# Who'da thunk it? \[soap slivers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844 "2019-02-02T16:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/21 "2019-02-03T04:24:51Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I’m amazed there are so many people using bar soap! I haven’t used bar soap for probably fifteen years. I can’t imagine going back to bar soap. Icky, slimy, with hairs stuck to them. Nope. Improper use causes the hairy bar. One is supposed to wet a washcloth, soap it up with the bar, then wash oneself with the soapy cloth! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/22 "2019-02-03T14:25:28Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Improper use causes the hairy bar. One is supposed to wet a washcloth, soap it up with the bar, then wash oneself with the soapy cloth! Good thing there are no soap police in the shower. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/23 "2019-02-03T17:27:01Z")
I remember a Mad Magazine article from my childhood about planned obsolescence in household products. It listed several humorous and obviously phony examples. One was that bar soap is manufactured with a sliver of soap in the middle, a thin skin of soap on the outside, and in between some substance that looks like soap but slowly evaporates in air. So you use a bar a few times which removes the outer layer of soap and then the next time you shower you find that you’re unexpectedly down to a sliver. For some reason that idea has stuck with me all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/24 "2019-02-03T19:03:41Z")
I try to see how long I can use each sliver so that it disintegrates during its last use. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/25 "2019-02-03T20:59:22Z")
I often attach the old sliver onto the new bar. But I often just bring the sliver down to the kitchen to use for washing my hands there. Or into the bathroom soap dish. Bacon grease? I fry the eggs in it. Delish. In addition, I crumble the bacon into the omelet. Win-win. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/26 "2019-02-03T23:20:38Z")
I usually just leave it in the soap dish in the shower, until the new bar is just a sliver, too. When the old sliver is larger than the new sliver, using the old sliver seems a bit luxurious. For the bacon grease, I use it, along with half as much coconut oil and crisco, mix it with some lye, pigment, and a bit of appropriate fragrance, mix it with a stick blender and make my own soap. I’ll use that until it is just a sliver, then leave it in the soap dish in the shower and start a new bar. When the new bar is just a sliver,… Well, you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/27 "2019-02-03T23:33:48Z")
Bacon grease soap. Yum. Bath time! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/28 "2019-02-04T00:22:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Bacon grease soap. Yum. Bath time! I’ll bet the family dog wouldn’t resist his bath so much… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/29 "2019-02-04T00:36:04Z")
Hell, my dumb beagle will eat any soap. Bacon soap would drive her nutso. She also likes dirty socks and kleenex. Her tastes aren’t really refined. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/30 "2019-02-04T05:43:24Z")
I use bath gel so I just pop off the lid and put some water in and shake it up and pour it all over …. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/31 "2019-02-04T05:51:26Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I use bath gel so I just pop off the lid and put some water in and shake it up and pour it all over …. I was just about to say the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/32 "2019-02-04T14:48:41Z")
I’m the only one in the house who uses bar soap (everyone else is into that sissified body warsh–how you supposed to wash you face if all you have is body wash?) so I get to do whatever I want with the slivers. Which is to stick 'em to the new bar. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/33 "2019-02-04T15:43:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Bacon grease soap. Yum. Bath time! I have used bacon grease to make soap and was very disappointed that it didn’t smell like bacon at all. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/34 "2019-02-04T15:51:29Z")
Oh, man, what’s the point of bacon grease soap if it doesn’t smell like bacon? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/35 "2019-02-04T16:16:29Z")
**Moderator Note** Thread title edited to more clearly indicate the topic. Please use descriptive thread titles. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/36 "2019-02-04T16:26:12Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Oh, man, what’s the point of bacon grease soap if it doesn’t smell like bacon? Because it’s the best way to use up all the bacon grease my partner generates at the coffee shop he runs. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/37 "2019-02-04T16:27:10Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Thread title edited to more clearly indicate the topic. Please use descriptive thread titles. Thanks, makes sense. Should we edit the title of the thread I just posted this morning, too? It is in fact a “this and that” sort of post. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/38 "2019-02-04T17:33:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hell, my dumb beagle will eat any soap. Bacon soap would drive her nutso. She also likes dirty socks and kleenex. Her tastes aren’t really refined. I thought it was just my dumb beagle that ate soap. she also like plastic razors. Maybe because they had soap on them? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/39 "2019-02-04T17:37:50Z")
I always try to meld the old soap chip onto the new bar, but it almost never works. It usually immediately pops off and goes straight down the drain. I’m guessing it would probably work much better if the new bar was the same as the old one, but I don’t buy the soap in my house and my wife likes the fresh one to be different each time for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844/40 "2019-02-04T18:03:02Z")
I toss the soap slivers into a small box in my utility room, where they dry out. They are great for lubricating wood screws and drawer slides and putting on an old toothbrush to scrub small places. I also rub them on stubborn stains on my wash prior to soaking them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoda-thunk-it-soap-slivers/828844.md?page=3)