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I stayed up last night reading about bar soap vs. liquid hand soap. Conclusions:
* for cleaning power, soap is soap.
* Some people think shared bar soap is less hygienic. It technically may host more bacteria, but if you wash right, none of that ends up on your hands, any more than your own germs stay on your hands.
* Bar soap is probably 1/4 as expensive per wash.
* There are secondary difference in 'drying' nature and acidity; one page said skin is pH 5.5, Dove 6, many common bars 10! Liquid soaps tend to be less basic and more moisturizing, but it's just a trend, you can find bar soaps with similar properties.
* Liquid soap may have a nicer lather for some people, which would encourage them to wash longer.
* Liquid soap was invented in the 1800s but really took off after 1980. (But shampoo and dishwasher soap are different?)
* Shampoo bars exist, even though I've never noticed them.
* Bar soap is less environmentally costly: lighter to transport since it's just soap, not soap + other liquids, and paper wrapper vs. plastic bottles. This is probably a fairly trivial consideration though.
Final conclusion:
If you have a strong preference for a particular soap, go ahead and keep that, you'll wash better. If not, consider bar soap, it's way cheaper. If you have a strong preference for particular properties, maybe research if some bar has those.
I note that I have not heard of any stores running out of bar soap.
* for cleaning power, soap is soap.
* Some people think shared bar soap is less hygienic. It technically may host more bacteria, but if you wash right, none of that ends up on your hands, any more than your own germs stay on your hands.
* Bar soap is probably 1/4 as expensive per wash.
* There are secondary difference in 'drying' nature and acidity; one page said skin is pH 5.5, Dove 6, many common bars 10! Liquid soaps tend to be less basic and more moisturizing, but it's just a trend, you can find bar soaps with similar properties.
* Liquid soap may have a nicer lather for some people, which would encourage them to wash longer.
* Liquid soap was invented in the 1800s but really took off after 1980. (But shampoo and dishwasher soap are different?)
* Shampoo bars exist, even though I've never noticed them.
* Bar soap is less environmentally costly: lighter to transport since it's just soap, not soap + other liquids, and paper wrapper vs. plastic bottles. This is probably a fairly trivial consideration though.
Final conclusion:
If you have a strong preference for a particular soap, go ahead and keep that, you'll wash better. If not, consider bar soap, it's way cheaper. If you have a strong preference for particular properties, maybe research if some bar has those.
I note that I have not heard of any stores running out of bar soap.
