Need to squeak by for a few days until pay day? Are groceries having to take priority over basic cleaning mediums? Boy, do I have good news. Read on.
Apparently, bar soap is a reasonably effective, dirt cheap household cleaning product. Who knew? OK, somebody probably did. But it wasn't me. That is, until recently. It all started one morning when I was too lazy to move the boxes away from the cabinet door where my bathroom cleaning caddy and homemade spray cleaner are stored. The sink and counter area were getting to the point where I could no longer avoid them, and the only two things I could reach without aggravation were the bar of soap by the faucet and the facecloth I was getting ready to walk out to the laundry. Since the cloth was already pretty wet, I just slapped in the bar and lathered away. From there it took less than two minutes to wipe out the sinks and counter area, rinse out the cloth, and wring out to do a sort of wipe down / rinse combo.
Feeling like I'd just snagged a free ticket on the easy train, I jumped in the shower. Another little corner of my domain that needed some serious attention. While I'm quite certain this next piece of information falls clearly into the category of TMI, I'm going there anyway in the interest of giving bar soap it's fair fifteen minutes of fame. My shower usually gets its down and dirty thorough cleaning on a day that directly coincides with the day I deep condition my hair. If this leaves you with a mental picture you'd rather not have, I apologize. Just do your best to focus on the fact that you are about to save major bucks.
Since I haven't gotten around to mixing up my shower spray and didn't want to go through gobs of my favorite shampoo just to do a personal performance of June Cleaver Goes Commando, I almost tossed the scrub brush down and bailed on the whole thing. Then, through the cascading streams of water, I saw it. That humble bar of soap sitting on the shower shelf. With a twinkle in my eye, I glanced over to the sink and back again. Would it work? Was I committing housewife sacrilege?
In the end of course, I decided to go for it. What was I afraid of, anyway? That the housekeeping police might bust in and haul me away? Dampening the brush a bit more under the shower head, I ran the bar soap back and forth across the bristles until I had a pretty good amount of coverage. Then I started in the upper right corner of one of the walls, working my way across and back again. And again. And again. Holy guacamole! Normally a squirt or two of shampoo gets me maybe a full pass across one tub or shower unit wall. A few swipes of bar soap across the bristles and I was getting through an entire section of the job for less than a couple of pennies. Why hadn't I thought of this before?
The truth is I don't know why. It's so totally up my alley that I can't believe I hadn't, to tell you the truth. Another little truth? At least as far as the shower walls are concerned, I may never go back. I'll push forward with my DIY soap scum prevention shower spray, sure. Eventually. But for the deep down suds access that I occasionally combine with baking soda? It's bar soap for this girl from now on. A few other ideas for these little bars of thrift?
As usual, I'm open to hearing other cool ideas for using bar soap on the cheap and easy. So feel free to sound off below. In the meantime, those interested in other soap related thrift ideas can check out this post from Wise Bread's own Linsey Knerl.
Boy, do I wish I had this tip earlier in the year. I was digging up potatoes, and a glove malfunction left me with dirt trapped underneath my nails for a week. No amount of scrubbing would do, and because there was some unseemly organisms thriving in the ground at the time, I had horrible pain and irritation under two of my nails for a month!
Better late than never!
Linsey Knerl
That sounds annoying in its own right Linsey, let alone having to keyboard like crazy when your fingers were hurting.
Myscha, have you ever written about vinegar? I found some interesting stuff about vinegars on the web today. I am not a young person but I did not know that white vinegar was really not to be used with food. Better to use the other vinegar. It said that you could use vinegar to clean with and that it was better than soda.
No wonder my cucumbers always tasted so strong when I put distilled white vinegar on them. LOL
As usual, great suggestions! I usually avoid bar soap due to the number of small, soap soaking people in my house, but I will definitely file this info away for another time.
Thanks for stopping by, ladies. Erma, I haven't written about vinegar for Wise Bread, but I believe Paul has. You may want to use the search box. It seems to me it was a pretty extensive tip list.
