Why Bar Soap Beats the Liquid Every Time ...

Some types of bar soap are admittedly very drying to the skin, but if you have ultra oily skin, that might be a good thing. The ingredients in bar soap can often help cut that grease and leave you with slightly drier skin. When my skin gets oily, I sometimes feel like I would do anything to make it go away, so this is probably one of the best reasons to use bar soap. Of course, there also bar soaps for other skin types so talk to your dermatologist about which one might work best for you.

Here’s the truth – if my only choice was a yucky bar of soap or no soap at all, I’d probably just skip it. However, experts now say that the amount of bacteria that is transferred from a used bar of soap to your skin is very minimal or none at all. You can give the bar a quick rinse before using and at home you can give each person their own personal bar of soap.

Most bars of soap contain glycerin as an ingredient, which has been shown to be good for certain skin conditions like eczema. On the other hand, glycerin isn’t as common in liquid soaps so if you need it to control your skin issues, bar soap might be a better bet for you. Of course, talk that over with your dermatologist before making the decision.

Not all bars of soap are free of perfumes and fragrances, but many of them are. For people with sensitive skin, that can be really helpful in controlling itching, redness and burning on the skin. Liquid soap is harder to find without added fragrance so you might be finding yourself reverting back to bar soap on a regular basis. Don’t fight it – if it works, why worry about it?

When you use bar soap, it’s pretty easy to see when you have enough because your washcloth will be lathered up. On the other hand, liquid soap goes down the drain so quickly because it’s hard to determine if you squeezed out enough. If you’re concerned about costs and want to save money, bar soap may be the way to go.

When you think about how much packaging you have to dispose of when it comes to bar soap versus liquid soap, it’s easy to see that bar soap is the winner. You toss the paper wrapping and you’re done. With liquid soap, you have these huge plastic containers to get rid of. Additionally, some liquid soap has little beads that are supposed to be for exfoliating. What you might not know is that they don’t dissolve, but actually end up back in the water supply, clogging up the ocean. I don’t like the sound of that.

I love finding items that do double duty and bar soap is one such product. Sure, it’s best for lathering up while you take a shower or bath, but you can do a lot more with it than that. Rub a bar of soap on sticky drawers, zippers and window tracks. You can also shred it to make laundry detergent. A bar of soap in your drawer is also a great way to give your clothes a fresh clean scent.

Do you prefer bar soap or liquid soap? I like both for different reasons, but you have to admit that bar soap is pretty great. What tips do you have to add?