Wednesday, October 28, 2009

With soap, please

I like soap. I like how it gets all foamy and makes your hands all slippery. I think it's cool how the soap decreases the surface tension of the water (making bubbles!) and bonds with the dirt. So it lets the water mix with the dirt so it can wash it off your hands, instead of just washing over the dirt. But I especially like when soap leaves your hands smelling nice after you wash.

So I buy soap at Bath & Body Works, and I like nothing if not variety. In my bathroom, at the moment, I have four different soap dispensers available for use, plus a bottle of aromatherapy lotion. I have one dispenser that matches the bathroom decor, with some generic kind of soap in it. I have two containers of "gentle foaming" anti-bacterial soap, one is "Coconut Lime Verbena" and the other is "White Citrus." I also have one dispenser of the "deep cleansing" anti-bacterial scrubbing soap in "Rain-Kissed Leaves" scent.

With all this variety, I started to wonder what other people would choose, as far as soap, when they visited my bathroom. Do people prefer the deep cleansing or foaming?

Well, last time I had company I asked a person, after exiting the bathroom, which kind of soap they used. Imagine my shock and dismay (or, um, disgust) as the following conversation ensued:

"I didn't use soap."
"Why not?"
"I didn't want to get my hands wet."
"So you didn't even rinse your hands?"
"OKAY! I'll go wash my hands!"

Weird excuses, huh? I guess I've been thinking more about soap since the recent study about what kind of messages are likely to prompt people to wash their hands with soap. For the record, a wide variety of soaps available might not be enough to convince people to wash with soap. But if any of you ever decide to visit me, please remember... the soap is there for a reason, and not just decoration.

3 comments:

Yusuf Smith said...

As-Salaamu 'alaikum,

Do you know of any liquid soaps that actually wash off? (Particularly those available in the UK.) I always try to use proper bars of soap as I can't stand having liquid soap cling to my hands, no matter how much water I let flow over it. I want the stuff to take the dirt off my hands and then go away. A lot of them contain animal fat derivatives like glycerin, so I don't want it clinging to my hands.

mezba said...

those sanitizer companies are making a killing with the swine flu thing.

Amy said...

Wa alaykum as-salaam

I like to use a foam soap--it doesn't seem to cling to my hands at all. There are some liquid soaps I've used that seem to cling but most of the nicer ones don't feel that way at all. I'm not sure what's available in the UK though.

Mezba--you're so right. I'm seeing sanitizing stations popping up in grocery stores, malls, gyms, and all over the place. It's kinda weird, but only worthwhile if people use it.