We all grew up using Dove, Irish Springs, Lever 2000 etc. The soap is cheaper and last freakishly longer in the shower compared to natural ones. The fact is that most store bought brands like this hold up better in the shower because they are either a very hard bar of soap that lacks moisturizers or are not actually considered soap (I like to explain soaps like Dove as a congealed mass of questionable moisturizers). Natural soaps on the other hand provide a great clean without drying the skin.

The main factors in soap longevity are how the soap is stored and how much you use it. It’s not rocket science that a soap that gets used once a day will last longer than soap used every hour. Also some soaps, like our facial soaps, are formulated to be more moisturizing which means that they are not as hard and will disintegrate a little bit faster. Fear not though! Here are a few tips that will keep every bar of soap soapin’ longer:

1. Don’t keep your soap in the shower!!!! Moisture from the shower will speed up disintegration so shake it off, put it in its dish, and remove it from the shower.
2. Get a good draining soap dish. This will stop water from pooling around the soap and slowly dissolving it. You can also buy something called a Soap Saver (pictured above) from the Dollar Store in a pack of two. It is a piece of rubber that raises the bar of soap off the bottom of the dish with holes for drainage. It can be used in any dish that you want. If against my recommendation, you wanted to keep your soap in the shower get a travel soap dish and throw a Soap Saver in the bottom.
3. Cut your soap. This way the entire bar of soap is not being submersed in water. I recommend:

Shampoo bars: Cut in half. You can cut them smaller but most people have a harder time getting a good lather going with smaller pieces.

Hand and Body: Cut in anything from 5 to in half. Keep it full if it’s more for decoration than purpose.

Facial soaps: 5-6 pieces. You don’t need a whole lot of lather to for the facial soaps and this way it will last longer.