I use bar soap in the shower

Not body wash

[weeks]

Driving to the office this morning, I heard on NPR that "body wash" has a large market share than bar soap. As it was explained, "body wash" is mostly water in a plastic bottle and is more expensive than bar soap. The report attempted to explain the appeal by saying that "body wash" is sold on smell.

Here is how out of touch I am: I'd never heard of "body wash" until that report. I had seen the hand wash liquids--my sink in the kitchen even has a built-in pump for it. But, "body wash" got by me.

I have to go the supermarket today. I will check out body wash for the first time. But, I will buy bar soap. (Which, btw, I've noticed is smaller at the same price.)

Everyone else here uses body wash, right?

[lawman]

I'm partial to peach/mango. :)

BTW, do you use a wash cloth or just your hands?

[engine]

The wife uses it, but, it seem like a waste of money to me. I did try it and most of it seemed to be immediately washed down the drain before i'd made use of it.

Of the eleven bottles around the shower, I have 1 bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo.

[steve40]

Do you think it is an age thing,

I have always used old fashioned bars of soap and shampoo since I was a kid ( Body Wash Did Not Exist ) and unlikely to change old habits at my age

[rocker]

In the summer I use Ivory bar soap, in the winter I use a body wash because I get dry skin.

BTW, do you use a wash cloth or just your hands?

Just my hands with the bar soap and a loofa with the body wash.

[blend27]

Of the eleven bottles around the shower

I got you beat by a dozen and a half, wifey works for a French Cosmetics Company, she gets like 70% Off this stuff; PLUSS constant "New Product Giveaways".

On the other hand I have a half square foot of my area allocated by "Department of Bathtub Land and Recreations Security Agency(DBLRSA)" with strict regulations. Built into the wall, with a bar of Dove soap and a bottle of Dove shampoo.

[rocknbil]

Coco Castile bar, vegetable based, 100% natural, no perfumes, all business, wife calls it "man soap." :-)

Don't go to their site though. It resizes your browser window and is generally deplorable.

[arieng]

Dr. Bronner's liquid peppermint soap, bought by the gallon at the local co-op. Wifey uses body wash.

[londrum]

i use a mixture of mango and 1 teaspoon of lemon blossom, unless i am extra dirty, in which case i add an extra dash of pine forest leaves.

[Old_Honky]

I used to be strictly a carbolic soap man, but about 6 years ago I tried body wash and have never looked back. I also apply it using one of those balled-up lace scrubbers which I had previously considered highly effeminate. Showering is much easier than when I used soap and quicker because the lather is almost instant. I also feel much fresher and cleaner.

I only use the cheap supermarket body wash, which is only a little more expensive than bar soap(it is just as good as the more expensive stuff).

Another advantage is that you don't end up with a wafer thin piece of soap which you either have to throw away or try and stick on to the next bar.

[buckworks]

You can get little net bags to put those soap slivers in and that makes it easier to lather up the last bits.

[deejay]

I have body wash.. because people are forever giving it as gifts around here. I use it once in a blue moon.

But I use bar soap. Not commercial soap mind you... my own home-made castille soap - pure olive oil wi no additives except the lye and water to make it into soap. Absolutely gorgeous.

[rocknbil]

. . . you don't end up with a wafer thin piece of soap which you either have to throw away or try and stick on to the next bar.

LOL . . . I have mastered the technique of bar melding. When it starts to thin, take the next wash with the new bar, then on exit just set the sliver atop the new bar. There's sufficient moisture so that by the next A.M., they are securely cemented.

People usually pay me for these important tips, but this time I'll let it slide. Just don't publish it. LOL . . .

[kaled]

I don't use soap or bodywash (and no I don't smell). I've tried doing without shampoo too but that doesn't work for me.

Unless you are actually dirty, these products are a complete waste of money. In fact, it's worse than that, these products cause premature ageing of the skin (you don't realise it's premature because everyone else uses them). In some cases, they remove natural oils and have such a drying effect that people waste more money on body moisturisers.

Soaps and/or body wash are normally unnecessary for office-workers, etc. that and shower every day. If necessary, just use a plastic body-scrubber of some sort to remove dead skin. If you get hot and sweaty for prolonged periods or if you have a pronounced odour problem, maybe, just maybe there's some justification for using these products.

Antiperspirants and Deodorants are a different issue.

Kaled.

[wheel]

There's four people in our house and everyone but me has their own shampoo, conditioner, probably body wash, and other random bottles that I've no idea what the purpose is.

I just use whatever's sitting there at the time. Except now I'm getting told not to use certain bottles because 'they're expensive'. WTH? Who's money bought them anyway?

It's getting rough. My choices now seem to be conditioning my hair with some toxic formula intended to make love to permanently dyed hair, or to wind up smelling as loud as a 13 year old boy.

[weeks]

I have mastered the technique of bar melding. When it starts to thin, take the next wash with the new bar, then on exit just set the sliver atop the new bar. There's sufficient moisture so that by the next A.M., they are securely cemented.

I come to WW to learn stuff. Always do.

So, everyone knows about this but me. I wonder what else I'm missing...

[engine]

>I have mastered the technique of bar melding.

