Have you ever wondered whether the way you use your bar soap is the best? Or maybe you’ve been a long-time body-wash user and are now soap curious.
While there is arguably no perfect way to use soap, there is certainly the most effective way. Let’s explore how effective washing can really be.
Step-by-Step Guide for Using a Bar of Soap. (Seriously!)
Rinse your body with warm water to loosen the dirt
Before you start using your bar soap, you need to get it (and your body) wet. Rinse yourself off to soften your skin and loosen any dirt and oil so it is easier to remove during the shower.
Use warm water instead of hot water
As much as we all love a steamy shower, be aware that using very hot water can shrink your soap bar faster.
Rinsing your soap and yourself with warm water will help you create a better lather and avoid drying out your skin.
Lather up
The secret to lather’s cleansing ability is two fold. First, it helps lower the surface tension of water so the water spreads out, not beads up, on your skin.
And it also mixes well with both water and oils, so it picks up oily bits and helps them be swept away by water. To create a nice foamy lather, rub your soap bar between your hands or on your loofah, cloth or soap mitt.
Apply the lather from top to bottom
Now that your hands or shower accessory of choice are lathered up, it’s time to put the soap aside and begin rubbing it into your body.
Starting at the top of the body and working your way down ensures that your whole body will get clean, as the soap will be washed away effectively. Lather up again as often as necessary.
Thoroughly rinse your body and your loofah
If you’ve used your hands to apply the soap lather, make sure all the suds are rinsed away.
If you used a loofah or cloth, thoroughly rinse it so the soap is rinsedout and hang it up so that it will dry before your next use. Be sure to wash your loofah or cloth periodically to make sure it’s clean and not harbouring any nasty bacteria.
Tips for Selecting the Perfect Bar for Your Needs
It may take a few tries to find the ideal match but choosing the right bar soap for your needs is worth it.
Showering and handwashing are something you probably do pretty often, so why not make the experience as enjoyable as possible?
The right bar soap will not only clean and moisturize your skin but will also elevate your shower experience.
We’ve talked before about the best natural soaps for men. Ultimately, the right soap bar for you depends on your skin type and preferences.
If you have dry or easily irritated skin, opt for a gentle, moisturizing bar that leaves your skin feeling hydrated.
Look for an unscented bar with soothing ingredients like shea butter, aloe and coconut oil. CleanO2’s Eco Aloe Body Bar is one example
If you’re looking for an energizing pick-me-up for your morning shower, try a bar with a refreshing scent and a bubbly lather. Clean O2’s Enviro Mint Body Bar delivers an invigorating experience with a crisp natural spearmint scent that will help you start your day off right.
If you like to get your hands dirty (literally), you will need a soap that can handle plenty of dirt and grease with a good mix of exfoliating and moisturizing ingredients.
CleanO2’s Restoration Scrub Hand Bar lifts away grime, grease, dirt and paints with its combination of power ingredients: pearl ash (captured carbon), coconut oil, pumice and charcoal.
How to Maximize the Life of Your Bar Soap
Once you find a bar soap you absolutely love, you want it to last as long as possible so you can enjoy every last sliver of it.
Luckily there are a couple of pro tips for lengthening the lifetime of each soap bar that enters your shower.
First, storage is everything. If your bar soap lives in the shower, make sure it is stored on something that has excellent drainage.
There’s nothing worse than hopping in the shower and reaching for soap only to find it slimy and slippery. (Hey people who leave soap balanced on the corner of the tub or in a plastic container in a pool of water, we’re looking at you!).
Soap is designed to dissolve in water, so leaving it in a puddle will waste soap between uses. Instead, we suggest using a soap lift, a simple yet elegant solution that allows your soap bar to stay high and dry after each use.
Another way to extend the life of your bar soap is to use a handy soap mitt like CleanO2’s Exfoliating Shower Mitt, a soap holder and exfoliator in one! The soap mitt helps build a foamy lather quickly so you don’t need as much soap as you might use with your bare hands.
After use, simply hang it up using the built-in loop and rest easy knowing the material wicks water away from the soap bar to help it dry faster and last longer.
Plus, a mitt makes it easier to use leftover bits of soap – just throw all the slivers into the mitt and lather away.
Video Examples of How to Use a Bar of Soap
Enjoy this hilarious conversation that highlights the different ways people use bar soap, which sparked an online debate about how to actually use a bar of soap:
Which camp did you fall into before reading this article?
FAQs for How to Use a Bar of Soap
How Do You Actually Use a Bar of Soap?
Soap cleans because the lather lowers the surface tension in water to suspend dirt, grime and grease which can then wash away.
That means to actually use a bar of soap, you need to create a good lather. You can do this either by wetting it and rubbing it vigorously between your hands or by rubbing it against a wet cloth or loofah before scrubbing yourself.
Should You Use a Bar of Soap Directly?
While you can use a bar of soap directly on your skin, there are many benefits to using a cloth, loofah, or soap mitt as an intermediary.
Instead of applying soap directly to your body, work up a lather using a loofah or cloth and then apply that to your body. This is better for removing dirt, oil, dead skin and bacteria from your skin.
Is a Bar of Soap Supposed to Go Directly on Your Face?
Unless you have a very gentle, moisturizing soap bar, you may not want to use bar soap on your face. Assuming your soap bar is gentle enough, it’s more effective to build up a lather using a cloth than it is with your hands.
Instead of awkwardly trying to rub a bar of soap around your nose, eyes and mouth (which is quite tricky), it’s easier to get a cloth lathered up and then wash your whole face.
How Long Should You Use a Bar of Soap?
You should use a bar of soap for as long as you can! And the best way to ensure you can extend the lifetime of your bar soap is to use a soap lift that allows it to drain and stay dry between uses.
Soap mitts make it easy to use the tiniest slivers of leftover soap to ensure you can use a bar of soap right to the last drop.