Coming Clean

This is a very clean post all about an item that I most often buy on our travels.

It's easy to figure out what I'm talking about from this photo. The name says it all.

Time to confess that I'm a bit of a soap shopaholic.

I've been buying soap bars on our U.S. road trips for the past few years. Oddly enough, I didn't buy a single bar on our trips abroad last fall. There was no special reason, other than I had many still unused at home, including ones from the UK. The soaps in Amalfi, Italy, famous for the Italian lemon liquor, Limoncello, were all lemon scented. While I do like lemons, it's just not my favorite scent for soap.

The bar soaps are not bought as souvenirs but for personal use, it just may take a hile to use them, but I have choices.. It's been several years since I've bought an off-the-shelf bar in a retail store, and I have no idea of the cost savings or not.

Overall, the benefits of buying bar soap are that not only is it useful (as this post will show) but eventually it will be all gone. Of course, for myself that means more buys..

I recently purchased a couple more bars on our recent trip to North Conway, NH, which were added to others in my collection, here's ⬇︎ a few of them.

Besides being a consumable purchase, there's another benefit. Many of these soaps are very fragrant with lavender and pine among my favorites. When storing bars of soap that haven't been pre-packaged and are usually homemade, I wrap them lightly in tissue paper and place in dresser drawers. Some pine-scented bars are stored with linens. It's such a refreshing scent when the sheets are taken out for use. 

Some bars have, like the ones above, remain in their original wrappings, as I found them interesting to show where the soaps originated, also as I already have many unwrapped bars.

Speaking of unwrapped bars, there's an ongoing question: Should a bar soap be stored naked or does it last longer if unwrapped before storing? A friend once advised me to never store soap in a box, but to remove outer wrapping and let the bar breathe. 

The theory is that a naked soap bar continues to dry if air is it airs for 6-8 weeks to harden the ingredients, which makes it less likely to dissolve with use. I've never done a scientific test, but believe this is true. I do this with all of the bar soaps I use and they do last quite a while. 

There's also some other useful tips: keep bar soap in a cool place away from direct sun; use a soap dish with drainage; don’t keep bar soap on a metal surface; use a washcloth as it creates later using less soap overall.

Did you know that cooler showers save soap? 

Hotter water makes bar soap dissolve faster and requires more effort to make lather. A cool shower helps bar soap last longer by allowing it to maintain its shape and consistency for a longer time.

How long can soap be stored?

That depends on ingredients used in making the soap. Some commercial bar soaps include an expiration date. None of the ones I've bought over the years have such information. Many haven't even come in a box.

The average time to store bar soap is estimated to be a few years. It might lose fragrance, become discolored, and lather less, but is useable and safe. Scented soaps with an essential oil like rosemary or lavender oil can lose fragrance in 3-6 months, but the soap is still safe.

Can bacteria grow on bar soap?

Yes, bacteria can thrive on bar soap, but usually this doesn't stop the soap from
getting you clean; it won't make you sick.

Overall, the #1 rule for bar soap is — keep it dry. This is considered the biggest factor in maintaining the life of a soap bar. Also to allow proper drainage of water around it. The more drainage and air flow a soap bar is has the longer it will last remaining firm, less messy and easier to use. 

How to keep soap dry? — Store on a soap dish

Washboard style wooden soap dishes work great. The washboard surface elevates the bar so water drips off. I’ve used a teak wooden soap disk, similar to this one, for years; it hasn't warped or discolored. Some folks store soap in a cardboard box. Ideally, it should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place. Never store soap in an air-tight container.

You probably know that soap bars have lots of other household uses aside from than bathing, here's a few, several of which I've used often, maybe you as well.

Unstick a zipper - If a zipper is stuck, run a dry bar of soap over the teeth to make it glide easier. This is the tip I've used most often !

Fix sticky drawers and sliding doors - If drawers or sliding doors won't open smoothly, rub a bar of soap on the drawer edges or along the grooves of the door tracks, the door will slide on the track again.

Make furniture assembly easier - Starting screws into wood can be hard. Make it easier, coat the screw threads with bar soap. 

Loosen a stiff lock - If a door lock is stiff, drag the key over a dry bar of soap to coat the surface, insert the coated key in the lock, turn to make the lock easier to use.

Prevent foggy mirrors and glasses - When a mirror is fully dry, rub a bar of soap over the glass. Don't add water, just buff away streaks with a dry cloth. This also works well on eyeglasses and sunglasses.

Stop squeaks - No WD-40 handy? Rub a bar of soap along creaking or squeakly door hinges and floorboards. Test the squeak; reapply as needed.

Pinpoint a leak - To detect where a tire is leaking, dampen a bar of soap and rub over the area. The soapy film will create a bubble when air escapes. 

Remove tough stains - Some soaps are promoted specifically for stain removal, you can use bar soap to treat oily and muddy stains; use one with no added conditioners.

Make hands easier to clean - Before digging in the garden or doing an auto repair, run fingernails over a bar of soap to prevent soil or grease from lodging under nails. Because the soap slivers stay put, you’ll generate suds when cleaning up.

Soften shoes - If shoes need softening, rub bar soap on the area that’s likely to create blisters; feel the leather soften up.

Remove wallpaper - Rather than spend hours removing, mix soapy water in a spray bottle and spritz. Wallpaper will start peeling, saving time and work.

Relieve Insect bites - Itchy and painful insect bites are annoying. Use a bar of soap,  wet the soap, rub on the bite and the itchiness should stop.

Admittedly, I won't be using the road trip soap buys for these uses, and will use retail bought bars instead. We're going on a couple of upcoming road trips. I can foresee adding a few more soap bars to my collection.

Thanks for fellow blogger (Boud) here's something very helpful that you can do with unused hotel bar soaps or purchased soaps — donate them. We've done the same in the past, but no longer collect any travel bars, many lodgings now use refillable soap dispensers. (The same applies to toothpaste tubes that dentists often dispense.)

Your turn — What item do you buy most often on a trip?