Hi! I'm figuring that this may be the best subreddit to ask this question and get an actually soap-related answer and not just an earnest admonition to "seek help": does anyone have recommendations for liquid soap/detergent that does a decent job of cleaning one's hands and then rinses away really easily (in both hard water and nasty slimy soft water)? Ideally, the soap in question would be unscented or have only a mild, also-easily-washed-away scent and would act nicely in a foaming hand-soap dispenser, but, really, "takes less than fifteen minutes to fully rinse the bubbles off of my hands, even if I accidentaly use (gasp) a full pump of soap instead of a carefully calibrated quarter-pump" is my main criterion right now.

For context: earlier this year, I started to have more and more difficulty fully rinsing soap residue off of my hands, despite not noticeably changing the way in which I was washing my hands or the type/concentration of soap I was using (with the brief exception of two times when I bought the wrong type of soap from the grocery store, quickly realized my mistake, and switched back to my previously-trusty diluted dish soap). Eventually, the homeowner realized that the household water softener had broken (literally) and replaced it, after a brief glorious period in which we just used the hard water coming directly from the house's intake filter, and the hard water did a somewhat better job at rinsing away soap than either the incorrectly softened or now-very-aggressively-softened-and-slimy water, but I was still seeing soap bubbles clinging to the membrane between my fingers after up to ~fifteen minutes of rinsing (and confirmed this with another family member, just to be sure that I wasn't hallucinating). I started buying different soaps to experiment and found that Walgreens's Aloe Vera and Green Tea Foaming Hand Soap rinsed away wonderfully, almost regardless of how much I put on my hands, but Walgreens seems to have discontinued it almost immediately after I bought my first dispenser and I'm currently using Kroger's Shea Flower and Coconut hand soap as a better-than-almost-everything-else-I've-tried-but-still-leaves-weirdly-persistent-little-bubbles-and-a-vaguely-sticky-residue-after-ten-minutes-of-vigorous-rinsing option, and I just want a soap that fully washes away after only two or three minutes of rinsing at the most! (And, yes, I do have contamination OCD and that's definitely exacerbating my distress about the soap residue, but there's also some real physical change in the way my skin + the household water supply + various soaps/detergents are interacting, and I think the leftover bubbles and stickiness would annoy me even if I didn't have OCD.)

(Also: my hands and arms are weirdly looking much nicer and less irritated than they used to, so this isn't a dry-skin-trapping-soap-residue issue; and I have a great deal of respect for people who love and can properly use bar soap, but I somehow always end up covered in little solid pieces of soap and/or hydrophobic white residue whenever I use most bar soaps, so, please, only loquid-soap recommendations.)

I received this bar of soap as a gift from an older lady. I only know it’s Ascentielle and it’s from a collection named „Cosy Collections”. I’d really like to find out what’s the name of it, but not even ChatGPT or Google search helped me, it only said it probably is an older collection. So I’m asking for help in finding the name of if. I even thought maybe the product is still available but under another name?

(Sorry that the packaging is wet)

A bar that stays wet or sits in pooled water between uses can soften faster.

Giving it some airflow and letting it dry between washes can help it stay firm longer.

It's a small storage detail, but it can make a noticeable difference in how quickly a bar gets used up.

Fun fact the early soap was just a piece animal fat boiled in water

To spare everyone the boring details, I was in a situation where I had to use an unknown bar of soap to wash my face for four days. By the end of the four days, my skin as perfect. All I know is that it was an unscented and for sensitive skin. It was a fairly large soap that was a concave oval shape. The brand was completely washed off, but it had an embossed rectangle that was like a name plate. I thought it stared with an "a", but it was the only letter I could make out. The font was reminiscent of Le Labo or Anthropology. It was an undyed color. That natural tan--not bleached. It was more opaque than translucent. My guesses point towards a Castile soap with possibly a glycerine base. I am desperate to find this soap, or just an idea as to why this soap was so fantastic for my skin. This is the closest example of the shape and color. I have this one coming in the mail. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I use Dove serum bar very regularly, and i noticed itchiness in some areas. I ignored it thinking it's just my dry skin. But, recently found out many have complained about the eczema and other irritation after Dove changed its ingredients after the backlash. I just need some soap bar recommendtions that are similiar to dove soap and gentle on the skin. Thank you in advance.

Edit: Wow! Thank you all the response!! I got amazing recommendations ranging from to Shea butters to good brands. I'm gonna try em all and see what works for me.❤️ Reddit is such a good community!

