A Bar of Soap

I am home for my brother's graduation and since my brother and I share a bathroom, I found myself in the shower with no other recourse but to use "his" (in quotes) bar of soap, a fancy Kiehl's bar given to him by his girlfriend for his birthday. This raises the question: how unsanitary is it to share a bar of soap? I mean: it's soap, right? Soap cleans things. So isn't a bar of soap automatically clean? I held it under hot water for a few seconds, rubbed it in my hands, and put it to use. However, when I told my brother he was mad and begged me not to use it again. What do you think, America?

Comments

[Judith in Umbria]

Brother is in danger of becoming one of those bacteriaphhobes who sees dirt and problems where none exist. He needs an immediate intervention.
Try the Charlie Brown character with the little cloud of dirt that follows him.

[Brian]

I think there was a Friends episode (ugh...am I actually going to reference an episode of Friends?) where Chandler and Joey were having this very debate.

It ended with Joey saying something like, "The next time you take a shower, think about the last thing I wash and the first thing you wash."

[kelly]

That is a good question and one I had never thought of before. One would think soap is automatically clean because it is soap just as you mentioned. I sometimes use my husband's soap but that doesn't really count as crossing some invisible line. I don't think I could use a stranger's soap but how often is that going to happen that one is forced to use a stranger's soap?

Family members? I don't know that is a pretty gray area now that I think about it. I couldn't use my Dad's soap because that would be weird. I could use my Mom's soap - that would be ok. So maybe it's a gender thing when it comes to family.

And honestly this is all way too much deep thought this early in the morning.

[Meg]

If you can't use your brother's soap, whose soap CAN you use? I mean, really.

[Jason Sholar]

OK... the soap might be fine, but I also agree with the above comment on what the previous person washed last. You held it under the hot water for that very type of reason I would assume. I could see sharing someone else's soap on occasion as you have by "washing the soap", but I would probably have just washed the entire body with shampoo and bought soap for the next day. Ya wouldn't share deodorant would you? You likely only put it on a just cleaned body, but that would still be nasty to share. I also think the same about toilet seats... ewwwww.

[brenda]

Skipping the hygiene question, how was the Kiehl's soap? Is it worth the extra money.

[Michael Roberts]

Once you try this soap, you'll never want to use anything different.

My mom bought my dad a bar of the same soap, but he doesn't like it becuase he likes to wash his hair with soap, and this bar isn't meant to do that with because it is exfoliating.

As far as sharing the soap with my brother, the only reason that I made a big deal was because he kept telling me that he had a really bad rash, so take that into consideration.

[kristy]

If I have to use someone else's bar of soap, I like to use the washcloth-transfer trick: run the soap under hot water, rub the soap vigorously on the washcloth to transfer soapiness, rub washcloth on body. Although honestly, I prefer liquid bath soap which helps guests bypass this whole problem.

Just don't use my washcloth.

[Jason Sholar]

A really bad rash? Oh, so sorry Michael... Interesting that Adam left that out. Kinda like trying to make you look trivial.

[dove philippines]

Well, that bar of soap so interesting if i were you i will apology to him and tell him that you never used it again,anyway in the first place soap can clean anything. :)

vee