Gransnet forums

Chat

Soap bars -going back in time

(171 Posts)
suzied Fri 22-Jun-18 06:38:16

In an effort to reduce plastic I’ve started using old fashioned soap bars again rather than shower gels and liquid hand washes, and what a revelation. I’m using an olive oil soap in the shower I bought back from Greece and it definitely leaves my skin softer. ( plus it lasts for ages). I love smelling all those artisan soaps you see in farmers markets and I like the idea of fewer harsh chemicals on the skin. Does anyone have a favourite soap? Whats the best soap dish to stop it all going manky by the sink?

missdeke Fri 22-Jun-18 17:46:26

I use the soap they use in Turkish Baths, hopefully my daughter is bringing me a supply home soon. It's like silk on your skin.

suzied Fri 22-Jun-18 18:17:12

A large % of plastics collected by councils never gets recycled.

cassandra264 Fri 22-Jun-18 18:22:50

I'm a Johnson's baby soap fan too.

kathyd Fri 22-Jun-18 18:45:42

We always had round Morny soaps when I was young. My favourites were Rose or Sandalwood.

rubysong Fri 22-Jun-18 18:58:44

Does anyone else 'remake' left over slivers of soap? I save them until I have a box full then chop them up and soften in a little bit of hot water. I pour them into a washed out margarine box and after a few days take out the 'new' bar of soap. Then I put it in the linen cupboard and forget it for about six months by which time it will have hardened. They last quite well.

I'm currently using a nail brush on the side of the basin as a soap dish, which allows the soap to dry.

sarahellenwhitney Fri 22-Jun-18 19:00:17

Avon Honeysuckle soap and talc. Whenever I smell Honeysuckle in the hedge at the side of my garden it brings back memories of my honeymoon as that is what I took with me.

MTDancer Fri 22-Jun-18 19:12:42

I use L'Occitane bar soap as it does not go gunky

HazelGreen Fri 22-Jun-18 19:23:05

My son had eczema as a child and we have been using Sante shower products ever since. I think Pears is now made in India and I dont feel is quite the same as years back. I found a blue version in an Asian shop recently.

As for sticky soap dishes, perhaps have two bars and alternate so allow each to dry out a bit more between uses? Probably would extend the life of a bar too.

Greyduster Fri 22-Jun-18 19:57:43

Ah yes, it was Morny Sandalwood I used to use - not Bronnley as I states upthread. Bronnley favourite was English Fern. Thanks kathyd for jogging my (ancient creaking) memory!

Jalima1108 Fri 22-Jun-18 20:32:20

I have never stopped buying soap 'bars' as DH has always preferred them.
TK Maxx has some good buys in Italian soaps and olive oil soaps; Scottish Fine Soaps are good too. if I see handmade soaps I always have to buy some.

I like L'Occitane but have never bought their soap so perhaps I should give that a try.

annodomini Fri 22-Jun-18 20:35:17

I was brought up on carbolic and coal tar soaps so anything else was a bonus! I've always liked the smell of Imperial Leather and Pears was a favourite when we were young. I still have some lavender soap left from last year's holiday in Provence and I also have a precious piece of olive oil soap from the same shop.

SueDonim Fri 22-Jun-18 20:46:45

It's better to not use plastic in the first place rather than recycling it. Obviously it's pretty difficult nowadays to avoid all plastic but bar soap is a good start.

Harking back to my childhood, Lifebuoy was a soap we used, and Pears for a special treat.

Yardley still do nice flower-scented soaps.

Jalima1108 Fri 22-Jun-18 20:48:00

We always had Palmolive when I was a child, so presumably that must have had some olive oil in it.

I am interested in the shampoo soap bars - are they widely available?

Maggiemaybe Fri 22-Jun-18 21:01:21

As someone said earlier, the soaps bring back memories. My dad was coal tar, my mum Camay, my grandma Pears or Imperial Leather sitting on its label, my mum-in-law Bromley. Avon Pretty Peach was Christmas when I was about 8, Roger & Gallet the school trip to Paris, when I spent my last francs on a box of guest soaps. Pomegranate Noir was when my first DC got married, You don’t get that with shower gel (or do you?).

SueDonim Fri 22-Jun-18 21:04:25

They're available from Lush and if you Google 'shampoo bars' various other brands will show up too.

Happysexagenarian Fri 22-Jun-18 21:06:03

When I was a child my we always had Lifebuoy soap, and a bar of Pears was put in the bathroom if visitors were expected! Mum always bought 'soft green soap' in a jar for hair washing, my hair was always really soft and shiny. I don't know who it was made by. Now we usually use Imperial Leather, but would love to try olive oil soap, and shampoo in a bar. We are in a very hard water area and a plumber told us gel & shampoos cause awful problems with pipework, so time to try something different I think.

Jalima1108 Fri 22-Jun-18 21:09:40

Our plumber told us that it is the hair conditioner that causes problems, and can cause the mould which can appear in showers.

Overthehills Fri 22-Jun-18 22:01:16

Amphora Aromatics do shampoo in a bar Jalima.

Chewbacca Fri 22-Jun-18 22:59:14

Does anybody else love having beautiful soaps but is reluctant to actually spoil them by opening them and using them? I've got some Chanel 5 soap, beautifully wrapped and smelling divine, that I've had for about 5 years. But I can't bring myself to use it! probably just me being daft.

Peaseblossom Sat 23-Jun-18 03:42:15

I hate messy soggy bars of soap. Can’t stand the mess they leave. I like liquid soap in both bathroom and kitchen.

OldMeg Sat 23-Jun-18 06:08:30

Lancslass Sanctuary salt scrub (with oils) is lovely and you don’t need to moisturise afterwards, but as it’s exfoliating you can only use it once a week or so.

It does come in a glass jar though.

OldMeg Sat 23-Jun-18 06:09:37

Peaseblossom is that liquid soap in a plastic container?

NfkDumpling Sat 23-Jun-18 06:22:37

I have a DD, a DiL and two DGC who get itchy and break out in excema with any liquid soap. They’ve gone back to solid bars. Simple and Wrights Coal Tar both sooth rather than irritate.

Saggi Sat 23-Jun-18 07:47:31

Oh Mawbroom.... it brought back the memories did Camay! Of course imperial Leather still exists as my hubby won't use anything else. When I was growing up in 50/60's it was only Wrights coal tar soap in our house ( six of us kids)....it was even used to wash our hair! No harm done...we've all still got plenty of hair and no bald heads in sight so it can't have been too bad. Strange thing is if I say I still live the smell of it ...would you all think me crazy?!

Saggi Sat 23-Jun-18 07:48:19

* love the smell*