Who's right?

[artemis]

Little brothers are dumb.

That's what I tell my "little" brother all the time!

 

[dixiedragon]

I agree with Earlene - I don't see how liquid soap is more convenient, except in the bathroom of a business. It actually makes sense to me to see liquid vs bar soap in a hotel - because each bar gets about 4 uses and is then thrown away. So I think a liquid soap dispenser in that situation would actually save money and cause less waste. I don't care for even re-usable liquid soap dispensers in the home because they aren't that well made and they aren't particularly long lasting. Plus then you buy the little bottle of LS at the store, which probably includes a pump also, pour it into your container and then throw it away.

I like to buy pretty saucers or even crystal dishes at estate sales and put a bar of soap in there in each bathroom. Crystal is not "in" right now so you can get lovely crystal for CHEAP at estate sales, while the old metal tool box is $25 or more.

Also, liquid soap is not more convenient for travel. You have to worry about that container leaking and getting liquid soap all over everything. I have an old cough drop tin (.25 at a thrift store) that I keep a shampoo bar in (from LUSH, I confess) and that servers as soap and shampoo when I travel.

 

[DeeAnna]

The people I know who don't like to use bar soap perceive liquid cleanser as not being as messy as bar soap/cleanser. An acquaintance of mine recoiled when I offered to give her some of my soap to try. Nope, she was NOT going to use bar soap, no way, no how. I also read a blogger post in the past day or so where the author ranted on about having to break her fingernails to pry a bar of soap off the side of her sink where it had dried in place. (Eww. Apparently she never heard of a soap dish, hey?)

They also see liquid cleansers as being more sanitary. But Earlene brings up a very good point -- dispensers, especially the refillable ones, can grow ickies really easily if not cleaned out and sanitized well. And that's even with preservative in the cleanser itself -- it's the dispenser and dirty fingers that provide the microbes, and the cooties grow on the slight film of cleanser that clings to the dispenser surfaces. So the sanitary issue isn't entirely correct, but there's that perception.

 

[LilyJo]

Thinking about generational or cultural imfluences, my parents dont use liquid shower gel etc (they use bar soaps) but they do have hand wash at the sinks in the kitchen and bathroom. But for as long as I can remember everyone I know has used LS, which kind of echoes what Earlene says.

If you stay in a hotel or guest house these days most of the time they will have a LS dispenser screwed to the wall, I cant remember the last time they had a bar of guest soap. I think smaller boutique type places may have soap but most of the places I stay in for work moved to LS years and years ago. I never use them when I go I always take my own as whatever they have will invariably contain SLS which doesnt agree with me at all.

I think you may be right especially given the growing awareness of the use of palm as well as the pressure from the vegan/vegetarian/cruelty free lobbies - the plastic usage is hard to justify when you compare it to the minimal packaging that can be used for a bar of soap.

In response to dixie, I guess its simply that I have never found a bar soap that didnt leave my skin tacky or irritated. I have very sensitive skin and can only use water on my face; I cannot use SLS or SLES in bath products at all but weirdly my hair struggles without SLS! My son has had severe eczema his whole life and we have always had to be careful - I wish I knew when he was born everthing I know now about chemicals and additives, I could have heloed him so much sooner!

On the upside, I have just tested one of my new recipe bars out (its had a four week cure) and it lathered so much better that the last one (same recipe but different fragrance and colour) that I have high hopes for its future! Even my son commented that his skin felt 'normal' after washing his hands - high praise indeed!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

On the upside, I have just tested one of my new recipe bars out (its had a four week cure) and it lathered so much better that the last one (same recipe but different fragrance and colour) that I have high hopes for its future! Even my son commented that his skin felt 'normal' after washing his hands - high praise indeed!

HIP HIP HOORAY! :clap:
​

 

[cherrycoke216]

Of course, recently he informed me that he bought Dial at the grocery store. Meanwhile the gorgeous camo swirled bar of soap on his desk is full of holes b/c he uses it to hold pencils.

Little brothers are dumb.