My parents tought me that as they come from the generation where nothing was wasted. I find I do it out of habit and have never, knowingly, thrown a sliver of soap away. The wife hates it when there are two soaps stuck together on the side of the tub. I guess that's why always pick two contasting colors to stick together. hehe

[Green_Grass]

these products cause premature ageing of the skin

Yup, Never use soap on the face. Rest of the body parts seem to need a little soap once a day..

[incrediBILL]

Bar melding?

Come on people, is that thin sliver of soap so precious you need to squeak out the last foamy bubble?

My parents used to do this nonsense, I never did.

I buy my soap from the big box store Costco so I'm never out of soap just like I'm never out of toilet paper, napkins or paper towels buying them in all bulk along with the occasional twin-pack of 50" flat screen TVs when the new models come out.

When the bar gets too thin to hold TOSS IT!



As for body wash, have you ever read the ingredients list?

The main ingredient is (drum roll please) WATER!

Biggest rip-off ever IMO as you get less real product for the buck than a bar of soap, those plastic bottles are worse for the environment, more body wash product goes down the drain polluting the planet than rubs off a bar of soap for the same amount of washing.

Bad for your pocket, bad for the planet.

Besides, if you have dry skin, there are moisturizing bar soaps and worse case, BUY SOME MOISTURIZER.

[pageoneresults]

I have mastered the technique of bar melding.

You learn something new everyday around here!

Bar soap. Tom's of Maine. Burt's BeesŪ. Castile.

After seeing those AXE Body Wash commercials (The AXE Effect), I almost made the change. Then I realized it was just advertising hype. :)

[netmeg]

Poo. I bar meld all the time. I don't buy cheap soap.

My mom loves the body wash. But I tend to drop the bottle on my toes. I'll stick with Dove.

I never wandered in here before. You people talk about the goofiest stuff

[weeks]

After seeing those AXE Body Wash commercials (The AXE Effect), I almost made the change. Then I realized it was just advertising hype. :)

Are you absolutely certain about that...?

Anyway, the less-fair of the genders is getting some slam on this topic of late. For example:
[doonesbury.com...]

[wyweb]

Bar melder from way back.

[MatthewHSE]

When the bar gets too thin to hold TOSS IT!

You've obviously never been in a situation where pennies count, and a few extra showers to a bar of soap are important...I was raised in that sort of situation and see absolutely no sense in throwing away perfectly good soap when using it is as easy as placing it on top of a new bar.

No body-wash here; it goes too fast and is way too expensive. However, I do like to use those lacy things Old_Honky mentioned, which like him I used to think were very effeminate. Then I realized that's only the case if you use it too gently. I scrub the daylights out of myself and come out of the shower feeling very clean, refreshed and energized.

[rocknbil]

Come on people, is that thin sliver of soap so precious you need to squeak out the last foamy bubble?

Of course it's not. What it *is* about is frivolous waste by habit. If a thing requires no special energy or dedication, there is no reason to waste. This may be a trivial thing, but habits like this reflect a larger pattern of waste . . . or conservation, depending on which side you're on.

I recycle too, for no other reason than it doesn't demand a lot of energy. :-) It has an additional benefit of avoiding landfill bloat and conserving dwindling resources.

[incrediBILL]

What it *is* about is frivolous waste by habit.

Nothing frivolous about tossing something so tiny you can't even hold it, I'm not talking a big sliver, I'm talking so thin it would slip thru the holes in the shower drain, and those little slivers wouldn't survive my thick body hair in the first place.

TOSS!

[Old_Honky]

Isn't this hanging on to bar soap a bit masochistic? I bet some of you guys still use that hard shiny toilet paper.

One of my best friends when I was a teenager used to wash his shoulder length hair in a mixture of "Vim" and "Fairy Liquid" he thought shampoo was too unmanly. I met up with him a few months back (after 35 years with no contact)to have a couple of pints and reminisce a little, he is now as bald as a badger's @rse.

So I say spoil yourselves take the soft and gentle option don't spend ages in the shower rubbing a hard bar of soap to try and get a decent lather going, use the liquid body wash it lathers quickly you spend less time in the shower and use less water. It is the greener option.

[phranque]

The AXE Effect

in my house that means turning on the whole house fan to clear the air.
that stuff is unbreathable.

[john_k]

Bar soap forever.

I have tried body wash (i.e. forced to use my wife's AFTER I step into the running shower but BEFORE I remember that I needed a new bar of soap) only to wonder how in the hell you are supposed to put it in play before it washes away. The only solution is to pour a third of the bottle on to one of the scrubbies or a wash cloth. I know I get more than three showers out of a bar of soap.

As for the alleged lather problem: Bar soap lathers up right away with "soft" water. So it serves as my water softener alarm - when the soap won't lather up I need to add salt to my water softener.

Although the art of bar melding is second nature I am pretty sure it never had a name before this thread. Thanks to the coiner of that term.

[john_k]

After seeing those AXE Body Wash commercials (The AXE Effect), I almost made the change. Then I realized it was just advertising hype. :)

They almost got me with those ads too.

Another trap to watch out for - Many body wash brands targeted at men have replaced the adjective "moisturizing" with the more manly "re-hydrating". Don't be fooled by this trickery!