Kate, nice to see you stop by again. It's been a while. Yes, the youngers sure can leave the soap to melt in a puddle of water, can't they? Oh well. Pump dispensers are a great help with that, in my opinion. Glad you liked the tips.
This is a great idea. I will have to try it. I see huge packs of Irish Spring at Target or Sam's for $4-$5.
You can also use the slivers of soap (you know,the ones that collect when the bar is almost gone). Save these up and make your own laundry detergent! For just a couple of bucks, you will have enough to last you for about a year. Its amazing! And, I bet the kids will have fun mixing up the goop too :) Try this link: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm.
I keep several unwrapped bars of soap in a cute french tin pail by our lanai door. It repels mosquitos...both on the lanai and from entering the house. Watch for sales and buy the cheapest brand possible, or save up all of those soaps from hotel stays.
Wow. That's a seriously cool tip. I think I had heard something about certain kinds of soap suds being able to be mixed up in a spray bottle for house and garden plants, but never this use before. Thanks.
Bar soap can be used as a teeth cleaner. It's actually much better for your teeth than toothpaste.
http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/saveteeth.htm
Regarding your suggestion of soap as a lubricant, in fact I saw a program on the Discovery channel regarding some sort of contruction venture, and the construction firm bought big boxes of ivory soap & used that as lubricant among their wheels, treads, etc.
An interesting soap anecdote: My dad always used to keep a bar of soap in a clothes drawer for a week or two before using it - apparently it dries the soap out a bit so that it lasts longer (being drier less rubs off as you use it, so less is wasted).
As far as vinegar goes, it is acidic & is indeed useful for cleaning, particularly for surfaces that need gentle cleaning or need to be food friendly or otherwise chemical free (like aquariums). We had laminate ("pergo") flooring in our last house, and I'd mop the floors with a mix of water, vinegar, and ammonia. As it's aciding, it's also useful for dissolving away calcium buildups in faucet outlets - just drop a crudded-up faucet outlet in a glass of vinegar overnight & it will be in better shap in the morning.
Comment #8 (using leftover soap slivers as laundry detergent) is a good one UNLESS you have a high-efficiency (HE) washing machine. So many commercial soaps are made to lather a lot (makes it look more like it's working, dontchaknow), but the amount of suds has almost nothing to do with cleaning power, and washing machine pumps that pump large amounts of suds fail earlier than they would if they were pumping water. That's not "green". Or "Wise".
The comment about using soap on your teeth is correct. I don't personally think I could stand it. I recently switched to a home made tooth powder made out of fine sea salt, baking soda and lavender essential oil. I had been using Tom's of Maine for about a year and had horrible build up on my teeth compared to the years I have used baking soda.
This website has a good list of potential toothpaste or tooth powder ingredients and lots of other information on how to care for your teeth.
http://mizar5.com/keyes.html
I have very long hair, and so I only wash it every few weeks. I am also sensitive to many fragrances found in shampoos and conditioners.
I have been using Ivory bar soap for my skin and my hair for at least ten years! For the rinse, I use apple cider vinegar. My hair is squeaky clean and feels and looks great.
Gee, here I thought I was the only one clever enough to clean the shower/tub while taking my shower!
"June Cleaver goes commando"--LOVE it!
A little confession--I actually prefer bar soap to girly shower gels because I feel cleaner with bar soap AND the lather is better on my bath sponge. Any stripping of moisture is remedied with after-shower moisturization that I would do anyway. Just my personal preference, I suppose. And now, I have yet another idea for multitasking!
Carbolic soap works as a mosquito repellent if you wash with it before going outside. The bar itself has a strong smell ( like Dettol) but once it's on my skin I don't notice an odor... but the mosquitoes do. Black flies are not repelled, though. I buy it at the Bulk Barn here in Canada. They posted an article about people buying carbolic soap by the case; they wondered why, and this was the reason.
I save the little motel/hotel soaps and put them in an old ashtray by the kitchen sink to wash my hands there. Easier/cheaper than pump soaps. Also my grandmother used to put scented soap cakes in her dresser drawers to make her clothes smell fresh.