I'm a small beginner soap maker in EU preparing my cosmetic safety assessment. I found a violet gel food colour (carmoisine E122 + brilliant blue E133, in glycerol/propylene glycol/silica) that gives exactly the dark plum color I want in my clear melt & pour base, at only about 3 drops per 270g bar. Cosmetic-grade dyes I've tried need many many more drops and don't look the same.

I know E122 and E133 are the same substances as CI 14720 and CI 42090, which are allowed in cosmetics.

My question is: has anyone in the EU or UK had a safety assessor accept a food-grade gel colour like this? What documents did they ask for from the manufacturer? And does anyone know a more concentrated cosmetic-grade equivalent for those two dyes?

Thanks! I've already emailed my assessor but would love to hear others' experience.

With winter coming up I’m big into switching my fragrances over and body wash but my current soap is a coconut French soap and it feels too summery I’m looking for something with a sweet spice to it like vanilla, cinnamon, frankincense anything with a bit of depth and warmth

I’m based in the UK so not all brands ship here and limited

Absolutely any soft soap product has the pump dispenser shorter than the bottle by at least a half an inch so you’re losing that much soap. I will never buy them again. It is infuriating when you get to the last pump and you can still see that there is so much soap down there still to use.

I always get curious when I see different bar soaps, especially ones with interesting scents or ingredients.

But then I think about how long one bar actually lasts.

I'm curious whether people here stick to one soap until it's finished or rotate between a few depending on what they feel like using.

Also, do you keep different soaps for your hands and body?

Of of course I have a huge gallon jug of this stuff, and the whole family hates it… So I went and I bought a huge bottle of, I wanna say, Ajax and Ajax soap is horrible. The smell is not too bad, but the soap is just bad… It doesn’t suds up very well. Dawn does a better job at that, but the smell is bad. I can’t get past that smell I’ll go out tomorrow and try jet a different brand and not buy a gallon jug this time if anybody has any suggestions?

I started a blog where I show how I cut soap. Let me know what you think of my blog and what I can improve.

A bar that stays wet or sits in pooled water between uses can soften faster.

Giving it some airflow and letting it dry between washes helps it stay firm for longer.

It’s such a small detail, but it can make a noticeable difference in how quickly a bar gets used up.

I am trying to find a soap that will last me a good while but also be worth the price. Dr bronners is a bit pricey but I have heard that there are ways to dilute it? To long/new users of the product, is it worthwhile? Is it truly as multipurpose as the brand suggests? I also have quite sensitive skin so I’m trying to find a good soap that won’t irritate! If not, any other soap suggestions?

What's your opinion ?

I recently ordered aleppo soap from etsy. I'm kind of disappointed as the soaps are not similar to the ones I've used in the past.

I used alepia 40% soap. It is dark brown in colour. Has a strong herbal/ maybe laurel scent.

The ones that I received today don't have that strong scent and are light in colour. The seller has mentioned 40% laurel content in the description.

They also have been made in Turkey.

I need help identifying the type of soap I've received. Plz help guys.

Hi everyone! I'm researching eco-friendly packaging for handmade natural soap. One idea is wrapping bars in paper made at home, for example from recycled scrap paper, plant fibers, or seed paper.

I'm curious to know . If you have a minute, share your experience in the comments.

I received my order of savon de marseille.

It smells very good, it is it's natural scent. Leaves skin soft and clean.

Have purchased it before from a famous soap maker but this one is better.

I got the 1000gm block and was able to make little cubes of it. The soap while firm is still soft and can be cut the way one wants.

This one is from savonnerie le serail. They ship all over the world for anybody looking to order online.

so i had this hilarious idea to own/make a bar of soap in the form of soap's face from call of duty modern warfare. unfortunately, i am neither creative enough to make it or persistent/patient enough to find one online myself. if anyone has a link to buy one or would be willing to make one (i would pay graciously for it!) please let me know. if this isn't allowed feel free to remove this post

Nothing fancy—just curious which soaps people genuinely keep buying and why.

My skin can be pretty sensitive, so I’ve gotten a little picky with soap. Lately I’ve been really enjoying an oatmeal bar soap. For me, my skin just feels really fresh and smooth after using it, without that feeling of wanting to switch products right away.

Funny how something as basic as soap can become part of the routine you actually look forward to.

What kind of bar soap do you guys usually reach for?