Body wash or bar soap? - General Discussion Discussion

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

body wash all the way. bars of soap get gross and I throw half of it away.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

True. No matter what kind of soap dish you have, soap bars inevitably get slimy and gross. Plus when they get down to a sliver, using them is a bother.

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[–] actionkamen (23176) 6 years ago

When a soap bar gets into a sliver, open a new one, wet them, and stick them together. They won't get separated and will eventually blend. However, blending different brands of soap will sometimes make funny fragrances.

That said, I strongly prefer liquid soap and had not use any soap bar since maybe late '90s.

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[–] Stratego (30761) 6 years ago

Same here.

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

I use both. You're correct in that there aren't as many choices for bar soap. I have both Dial and Ivory bar soap in my cabinet right now. Ivory bar soap is great for getting stains out in the laundry. I have liquid soap in the kitchen, bar soap in the bathroom. It can be tricky to find liquid soap that isn't anti-bacterial.

Do you remember when liquid soap first came out? They were selling it as one bottle lasting as long as six bars of soap. Hogwash!

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Ivory is good for getting stains out? I didn't know this!

In the grocery store yes, most of the hand liquid soap is anti-bacterial. Another reason why I love the TJ's liquid soap so much; plus it's lavender and chamomile scented, and very gentle.

Honestly, I don't remember when it first came out. How long ago was that anyway?

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

Yes. Ivory can often get stains out that things like Spray 'n Wash don't. I swear by it. Just wet the stain area, and with a wet bar of Ivory rub the stain, and then use your hands to rub the fabric against itself (I don't quite know how else to describe it) and toss it in the wash. It's not foolproof, but I've saved quite a few garments using this method. I turned Mrs Neighbor on to this, too. She rescued a new top she'd spilled on. After multiple washes she was ready to toss it, but Ivory did the job.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I'm going to have to get some, next trip to the store. You know what this means, don't you? You, Mrs Neighbour, and I are going to have to stockpile it! I've a feeling it's not going to be around for too much longer :|

I've used ... oh, what's that laundry bar soap called? It's been around for eons. Anyway, I've used [fill in name] that way, so I know what you mean.

Mostly I use Oxyclean and Simple Green for pre-treatment, but am always happy to have a new stain-fighting gun in my arsenal!

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

It's Fels-Naptha soap! Thank gods for Google :D

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

My mom used Fels-Naptha laundry soap for years. When they stopped making the granules, she used the soap bars instead. I think she just tossed one in the machine (a wringer-washing machine until the day she died).

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I never saw it in granule form. Early form of powdered detergents?

Wow, she really must have loved her wringer washer to hold onto it for so long. Was that the kind that had two rollers you'd thread laundry through and a crank handle, sort of squeezed the water out between the rollers?

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

I have no idea when they stopped making Fels Naptha powder. Fels Naptha is soap, as opposed to detergent. She believed that soap worked best in soft water, detergent in hard water. I believe it.

Correct on the wringer, although she didn't have to crank a handle. I guess you could say she was a bit stubborn. She liked what she liked. Why change if it works for you? I don't blame her. Sometimes 'new' is not necessarily better. Sometimes the old way is better.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Today is a day of learning for me! Always a good thing.

I'd used soap and detergent interchangeably, and apparently I've lots of company. But you're right of course, they're not at all the same. Google to my rescue!

I'm sure you already know this, but for others like me who didn't, soap is made from natural ingredients while detergent from synthetic ingredients. Soap's been made since 2800 B.C., although getting into the real swing of things in the late 1700s. Whereas detergent's a newb, beginning in 1916 due to WWI and soap ingredient shortages!

You and your mom are right, soap's much better in soft water. Detergent can be used with either soft or hard. Soap needs to be used with warm or hot water, while detergent can be used in any temp.

Here's something I don't understand:

"While detergents are free-rinsing (meaning they don’t leave a residue), soap needs a clear water wash after application or it will leave a film."

I thought detergent also stays in the fabric and needs a clear water rinse afterwards. Maybe it doesn't leave a film per se, but it'd have to stay in the fibers if it's not rinsed out!

Yep, yep, no point in fixing something that ain't broke.