You know, it actually took me quite a bit of time to figure out a DIY version of this stuff that they charge so much for in the stores. My notes on the hows and why are who knows where, but the active key ingredient is something called a citricidal. There are a few options for this, but my favorite is grapefruit seed extract. In fact, I've been slowly gathering tidbits and resources to do the mother of all posts on the subject. But if I can't get together soon, a shorter post may be in order, because you are not the first to ask me for more info on this stuff. (Which is seriously great stuff, by the way. I'll try to put up a more precise recipe later on, but for now if you have an empty spray bottle, just mix half vinegar and half water with several drops of this stuff. If the vinegar smell is too strong for you, add in some orange oil (another citricidal) until it smells as nice as you'd like it too. After that, it's just shake and spray. The key however is to make sure you have a super clean surface to start. (A pain if it's built up at all) Then, after each shower (even if you've scrubbed it down and rinsed), spray a fine mist over everything. Shower curtain interior, the tub unit, the shower walls, faucet handles, etc. You'll always have to give it a regularly scheduled deep scrubbing, but the frequency should be much less because the build up is significantly reduced.
My mother always dug her nails into a bar of soap for
dirty jobs. It not only kept her nails clean, it gave
them a little more support and they didn't break as easily.
We grew up using Ivory soap and mom even used it to wash
dishes. She would use her dishcloth and work up a lather, then scrub away. I have used this during extra frugal times too.
Recently I changed back to Ivory bathsoap because my husband was having trouble with an allergic rash. We couldn't find the source of the allergy so I changed to Ivory soap and starting using laundry detergents without any fragrances. When he went to the dermatologist, they said, no, no, no! to Ivory soap. Apparently, it is one of the harsher soaps on the skin. They said to use Dove. Well, Dove works for him, but I have always been allergic to Dove soap. Everytime I try to use it, I break out head to foot. Oh well.
That's kind of odd they would say NO to Ivory. When my dad's legs were amputated that was the MAIN soap the recommended to soak and wash his "stumps"(their words) with while it was healing because of the gentle properties it has but strong enough cleaning power to get the job done. It worked wonders and never once irritated his skin or the wounds,in fact he said it was the softest his legs have ever felt after using Ivory.
I have extremely sensitive skin. I can't use Ivory because it burns my face, and Dove makes me break out, but I love my (extremely inexpensive) Jergens soap. It is satisfying to know that the gentlest, most hypo-allergenic thing on the market is also one of the cheapest. =D
My grandparents used soap slivers for everything from pre-soaking dirty laundry to doing the dishes. The cheaper the soap, the better. They even had a special soap sliver holder (a chrome wire mesh basket on a stick) to load up with slivers and swish through dish water to make it soapy. The soap-sliver holder was obviously something that had been produced commercially for this purpose at some point in the past, though I've never seen one on sale. The slivers would solidify into a clump, dry, and last quite a long time (especially as you would periodically add more).
I've noticed bar soap lasts longer if you keep it dry with a prickly rubber soap holder such as Rubbermaid makes. It gets gunked up after a while, but I toss it in the presoak laundry bucket or right in the washing machine and everything comes out clean. I also use a scrub brush to scrub soap residue out of my "pretty" soap dish then scrub the countertop/sink while also cleaning the soap dish.
My grandma always had a lidded container to put slivers of soap in, and eventually they turned into a new bar of soap.
Just a dish with a weight doesn't work - hers must have let water drain out somehow. I always figured she bought it from one of the old-lady catalogs (the ones that sell back belts & magnets for your feet and plastic doilies) or from some TV commercial, but I never have been able to find one.
I collect slivers of used bath soap - wrap several in several layers of soft netting (found @ any fabric store), tie with a rubber band and pretty ribbon. Wet and lather!! Works wonderfully as a bath sponge!
Following the idea that like attracts like...I use bar soap to remove those greasy spots on my clothes that happen due to the hole in my lip...ha, ha, ha. Soap is basically oil and lye. It makes sense that it would attach itself to greasy stains.
