SMF

I was just wondering what others do. Do you rub the bar directly on the body or do you lather it up in your hands first and then spread the lather on the body? Or are some of you using
a wash cloth? I always would just rub the soap bar directly on the body, but I have been wondering lately if I am being wasteful. Interested to hear responses. Thanks guys.

Matt,
Over the years, I've tried various techniques and seem to have settled on the direct soap on skin. Wasteful??? Perhaps but it won't
bankrupt me. And I suppose this method doesn't do much to aid in exfoliation.
The exception is when washing lower legs and feet. Due to severe spinal stenosis, I can't bend over so easily, so I use a long-handled
bath brush, to which I apply my bar soap and scrub away**. My sense is a lot of soap is expended in this method, but again, not so much
that the piggy bank needs to be raided.
jr/John

** I use the bath brush on my back as well

My only concession to modernity is a brush which may be considered retro when you think about it.

Yeah, soap directly on the skin. Then when adequately...a....coated I lather it up further with my hands. Dunno....works well for me and I've never concerned myself with whether it was 'wasteful' or not.
Regards,
Gordon

it depends on the mood I am in. Usually I apply it to my large sauna brush then the brush goes directly to my body with vigorous strokes -- but not a paintbrush or swirl, more like a scrub. I find that soaps last a much longer time this way. ymmv.

I'd rather be soaped than soap myself.

I use the hands only method now. I am a recent convert to this method within the last year after using a cottonTerry-cloth washcloth for decades. The hands-only method is much more mild on my skin and it gets me just as clean.

I converted because one day I had no choice. Wifey had just had a baby recently at the time (most of you know how that goes) and was a tad behind in the house chores so I made do with this method and lo and behold it worked a treat! It also allowed me to use some soaps I could not use before (some palmed based soaps, though not all) without any irritation. So I am a permanent convert now.

I just soap up my hands and lather with them over my body. Repeat as necessary over the various areas. Currently using MWF bath soap but most high grade soaps will do a wonderful job without drying my skin. Also, a good soap will get you very clean even with this method. To whit - I have been shoveling a lot of snow which translates to very wet leather gloves, the dye of which then runs to color the hands and in this instance, black - well with a good soap and this method even the dye gets washed off quite cleanly.

One surprise to me (even in Winter when one has more of a proclivity to dry skin) was the new formula super-market version of Yardley English Lavender soap - no irritation whatsoever (whilst before when they changed the formula to that latest I experienced some irritation with a wash cloth) AND no drying of my skin. The only draw-back of the the modern Yardley is the scent - it's not as good as it used to be, more synthetic now instead of a truer lavender. I'll probably be using a lot of this when the weather turns warmer (please, soon) as it's very pleasant and very economical.

Hope that helps.

Chris

I use circular motions, not paint strokes.

Squire, Well, that's the ideal, of course, but it's only about a once a week thing. The rest of the time I have to make do with my own hands....sigh.
Regards,
Gordon

Chris, Well, dang! And here I thought it was because I'd finally convinced you while, in fact, it was just circumstance....ruined my bloody evening...
Regards,
Gordon

bernards66 wrote:Chris, Well, dang! And here I thought is was because I'd finally convinced you while, in fact, it was just circumstance....ruined my bloody evening...
Regards,
Gordon

Gordon, well it was definitely inspiration from you as well as others reading past posts on the subject. The impetus was necessity.

Chris

A while back I came up with a showering procedure that seems to work well for me. First, under the shower, I shampoo the hair and wash the face with the soap, rinsing both off immediately, because soap in the eyes is painful. After that, I make sure my entire body is drenched, then I turn off the shower and holding the soap bar in my hand I lather the entire body surface. Then I grab the washcloth and turn the shower back on and I use the washcloth to rinse/exfoliate the entire body surface, as I rinse all the soap off. Finished.

I picked up some MWF bath soap, the large size bars wrapped in paper. Nice stuff. A bar lasted me a little less than 3 weeks and I was careful about putting in place where it would dry well and be out of contact with the water. Should these soaps last longer?

3 weeks sounds about right to me depending on how hard or soft your water is.

Mr.Max wrote:I picked up some MWF bath soap, the large size bars wrapped in paper. Nice stuff. A bar lasted me a little less than 3 weeks and I was careful about putting in place where it would dry well and be out of contact with the water. Should these soaps last longer?

My bar of MWF lasts me approximately 30-35 days straight. This is with me using it daily and the baby when he gets washed (my wife uses it on him because he has dry sensitive skin and it has completely cleared it up). We have somewhat hard water here too. I find a soaping on the hands and then using the hands to lather the body is all that's needed. Repeat as necessary while going over the various body parts.

If you're using a washcloth then the soap will get used much faster due to the increased abrasiveness of the cloth.This has been my experience.

Chris

Hands-only method. Usually my own.

Since I'm using an Old Spice soap on a rope, I just lather it up on my hands first, so that I don't have to remove it from where it's hanging on the shower head.

Extra large washcloth (see Method Shower in the Other Topics forum). I like to throw one end over my shoulder and wash my back.

Well, if I must scrub my own back a long handle brush will do.

Yes...and unfortunately sometimes one must,
Regards,
Gordon