Soap Lifespan

FROM: Joseph
DATE: Monday June 27, 2005 -- 9:24:40 am

Six months--the key is to put the soap where it will dry out between daily uses. If it stays damp, it won't last nearly as long. I also use one of those scrubby things (looks sort of like a giant plastic pot scrubber) that really creates volumes of suds out just a little bit of soap.

FROM: andy
DATE: Monday June 27, 2005 -- 10:09:36 am

Semi-related - I saw a teaser for the channel 2 news in Chicago and they were going to inform us all about the expiration dates on common products, including soap. A hard-hitting expose to be sure!

Perhaps if you get 6 months out of a bar, you may pass the expiration date. I'm not sure what horrors may befall you, but I'm sure they will breathlessly inform you.

FROM: andy
DATE: Monday June 27, 2005 -- 10:13:44 am

One more thing. My grandmother was very poor and started her family during the depression. She always had a little basket type thing with a handle, in which she would put the scraps of bar soap, and swish it around in the kitchen sink for suds. As far as I know, she never bought any dishwashing soap in her life.

FROM: Ryan [E-Mail]
DATE: Monday June 27, 2005 -- 10:29:08 am

I reuse the leftover scraps by smushing them onto the next bar.

FROM: jk
DATE: Monday June 27, 2005 -- 7:03:55 pm

It really depends on the soap....if it's triple-milled, it will last sooo much longer. I have a bar of soap in my powder room that I've had since march 2004 (it was a bday gift to myself) that looks barely used!

Sucking all the testosterone out of the Ping, you can find soaps at some specialty stores by the Thymes, Asquith and Somerset, or even Bath and Body Works' Aromatherapy line has bar soap that lasts long. I suggest Eucalyptus Spearmint--very uni-sex and clean-smelling. I know, that's redundant, but some soaps do smell frilly. Next time you are at the mall, think of me and check it out.

FROM: laurie
DATE: Thursday June 30, 2005 -- 4:30:57 pm

I've never really noticed how long a bar of soap lasts, but I am curious as to how long a roll of toliet paper lasts others. If I use Scott tissue, the big roll, it sometimes can last a couple of weeks, depending on how many people are living in a household, when it was just myself and my kid, I even had it last close to a month. However, the cheaper bargain brands are lucky to last more than a day, if I am lucky, two days

FROM: Ryan [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday June 30, 2005 -- 11:26:20 pm

jk -- I buy some of the most feminine sounding soaps out there. :)

They're not actually feminine smelling, but I think a lot of people associate the specialty "natural" soaps with Bath and Body Works and such.

FROM: snaily
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 12:14:19 pm

hey y is ur face blue in this picture? theres actually a race of people who's skin is blue from inbreeding over the year. they live in kentucky and are "fugates"

FROM: snaily
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 12:53:35 pm

soap in my house usually lasts about a month. i dunno how he do it but i think it has something to do with the kind of soap. ours is really hard so not as much comes off when u use it

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 3:43:34 pm

A month or two (Dove soap) for just me. I'm not really certain.

It seems like I buy one or two four-packs a year, which supports a two month theory.

A very interesting question, though. I always wonder about things like that. Like, how long should kitchen sponges last? Mine seem to go rancid or start falling apart in just weeks, no matter how dry I keep them or how often I put them in the microwave or dishwasher.

FROM: Joseph
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 5:51:40 pm

Merle:

I find that Dove, with its 1/4 moisturizing cream content, is one of the shortes lived soaps of all time. It just melts.

I believe if you changed soaps that you could be in the six month club like I am.

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 10:30:46 pm

Joseph: I agree fully about the lifespan of Dove. It just seems to do a better job of cleaning me. Not sure why. I hear of people who love Ivory soap, but all it does is leave a film on my skin (on top of the dirty layer).

It does seem like dessicated Dove lasts a bit longer. Guess I should just open the boxes up when I return from the store...

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 10:31:44 pm

Joseph: I agree fully about the lifespan of Dove. It just seems to do a better job of cleaning me. Not sure why. I hear of people who love Ivory soap, but all it does is leave a film on my skin (on top of the dirty layer).

It does seem like dessicated Dove lasts a bit longer. Guess I should just open the boxes up when I return from the store...

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Saturday July 2, 2005 -- 10:32:12 pm

Doh! Double post. Sorry. It said it had timed out...

FROM: snaily
DATE: Sunday July 3, 2005 -- 10:52:01 am

yeah dove is wat i use. it wroks really well

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Sunday August 14, 2005 -- 3:22:46 pm

I started a new Dove bar the third week of July. We'll see how long it lasts. So far, it looks about 1/3 gone.

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Tuesday October 11, 2005 -- 3:21:40 pm

I finished off that bar of soap last week. So I'll say two to two and a half months. That's with showering once a day (and that's all I used that bar for).

FROM: Tom
DATE: Thursday January 26, 2006 -- 8:30:24 pm

I was looking to see what I could find on the subject because my girlfriend just moved in with me and now a bar of Ivory soap lasts about 4-5 days. A bar of soap used to last me 2-3 months. Is there anyone out there who has heard of someone going through soap this fast? Every time I take a shower is amazes me how much soap has dissappeared since my last shower. Even if I were to spend a half hour trying to scrub soap off the bar with the cloth I don't think I could make as much soap dissappear as she does in her 15 minute shower.

FROM: John
DATE: Thursday January 26, 2006 -- 10:27:23 pm

I'm a loyal Dial user, I guess I like the smell and bright yellow color. But I've wondered, is it really soap all the way through? By the time you get down to the last 20% the color has changed to a very pale yellow and it hardly lathers at all.

FROM: Ryan [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday January 26, 2006 -- 10:38:14 pm

That probably means you've gone through all the beef tallow.

FROM: Merle [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday January 26, 2006 -- 10:40:58 pm

Tom: less than a week for a bar of soap means something is wrong. Perhaps your shower is leaking on it? There is no way it should be that fleeting.

FROM: La Rae
DATE: Wednesday February 1, 2006 -- 10:18:58 pm

hey i was wondering why on that picture you are blue? could it possibly be that you are related to the fugates?