He LOVES you and your soap SO MUCH he couldn't bring himself to use it and let it MELT DOWN the DRAIN. So he decided to use it as a medium of INSTALLATION ART!!!
Maybe bombarded him with overabundance of soap, so he start using it as soap or another installation art? (Hint)

Thanks everyone for the food for thought, especially Earlene on the contamination of liquid soap. I have read/slide through it. Wondering if any microbiologist had done research on bar soaps? Haha!!!

 

[BattleGnome]

I did happen across a click bait article about soap being dirty. The author concluded that you wash the soap before you use it and the dirt desnt matter.

 

[Susie]

He LOVES you and your soap SO MUCH he couldn't bring himself to use it and let it MELT DOWN the DRAIN. So he decided to use it as a medium of INSTALLATION ART!!!
Maybe bombarded him with overabundance of soap, so he start using it as soap or another installation art? (Hint)

Thanks everyone for the food for thought, especially Earlene on the contamination of liquid soap. I have read/slide through it. Wondering if any microbiologist had done research on bar soaps? Haha!!!

I just last week read an article (and unfortunately I can't remember where right now) comparing the amount of germs on a bar of soap to the part you touch of a typical soap dispenser in the hospital setting (where the entire bag and dispenser of the soap were changed out each time). They were about equal. The amount of germs on the hands was about equal if the soap was not a foam. If the soap was a foam, the amount of germs left on the hands was more. The article's conclusion was to use two squirts of foam soap to achieve the same results.

 

[earlene]

Thanks everyone for the food for thought, especially Earlene on the contamination of liquid soap. I have read/slide through it. Wondering if any microbiologist had done research on bar soaps? Haha!!!

Yes, as a matter of fact. It was part of what lead hospitals to move from bar soap to liquid soap here in the US last century. But as BattleGnome and Susie mention, it's not as glaringly horrendous as was believed back then. But in the hospital setting contamination was & still is a serious concern, hence the major shift. Plus bar soap was deemed far messier sink-side.

Here is an abstract from 1988. If you click on the links, you can read the full article/report on their findings. It references the first such study published in 1965 and points out that the spread of micro-organisms via bar soap is far less likely than originally believed.

Another article published by NPR addresses the 'bacterial' contamination of soap and the fact that it can still get you clean. That article is referencing the very same study from 1988 in my first link. (Notice the study comes from 1988, but the NPR article was published in 2015. Interesting, huh?)

And this article from the Huffington Post in 2014 addresses the same issue and makes the same recommendations we make to all our 'customers' (be they gifted customers or paying customers) to help soap last longer with the addition of rinsing the soap after use before putting it onto the soap 'dish' that allows it to dry completely. The cited expert is an internationally renowned nurse, professor of epidemiology who consults with the World Health Organization, as well as a lengthy resume in Infection Control, research, etc. and has done studies and published numerous articles and contributed to textbooks on epidemiological topics.

ETA: This may address what Suzie mentioned, although it is probably not the same article she actually read. In a small study published in the American Journal of Infection Control this year, it was found that foam soaps are less effective than liquid soaps when used in a certain way, which may have lead to the article Suzie read saying using 2 squirts instead of one might alleviate the problem. The study does not, in fact make that recommendation, but states further studies using larger sample sizes are indicated.

There may have been other studies, but my search parameters didn't pull them up at this time. I am thinking I must have left out a pertinent word or two in order to pull up some reference to the article or a study on the issues Suzie mentioned, but sometimes I can't find something at first. Maybe Suzie will recall at some point. I know I would certainly find it interesting to read.

 

[dixiedragon]

He LOVES you and your soap SO MUCH he couldn't bring himself to use it and let it MELT DOWN the DRAIN. So he decided to use it as a medium of INSTALLATION ART!!!
Maybe bombarded him with overabundance of soap, so he start using it as soap or another installation art? (Hint)

Thanks everyone for the food for thought, especially Earlene on the contamination of liquid soap. I have read/slide through it. Wondering if any microbiologist had done research on bar soaps? Haha!!!

You are giving him WAY too much credit. He actually doesn't get much soap from me b/c he says, "No thanks, I only use liquid soap and shower gel." The camo bar was part of a special manly batch with a manly scent that I was SURE would tempt him to try it. NOPE.