filmy feel from soaps

[Mint]

I'm really not impressed with Yardley's lavender bath soap, TOBS bath soap, and to a lesser extent, TOBS hand and face soap...

For some reason all these soaps leave my skin feeling as if I have some sort of dried on film stuck to my skin... Especially the arms and face.

To answer the most obvious question... Yes, I rinse well... And thoroughly..

So... What's the deal? What's the ingredient that these soaps have in common that leaves this feeling on my skin? Could it be the tallow? (I think TOBS soaps are tallow based, correct if wrong, I know my Yardley is...)

The cheap Irish Spring soap you see being sold everywhere leaves the same feeling on my skin to a much greater extent...

[druphus]

You must have soft water.

[rsp1202]

A leftover film is my complaint about tallow-palm combo soaps, along with a kind of chalky feeling to the lather. It happens with the least expensive soaps as well as the more expensive varieties. Probably has something to do with the water here, but I'm pretty finicky anyway. I don't have the same problems, though, with pure tallow or veg soaps.

[Aztecface]

I've never experianced anything like that and I've used a plethora of different kinds of soaps in different kinds of water situations. No Taylor's soaps are Tallow. They changed quite a long time ago.

[Mint]

My tap water has a KH of 5 degrees and a GH of 9 degrees...

So yeah, it's actually a little on the hard side... It certainly isn't soft...

It really does feel like like I've got soap dried onto me that wont rinse away regardless of how hard I try... Like I'm feeling the dried on layer over my skin when I move...

[bernards66]

No clue. Like Jani I've used MANY different bath soaps and have never had an experiance like you're describing, although I have had something similiar with certain 'shower gels' etc.
Regards,
Gordon

[Straight Arrow]

I spent some time in the Northwest a few years ago and experienced the same phenomenon that Mint describes. Hours of rinsing couldn't have removed that slick feeling. I figure it could be due to the hardness of the water.

[Aztecface]

I still don't think it has anything to do with the hardness or softness of the water. It must be impurities and/or chemical derivatives.

[IanM]

Your skin is faulty.

Ian

[EL Alamein]

I'm really not impressed with Yardley's lavender bath soap, TOBS bath soap, and to a lesser extent, TOBS hand and face soap...

For some reason all these soaps leave my skin feeling as if I have some sort of dried on film stuck to my skin... Especially the arms and face.

To answer the most obvious question... Yes, I rinse well... And thoroughly..

So... What's the deal? What's the ingredient that these soaps have in common that leaves this feeling on my skin? Could it be the tallow? (I think TOBS soaps are tallow based, correct if wrong, I know my Yardley is...)

The cheap Irish Spring soap you see being sold everywhere leaves the same feeling on my skin to a much greater extent...

I’m not sure what sensation you are describing here. It could be the sensation some feel when using soft water which is a sensation of slickness while still wet, a feeling that you can’t wash all the soap off. This same sensation can be reproduced in hard water using a detergent bar such as Dove. I’ve experienced this and the feeling doesn’t really last past the shower. Post shower you don’t feel filmy or sticky. The irony is that your skin is film free and clean hence the slickness.

The other possibility that comes to mind is you could be describing the somewhat sticky feeling that people mention about non-detergent soaps leaving behind. People who regularly use soft water often describe this feeling when switching from soft to hard water for their shower. This feeling comes from the residue that hard water and soap leave behind on the skin. Tallow soaps will produce more of this residue. It’s harmless and in most cases people don’t even notice it after a while. I think a tiny minority of folks have issues with it. This residue can also be eliminated by using a detergent bar.

Either way if you try a detergent bar you are most likely to mitigate the problem. The downside of identifying that soap residue is not for you is that most high end soaps will be out of your reach. Hope that helps.

Chris

[Mint]

it's not really a wet or slimy feel... It feels as if the soap has dried before being rinsed. Try lathering a bit of soap on your arm and give it a good hour or two to really dry up and you'll know what I'm talking about...

More than anywhere it's noticeable on my cheeks when I yawn, or open my mouth for whatever other reason.

The TOBS bath soap was the absolute WORST for this... Not counting that cheap Irish Spring soap you see in all the pharmacies/grocery stores. That stuff's just disgusting, I can't even bring myself to call it soap

Should I maybe consider abandoning the soap bars and switching to a liquid body wash?

[bernards66]

You could try them. They ae detergent based, so it is a different thing. For me, it is the body washes that either dry out my skin, or if the add enough stuff to conterbalance that, then they leave a film on my skin. Can't/won't use them, but maybe it'll be different for you.
Regards,
Gordon

[Mint]

My skin gets dried out enough as it is already, especially in this weather!

I guess it's worth a try with the detergent based though...

The tallow soaps are fine on my hands though, so at least I can justify buying them, just to see if one of them for whatever reason happens to work better for the rest of my body.

P.S. Another reason I suspected this was dried on soap is because I get flaky white stuff on my cheeks and in the creases around my nose especially.. As well as on my forearm... These are also the placed where I get this feeling the most and have no doubt that the two are somehow related.

Perhaps this is the hard water deposits? My roommate certainly doesn't have this problem, yet uses the same soaps as me.

The white flakey stuff seems to disappear after rinsing my face again once its dried and the flakey stuff appears.