How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

[PrincessPerky]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

we had been using zest, which I hate but if only DH used it it lasted two or three months (I used gel) when we both use it it lasts a month. I think cause the bar has less chance to dry between showers.

I just stuck some unwrapped to 'age' We shall see if it makes a difference next month (when the current bar runs out)

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

WOW - I just stuck some unwrapped bars in my clothes drawer to dry until the soap using now runs out - I'm so amazed that by aging them making them last longer. WOW
Does this also work with Dial? My husband LOVES that stuff...

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

For those who are not reading 'Re-reading Tightwad Gazette' thread. This is part of last Sunday post from that thread.

You may like to read this article ‘Wrapping versus Unwrapping, the slippery truth’ - Vol 2 (p373 CTG)

Theme-: Cake of soap, to use unwrapped & storage or wrapped & fresh cake of soap.

TG – Quote “ But I suspected a conspiracy on the part of soap manufacturers to suppress this vital soap saving strategy after all, they stand to sell more soap if dissolves at a accelerated rate.”
~~~ *~~~* ~~~

Put a few cakes of soap in the back of your linen cupboard area, and leave there for a few months. You find it will dry out.

Here is one way of doing this!
Would be trying to be 3 months ahead in your soap buying. If you wish to dry the cakes of soap out before using! Build your stock up to four months worth of soap, then keep the supply at two - three month worth in your stockpile to allow for drying. Over time you should be using less. A month or two months may work too! Testing is the key here.

[contrary1]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

I would think the ageing bit needs to be longer than a month for sure. My old bars (unused) have been in closets & drawers now for years. No one needs a new bar of soap!!! They get hard enough I can't poke my fingernail in them...........and when some of them are brand new, I can make a fingerprint in them!!!

I can just imagine the creative marketing session when someone came up with srink wrapping the bars of soap, air tight!!! They must have thought they were brilliant...........and look what it got them. People used up bars of soap in weeks instead of months!!

Works with absolutely any kind of soap.

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

Yes, I do think that you would need bit longer than a month or two! But you have to start somewhere for stockpiling all this soap; this is expensive exercise too!

Using this Formula: bathrooms x soap x time = stockpile amount.
Math Example: A household with two bathrooms using 4 cakes of new soap per week now.
Would need to stockpile 68 cakes of soap or more over four months just to start drying it out and keep up with current use at the same time and keep buying each time special comes on soap too! Well into the future. Overtime you will need to buy less. Do you use that much soap in four months?

So to a new question. ‘How many cakes of new soap are used in your household per week?’

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

So to a new question. ‘How many cakes of new soap are used in your household per week?’

I have like 5, and I only put like 2 unwrapped away - I don't know if I need to buy like 50 (!!!) To get to the point where I am saving, saving, saving... Hmmm....

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

You end up using less soap in long run, if you can kept the soap from being left in water and allowing it to dry out between use. That is why I use soap savers. I have 4 cakes of soap out now, its over six months since I put new cake out. Yes, I do live in single household!
It's something you can try if you like, to see if you do save money. This has been done by my family over the years. Soap is only bought on special if at all or it's a special medicated cakes of soap which is the only new soap I buy now, in pack of three and when I open the second last of cake then I will buy it again.

[lrjohnson]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

Boy, not many. Maybe three a year? Four? My Guy uses the bar soap. I take the slivers and put them in my old liquid soap pump (was by the sink when I moved in!) Peiodically stick some water in the pump too anbd shake. Mushes well without any intervention.

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

Boy, not many. Maybe three a year? Four? My Guy uses the bar soap. I take the slivers and put them in my old liquid soap pump (was by the sink when I moved in!) Peiodically stick some water in the pump too anbd shake. Mushes well without any intervention.

Good for you ~ irjohnson
We would most likely spend around $5.00 on soap per year between us, no wonder the soap manufactures don't tell you to dry out your soap.

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

if I really thought about it - my husband goes through a bar of soap every 3 weeks, so if there are 52 weeks in year - we are looking at 17 1/3 bars a year. I buy the soap at 1.50/per pack of 3 so that comes out to about $8.67/year. Hmmm... Maybe I don't need to dry out the bars, I'm doing pretty good already...

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

if I really thought about it - my husband goes through a bar of soap every 3 weeks, so if there are 52 weeks in year - we are looking at 17 1/3 bars a year. I buy the soap at 1.50/per pack of 3 so that comes out to about $8.67/year. Hmmm... Maybe I don't need to dry out the bars, I'm doing pretty good already...

One thing about this exercise is it makes you stop and think, 'How many do I use?' and get's you asking 'Can I save money, if I did something different'. It's only small stuff but it all can add up.

I will go back to my previous example of 4 cakes of melting soap per week x 52 = 208 @ 50c each = $104 per year. That’s a lot of small stuff!

I do see the same people buying 1 x 5 pack cakes of soap each week or so.

[katwoman]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

I think I posted earlier about a nylon type sock that you could put your soap in to help lather up and hang dry. Well, I found it again in my grocers bath section! It is hanging with the loofahs and nylon mits, etc. and it's called a soap suds maker. Doesn't look like much; it costs 1.49 but a bar of soap in this thing goes a long way. There's never any waste since you just add another bar when the previous bar is too small to get any more lather.

[getforfree]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

I think I posted earlier about a nylon type sock that you could put your soap in to help lather up and hang dry. Well, I found it again in my grocers bath section! It is hanging with the loofahs and nylon mits, etc. and it's called a soap suds maker. Doesn't look like much; it costs 1.49 but a bar of soap in this thing goes a long way. There's never any waste since you just add another bar when the previous bar is too small to get any more lather.

That's a good idea! Thanks.

[Tightwad Kitty]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

I just opened another cake of soap here, the first one this year! :

[getforfree]

Re: How long does a cake of Soap, last in your house?

Did anybody calculated how many showers does a bar of soap (3.5 oz) last?
We use about 1 bar in 3 weeks for 3 adults. Kids use their baby-wash. But we don't take showers every day.
Someone here mentioned that some people use 5 bars a week. They must have like 30 people in their household. Or they take showers 5 times a day. Just curious.