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

I don't know about the clear water wash, but my mom did send the laundry through two rinses. She had a double-bowl utility sink like this.

https://tedxtuj.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Laundry-Utility-Tubs.jpg

When the load was whites, she added bluing to the second rinse.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

That is one serious-looking laundry sink.

No bleach for whites? I remember a Mrs. Something's Bluing, but never used it.

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

Oh yes, bleach in the wash, and bluing in the rinse. The bluing offsets the yellowing that whites may develop. Yes, Mrs. Something's Bluing. I can't remember the name, but I can picture the bottle it came in.

That's what we had in the olden days - a utility sink like that. Actually, I have one in my house now (built in 1926).

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I found it. This is the bottle I remember,

https://www.etsy.com/listing/596526172/mrs-stewarts-bluing-bottle?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_e-art_and_collectibles-collectibles-advertisements&utm_custom1=08ee5884-6ece-4652-a30f-18ecb5f4653e&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7_DarvL53AIVBKxpCh01gAH7EAQYAiABEgKsfPD_BwE

My mom never used it so I remember it from the grocery store. Funny, you'd think bluing would turn yellowed whites a greenish colour, but it mustn't, or no one would have used it.

I love old houses, especially those from the 20s and 30s.

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[–] kspkap (13570) 6 years ago

Cat & GlenE,

Definitely hand & body wash. I do use nicely scented (rose or lavender) bar soap ordered from Amazon for relaxing tub baths in my “garden” tubs. I purchased the following....so very nice.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LCXRK7U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was 15 when we moved to Florida. Both my mom & dad worked so I had the responsibility of caring for my younger brother, cleaning the house (including mopping the floors on my hands & knees) and doing the laundry. All I had ever known was a wringer washer so I was aware of how to use. Monday was laundry day....all day! My new found friends remarked they didn’t know anyone my age who had the responsibilities I did. Of course most of the moms were stay at home moms. I was used to our lifestyle as my mom had always worked outside the home.

To do the laundry fill the huge tub with water and powdered Tide (no liquids back then) wash the gentle light colored clothing first, fold over each piece making sure buttons were folded into garment to prevent breakage, then wring through the electric run rollers. Set aside. Next wash jeans & slacks doing the same, followed by the linens (lint residue) doing the same as above. The last load was the bleach (Clorox) load. Never emptying the tub between loads. Then empty the tub and refill with rinse water to go thru the same procedure for each load. Whew! I’m tired just writing this!

The final step was hanging the wash on the clotheslines, hoping it didn’t rain or birds didn’t crap on the laundry! Oh, btw, I learned to check the rollers before using. We had an abundance of those tiny rain frogs. One laundry day when feeding the first garment thru the rollers a little frog was hidden from sight. The 🐸 got squashed leaving blood & remains all over the garment & rollers! Yucky!

The only automatic top loader I had ever seen was at a relative’s house. To say I was awe struck is an understatement!

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

That looks like very nice soap, Ksp. I love both rose and jasmine scents, French-milled is good, and so is shea butter.

I was wondering how one dealt with buttons using a wringer. Back then, buttons were usually made of shell, which aren't wringer-friendly.

That is a lot of work, just to do laundry. Then you had to unpin all the laundry, put it in a basket, bring it in (hopefully dry), and the rest is the same as now with new-fangled dryers :)

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[–] kspkap (13570) 6 years ago

Our buttons were the same as used today and none were safe from the wringer. We just had to be extra careful by folding them into the garment. We both forgot the final step in doing laundry....ironing! And we ironed *everything* from sheets & pillow cases to boxer shorts! I can’t believe my mother ironed my dad’s boxer shorts & tee shirts! Not me! I did iron my husband’s handerchiefs at one time....no more!

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Most modern (from the 60s or 70s and on) buttons are plastic, which is more flexible than brittle shell buttons, although I don't imagine either are very wringer-friendly.

I never used a wringer, so thankfully didn't have to deal with that folding-in business. I gather it was to sort of "pillow" the buttons with the fabric.

