Real World: Liquid soap vs Bar soap

[Gail Allen]

We all need to use soap sometimes (likely quite often in fact), but what is actually the best kind of soap?
Bar soap or liquid soap?

Debate below

Entries should bring up at least 4 different arguments - either all 4 against one of the options or all 4 in favour of one of them, or any mix in between. More are obviously allowed.

[Hannah R Thomas]

Love liquid soap versus using a bar! I think it is mainly because I grew up using liquid soap instead of using a bar. On top of this, I find using a bar is wasteful than liquid. I've tried a bar more than once and it always seems to not be as "soapy" as using the liquid kind.

By using a cloth to get soap from the bar, the cloth easily drys up and soaks in the moisture. I would always have to re-soak the cloth and I am actually losing the bar again to get more soap. Liquid, I can use a puff, using the bottle just once and it feels amazing! Lastly, whenever I step out, after using a bar or liquid, I feel cleaner after using the liquid than a bar.

[Shiloh Adlar]

I also prefer liquid soap over using a bar. It took me a while to find one that I particularly liked now that I don't just use whatever my mom picks up (which is still really good... I just didn't like the scent). But I did find one that I really like that meets all my criteria, and I will say that I feel much cleaner using that than I would a bar of soap. Bars of soap can also pick up dirt and bacteria, and sure it's soap, but what about when it starts to film up and get a coating. Ew, just ew. Liquid soap is inside of a container so no worries at all about that.

I also agree that one uses less when using liquid soap than a bar soap, at least once you figure out how much liquid soap you really need and it's often not a lot at all. That stuff lathers up nicely! I also think that the scent of liquid soaps are stronger than bars, and the scent I have now is so refreshing of the morning that it wakes me up. It smells like a mixture of citrus fruit with a strong bit of the orange!

The only disadvantage, and I mentioned this above, to liquid soap over bar soap, and this is in specifics to me, was finding a good one that I liked. Bar soap is easier to make and more prevalent to find in the organic vegan category.

[Vanessa Tilley]

I have never been a fan of bar soap so I am a liquid soap girl all the way, especially Bath and Body Works shower gels. I have issues with bar soaps because you are definitely limited in scents. You can only put so many different scents in a bar soap while liquid soaps seem to come in so many different scents.

Continuing on the subject of scents, I love my liquid soaps because I can change bottles any time I like and come back to other bottles later. I love using scents that go along with the seasons. With it being winter, I use the Bath and Body Works scent Snow. Next month, I will switch over to a rose scented scent for Valentine's Day. You can't really do that with bar soap.

I will not lie, I can be a bit lazy at times. It is so much easier to put a liquid soap on a loofa and just lather and scrub then it is to work up a lather of bar soap on a wash rag. I don't like using wash rags because they can be a bit rough. I don't want to feel like I am sandpapering my skin off. You can't take bar soap and use it on a loofa or at least not very well. I haven't actually tried to do so before.

Finally, I feel that using a wash rag is not as sanitary as using a loofa. While I don't have the proof to back that up, I just don't feel that using a wash rag and then just hanging it up somewhere until next use is gross. As mentioned by Hannah, wash rags like to fall down all the time. With a loofa, I can just hang it up and since it has a nice loop it doesn't fall down when I hang it up. It also drips off extra water which I don't believe wash rags are able to do.

I am definitely a liquid soap kind of girl. I love being able to change scents depending on my mood and knowing that the bottle of liquid soap is not going to go bad. I love that I feel all nice and clean after using it without having to sandpaper my skin with a wash rag. Go liquid soap!

[Finn Cullen]

Liquid soap is much more convenient and comes in a range of handy dispensers. I prefer it. Some people say that you shouldn't use the dispensers in public restrooms as so many other people have pressed the plunger on the dispensers and that they accumulate germs - but since the very next thing you are about to do is wash your hands I can't see the issue with that lol.

One issue to be aware of however is with antibacterial soap. While this may sound like a good thing in principle, recent studies suggest that soaps containing triclosan are linked to a higher incidence of allergy formation particularly in the young suggesting some deleterious effect on the immue system. Science Daily has some interesting articles on it (can't link here lol)

[Janne Halla]

It's worth considering that I'm talking from the point of view of a person who's the only one using the soap. If I shared my space for a longer time with someone else, I'd probably change some points.

I love my bars of soap, in fact, I'm a little addicted to them, haha. Naturally, I think that using bar soap is better overall.

I try to live and produce as little plastic and other garbage as possible. With liquid soap, packed in plastic for transport at least, there's more plastic waste as with a bar of bar soap. I usually also get my soap from indie or homemade makers, who pack the soap in cardboard and paper, so it's really as zero plastic waste as possible.

I find that bars of soap just last longer and when I'm washing my hands, I use less water than I'd usually use when washing my hands.

Bar soap is better at exfoliating any dirt from my skin, so I find it better at cleaning overall than just using liquid and trying to get as much mess from my hands as I can.

[Viviana Kingston]

I think I have to argue in the case of liquid soap. I know liquid soap is not sustainable with the excessive plastic packaging and water content, but I honestly find it tedious to use a bar of soap and not to mention there are soapy alternatives that are eco-friendly as well, where you can just add water to powder and emulsify it until it reaches a consistency you’d like to use.
With liquid soap, it’s quick and easy and takes less effort than having to emulsify your bar of soap every time after a few moments of use.
But if we have to think about bars of soap, there’s nothing wrong with them and the only bar of soap I’d argue in favour of is pure glycerin soap, that bar works wonders for the body and often can be made at home.

[Hiya Debnath]

I am on Team Liquid soap, because, I sometimes find it actually gross when skin cells or hair stick to the surface of the soap bar and you have to keep washing it off. In case of liquid soap, no such thing happens because one doesn't need to directly touch the liquid, just squirt the liquid soap out, wash, and everything just washes away with the water. Easy-peasee.

[Galena May]

I see that others above me have been talking about packaged liquid soap in little sachets, which is why the inconvenience of plastic packaging waste is being added. I actually use liquid bodywash and liquid handwash which comes in bottles. It can be gel-based or water-based, but in my opinion, water-based is healthier and gentler on your skin with lesser chemicals.
There is nothing wrong with a bar of soap, in fact, I do own one that is herbal and made from activated charcoal mixed with herbal products like honey and moisturizers. It gently cleanses my face and is mild compared to rough chemicals and I only use it on my face, because after a rough day of being out in the pollution, it does miracles on my skin. I actually prefer it over facewashing cream.
But, overall, I argue that using a liquid soap is more convenient for other washing except the face, because the bar of soap is prone to slipping out of your hand and falling somewhere dirty. It sticks to the soap box and I just don't like the mess. Overall, I also think that liquid soap is easier to scrub off as it is flowy, and you almost don't need to use a scrubber, just water, with some force, suffices in completely cleaning your skin and actually washing off the dirt, whereas you must always use a scrubber with bar soap otherwise only the soap is washed off by the water and all the dirt remains as it is. I think a bar soap is only good for the face, because the face doesn't need scrubbing anyway, the gentler the better. There are good liquid soaps for the face as well, but the bar soap that I use only for my face works wonders for me and I prefer it. Also, a liquid soap is healthier, given the reason that was stated above, everything is washed away, no skin cells or hair are left on the soap.