. The only problem is it is too small for my soap
Also the giant gaps mean that the last bits will fall through. Oh well. Smaller gaps mean the soap doesn't dry as well and there's more gunk so you can't win

 

[DeeAnna]

An old fashioned pot scrubby works surprisingly well. If it gets messy, it pops right in the washer (or can be used to clean the sink!) And any kind of saucer or shallow bowl works under the scrubby, so I use my grandmother's pretty hand-painted saucer as a soap dish. Works just as well in the shower.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/crocheted-scrubbies-zbcz1311.aspx
http://noelwright.blogspot.com/2011/08/pattern-for-crochet-pot-scrubber.html

 

[yadonm]

My soaps last at least four weeks but having said that, I love trying all my soaps and really can't wait until I can try a new one. As it is, I have about ten bars in the shower at any given time and must use restraint (I hate using restraint!) because there's no place to put it.

 

[kikajess]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all your great input! It feels good to know almost a month is a somewhat normal usage rate for a bar of soap for a single person.

When I finish the shower, I leave the bar inside the soap cozy, and it doesn't dry completely. But it's not exactly sitting and dissolving in water, either. Whatever wet mushy soap accumulates after the shower, accumulates on the cozy for me to use during my next shower. Dunno if that's a good thing or not. Seems to be okay so far...

I will try an 8-wk cured bar next to see if that lasts longer than my 4-wk cured bar. And I will leave it in the cozy, just for consistency's sake.

 

[Belinda02]

Thanks everyone. Great info.

 

[Ellacho]

One bar of soap would last me about a week. I use it from head to toe, including my hair.

 

[idreamaboutsoap]

I have absolutely zero useful input as I'm new to soap making but have to give major props to Derpina Bubbles for the term Wookie Effect. You must be one of my soul sistas hahahaha

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

One bar of soap would last me about a week. I use it from head to toe, including my hair.

I do this with my Pine Tar bars!

 

[houseofwool]

This thread had me wondering how long my soaps last. I just stuck a 3.5 oz bar in the shower today.

I think they last about a month with me, a tween boy, and a pre-schooler.

So, the 3.5 oz bar lasted 30 days. I expect that figure to drop as summer approaches (and the tween hits full on puberty).

 

[songwind]

My 2.5 oz bars last several weeks to a couple of months as bathroom sink hand and face bars. My family is still using body wash in the shower, so I can't say much about that.