I use a knee high panty hose to put my bar soap in... use it on my body in the shower and hang to dry.
Soap lasts for a long time.
also, put slivers in a soap pump dispenser, add a little vinegar, and the rest water. Use for dishes and hands. cleans and deoderizes.
Hi!
I love your blog; I'm always finding cool tips here!
Although I'm not affiliated with either group, I was thinking that you might want to check out Clean The World ( http://www.cleantheworld.org ) and perhaps send the remnants of your used bar soaps to them via Central Care Mission. I'm a big fan of fun bath products, but any that don't suit my fancy, or the last bits of the soap bars, get sent to them to help prevent disease and death in Third World countries.
Central Care Mission
4027 Lennox Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32811
Thanks, and have a great day!
I've never heard of those folks. I'll have to check them out.
Check out my various projects and services at Itinerant Tightwad. I also have a monthly education newsletter.
As a renter who has moved more than her share, I've found that rubbing a bar of soap across those old wooden closet rods often found in older homes helps the hangers to slide easier. This works on the undersides of wooden drawers, too.
And, of course, you can keep your "spares" tucked in your undies drawer, which gives them a chance to dry out and also imparts a lovely fragrance to the contents of the drawer.
Here I thought I was all clever for 1-cleaning my bathrub while I shower (that's when I see all sorts of crude hanging out my the walls and corners) and 2-using a bar of soap for cleaning duties.
However, I don't waste my "good", fragrant, moisturizing soap for rough tasks like cleaning; I use a bar of Chinese (laundry??) soap, which is this hard lump of soap that seems to lasts forever. I wouldn't use this great bar of soap on my body and generally don't use it to wash my hands either but I use it to clean things around the house.
Very good article....I went a step further....I really like foam products to clean. After using a foam cleaner from the dollar store, I rinsed thoroughly and added a small piece of bar soap with hot water, shake, voila...You might have to use it a few times to get it to foam. You can try different combinations. Be sure to label:)
when your bar soap gets tiny, just press it to a new bar with some warm water, there you have an endless bar.
If you replace your bar soap with baking soda in the shower, your tub/shower won't get as soap-scummy and filthy. The sodium content in the baking soda helps strip away dead skin & oil on you, but also leaves the Ph of the shower inhospitable to organisms to grow in. Plus, since there's no soap, there's no soap scum. Plus, baking soda is a mild abrasive cleaning agent anyways, so the only thing "building up" in your shower is what you could use to scrub it with anyways.
I usually shower with baking soda (and use it as shampoo, shave gel & toothpaste, too) 5 days a week, but every 2-3 days I'll do a "deep clean" with some anti-bacterial liquid hand soap. Why liquid hand soap? Because it's basically the same formula as body-wash, but you get far more for the price (EG: a small bottle of body wash is $4, where you can get a huge "refill" bottle of liquid hand soap for the same price). Plus, liquid hand soap / body wash doesn't leave soap scum as readily as bar soap. If you have dry skin, you can use a little baby oil to soften things up after you rinse off the baking soda (I put about a teaspoon in my hand, rub my hands around to get them softened up, then run them through my hair, face and any place else that gets dry occasionally to condition. I don't use so much that the shower gets oily...you're using too much if that happens.)
About once a month, I spray the shower down with shower cleaner, let it sit for a few minutes, then start the water for a shower. I scrub down everything with an old wash cloth or brush, takes about 1 minute, then use a cup (the same cup I put my baking soda in for showers) to fill with water from the shower faucet and rinse everything down. When guests come over, they're amazed at how clean I can keep my bathroom. And I'm a guy.
Baking Soda ... $2 for a big box that will last you at least 1 month
Liquid Hand Soap ... $4 for a big bottle that will last at least 1 year
Shower Spray ... $4 for a bottle that will last at least 1/2 year. (Get the one that has citric acid, since it's biodegradeable, and does a good job w/o leaving nasty bleach odors.)
Do the math.