Oh yeah, ironing. I hate ironing. About a decade ago I got a clothes steamer, which works great for a lot of fabrics, but not linen or pure cotton. Needless to say, I stopped buying anything made of either fabrics in their pure state! Except bedding. Can't stand cotton/poly blend bedding, even if it does mean putting up with some wrinkling.

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[–] Kawada_Kira (7282) 6 years ago

I used bar soap until 11 years ago when I was hospitalized for pneumonia for close to a week, and the shower in my room only had body wash. I've never looked back. Its superiority seems self-evident.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Yikes! 😨 A week of hospitalisation for pneumonia.

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[–] Kawada_Kira (7282) 6 years ago

Yeah, it wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life. Oddly enough it wasn't the worst either. Aside from coughing up nasty stuff and generally feeling shitty, I basically just laid in bed and watched TV all day. After a few days it wasn't so bad.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I'd have thought it'd have been okay laying in bed and watching TV all the time for the first few days, and then would have gotten old. That's how it works for me. But if you started feeling a lot better after those first few days, that'd explain it.

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[–] Kawada_Kira (7282) 6 years ago

Yeah that's it, I started feeling better after the first few days. I wouldn't have wanted to stay there forever of course, but once I felt less like garbage it wasn't so bad.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Then you could more or less enjoy the luxury of all-day TV!

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (77984) 6 years ago

Body Wash and that scrunchy thingy...
They even make 3 in 1 types now for lazy guys like me... Soap/shampoo/moisturizer all in one!

We are living in amazing times

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

LOL! Another scrunchy thingy user 👍

I have one of those 3-in-ones, also from Trader Joe's. It *is* nice to only have to have one bottle instead of three.

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[–] davodikum (6202) 6 years ago

those 3 in 1 things are funny, im convinced they are the exact same as normal body wash.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

😄 I've wondered that myself.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (77984) 6 years ago

You may very well be correct...
But i want to believe;)

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[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 6 years ago

Yep, I think they're selling us a bill-of-goods.

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I don't think civilization truly began until the invention of body wash. Until that point we were still savages.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

This is probably a profound truth only a select few realise.

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[–] Quasimodo (16388) 6 years ago

Bar soap. Body wash is gay...

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I *knew* someone was going to say that ;)

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[–] Quasimodo (16388) 6 years ago

You must be *sigh* kick !

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I yam.

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I think your title should be...queen of killa threads😉👍another winner😃
Bar soap in the shower...foam for hands👌

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I wish! That title has to go to Dazed, undisputed queen of killa threads 👑. I don't think anyone's ever going to beat her "Who said that?" thread. But thanks!

Hate to sound like a Luddite, but I'm unfamiliar with this foam soap of which you speak. Sounds like fun. Like RediWhip for the 🙌

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Holy crap! You missed the rediwhip thread!
Foam soap comes from ICU facilities...infused with isopropanol alcohol...very thorough cleaning! Discovered it after my moms brain surgery...good stuff!

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I posted in the RediWhip thread! No Cool Whip for me, thanks, it tastes ... kind of weird. Not necessarily bad, but RediWhip tastes like real food, and Cool Whip doesn't. It's the Bacobits of whipped cream.

Huh, well now I know about foam soap, whereas I knew nuthing about it before. I hope your mom's surgery was successful! 👍

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Bacobits made me spit my beverage!
Brain tumor removed👍
Funny...mentioned my moms breast cancer on the boards...never her brain tumor. It was twenty years ago. Feels like yesterday. We were in a bad place...not surprising as I am involved😉 but after the surgery everyone in my family left...left her alone! I could not allow her to wake up by herself. So I stayed at the hospital the day of the surgery...and for the week she was there following. Never left until she did. Dude at he parking garage didn't even know what to charge for my stay. I believe he just let me split😂

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Whew, happy to hear the tumor was removed! I missed your mentioning your mom had breast cancer too. Man, she really has had a tough go of it. Bless your dear 💓 for staying with your mom when everyone else left! Good on that parking attendant, too, for giving you a break :)

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 6 years ago

Body wash

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I thought soap was optional for you croft.

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 6 years ago

What's that suppose to mean??

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I thought you used natural sources.

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 6 years ago

We do have to smell nice😉

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