The Unexpected Versatility of Bar Soap

I am a keeper of lists. They’re a primary mode of communication to myself and to others. (Knowing nods from my nearest and dearest.) Lists make me feel better when I’m anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, or sleepless. But also when I’m excited, ambitious, or simply practical. 

I write To-Do lists and Ta-Da lists (highly recommended for celebrating what you’ve actually done). I write lists of books to read, books I’ve read, movies to watch, places to visit, recipes to try, gifts to buy, people to call, emails to write, inspirational quotes, and blog topics.   

I must remind myself that inexplicably, not everyone loves lists as much as I do, but I hope you’ll indulge me one here today. 

One ever-growing list I have is for the many “off-label” uses for Dr. Bronner’s products. My list for the Pure-Castile Bar soap has reached a critical mass that I felt it ripe to share with you. 

I hope to hear you say, “I never thought of that” as you read. Even as an old trusted standby, bar soap still has some tricks up its sleeve.  

Benefits of Bar Soap 

• No plastic packaging. While the plastic in Dr. Bronner’s bottles is 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and recyclable, the bar soap avoids plastic altogether with its 100% PCR wrapper. 
• More concentrated. Saves space. Saves weight. Better deal.   
• No running through your fingers in the shower.
• Easier to use less. Just a bit is all you need. Great for kids.  
• Easier to control. Good for keeping soap off baby’s face.  
• Not spillable. Not in your shower, not in your luggage, not in your gym bag, not in your child’s bath. 
• Not meltable. Not in a hot car, hot backpack, or hot airplane luggage compartment. 
• No TSA compliance concerns. They have yet to limit the amount of bar soap you may carry on an airplane.
• Slightly more moisturizing than the liquid.  
• Cuts easily into smaller bars. Good for splitting up a bar of soap for multiple people or different uses, especially while traveling. 
• Organic plant oils and ready biodegradability make it best for body and earth. 
• It’s nostalgic and stylishly retro these days. 

Uses of Bar Soap 

• Wash head to toe – hair, face, body, feet and hands. (To start with the obvious.) 
• Wash clothes – in a hotel sink or in your campsite – wet both bar soap and clothing, rub bar soap to a lather on fabric, rub and rinse. 
• As a shaving cake at the bottom of your shaving cup. Makes a creamy lather. 
• With a fingernail brush – rub the brush over the bar. 
• Keep nails clean while gardening. Before gardening, rub dry bar soap under nails to keep dirt out.   
• Wash dishes – rub your dish brush over the bar.  
• Grate it for powdered laundry soap. (Works best with hot water.) 

Non-Washing Uses—For Some Real Innovation 

• Grease door hinges. 
• Lubricate wooden window sashes. 
• Loosen sticky wood drawers.   
• Coat threads of screws to ease screwing in. 
• Keep clothes in luggage fresh-smelling while traveling, or even in your drawers, by placing an unwrapped dry bar of soap among them. 
• Keep dirty clothes fresh-smelling on the way home with that same unwrapped dry bar placed in them. 
• Freshen stinky shoes by placing the unwrapped, dry bar in them.   
• Make hand-sewing easier. Stick the tip of the needle into a bar of dry soap ahead of sewing so it glides through tough fabrics easily. 
• Practice whittling. Soap is softer than wood, easier to cut.  And you can use it for something afterwards. 
• Temporarily fill in nail holes in the wall until it’s time to spackle the hole and repaint.  

Before I wrap this up, let me alleviate any remaining bar soap anxiety with another very brief list: 

• Bars of soap do not harbor germs. Both the CDC and the Mayo Clinic recommend bar and liquid soap equally as the most effective prevention against sickness. Furthermore, those blessed scientists whose work it is to answer all our obscure “what if” questions actually contaminated bars of soaps with nasty germs and still found no transference on to the next hand washer. One set did this in 1965 and another set repeated it a different way in 1988. 
• When your bar of soap is down to that last tiny sliver, stick it on to your next full bar of soap when both are wet. That way, you can utilize every last bit of soapy goodness. No loss. No waste. 

As I contemplate these 29—Yes, 29!—perks and uses of good ol’ bar soap, I find that the bar has made its way on to my list of “stranded on a deserted island” products—a common question I get in interviews.   

And there’s something quite satisfying about unwrapping a brand new bar of soap. That unmarred surface and crisp “All-One!” stamp. So much cleaning potential! It’s like getting a present, without having to write a thank-you note. Unless the bar of soap was a present. Then you should write a thank-you note. Include this list.