Soap On A Rope Twisted Green: Introducing the Organic Cotton Soap Saver ** CALLING ALL GUINEA PIGS!!!!**
Let me tell you…the ol’ needle has been in total slug mode lately. Not sure if it is the weather, old age, or a serious case of hotdog fingers…but I haven’t been inspired to create much of anything new. But all that changed the other day in the shower as I was attempting to chase the last sliver of my Burt’s Milk & Shea Butter Soap around the tub. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a more dignified way of being a soap conservationist? And then I remembered a trick my grandparents used. They used to have a little dish where they would just park the old slivers. When they collected enough they actually pressed them into a new bar. I have no intention of buying or building a soap press, but it did get the ol’ brain operating again. What about an organic mesh bag that could hold the scraps AND/OR be used as a little scrubber at the same time? Huh? Huh? The porous slightly scratchy nature of my organic cotton natural mesh seems like it would be perfect for the job. Such a bag could also hold a fresh bar, allowing it to be hung and dried out thoroughly between uses…less waste than sitting in a pool of it’s own soap juice.
The bag is quite simple…just 2x organic cotton mesh with organic cotton cording. No added chemicals to your routine. I could add a tagua nut to make it fancy or these new wooden buttons I have my eye on…but we can chat more on that once I’ve perfected functionality.
Now, as usual I will be needing some guinea pigs, preferable ones who bathe a lot and use bar, not liquid soap. Now…if you plan on using it as a scrubber, it should be a one per customer kind of deal for obvious hygiene reasons. (If the soap bag makes it through trials, I will probably offer either different choices in cord color or add a tagua nut for personal ID purposes.) If you are just going to use it as a sliver collector for future pressing or as a bar drier, than by all means invite as many people into your shower as per your wont. Any takers? Anyone out there willing to get in the tub with for me? If so, leave a comment.
As usual, I never give anything away without making you work for it. Your assignment…should you choose to accept: wash yourself for 2 weeks and then answer these questions.
1. If you used it as a whole soap bar drier was the bag a proper size to hold your typical bar of soap? If not…give me some dimensions. Was the string a good length?
2. If you used it as a scrubber, was the texture to your liking? Did the material hold up well?
3. Did you have any issues with my arch nemesis mildew, mustiness, or mold?
4. Does this seem like something you would REALLY use long term? Why or why not?
4. Any thoughts, concerns, major complaints…keep it relative to the bag people….ideas for improvement?
I’ll be sending out 2 for trials next Friday…so you have until then to put your name in the pot.
I’ll be your guinea pig.
What I started doing with soap slivers a few years ago is throwing them in a liquid soap dispenser with water. After first adding the soap, I shake the container daily for a week or two until the soap is pretty well dissolved. The texture leaves a lot to be desired – think slime – but it does clean.
Your bag would probably be a nicer solution!
I’d love to be a guinea pig! I bathe daily (my level of exercise warrants it) and I use bar soap (local goat milk soap, actually). Hmm. this might be great for washing my face too. The cloth would be a nice exfoliant…
I’d love to be a guinea pig for you. I save my soap slivers and melt them down into a new bar but a bag would be much easier! I also sower daily and use bar soap in the shower along with using it for face and hand washing at the sink. And I’m always keen to try out a scrubber too. Throw my name in the hat, please!
Several weeks ago, I made my own little soap sliver bag out of an old sock. It works okay, but probably not nearly as well as your mesh one will. I’d love to try it out.
Beth
Ha! Sick minds think alike. I was just thinking about this very issue this morning as my shampoo bar was falling to pieces and leaving big soap chunks tangled in my hair! Toss my name in the hat.
Wow. This has been bugging me for the last 3 weeks. I have several slivers that slither all over and the kids hate that.
My mom had a metal ’soap saver’; she put the slivers in and when she hand washed clothes or stockings, swished this around in the water to make suds.
But I don’t do a lot of hand wash of clothes so I have been trying to figure out how to use those slivers.
I would love to test your bag.
Victoria Tory
I’ve been pondering what to do with my growing collection of soap shards and wondering what I could use to smash them all together. I’d love to give your bag a test drive!
I just purchased bar bags a few weeks ago for this very reason. We keep the soap in the bag full time and use them in the shower because they also also meant to be used as ‘face cloths’ If you would be interested in a comparison between yours and these. I can do that. Otherwise… feel free to direct them to people who don’t have any.
[...] to slough off that layer of winter skin? Well…while trying out my soap bag I discovered something…..the organic cotton mesh makes a nice sorta loofah-like washcloth. [...]
I’m in the process of switching from liquid soap to bar soap for showering and would love to be a guinea pig for your bag. I don’t have a collection of slivers yet, but could use a bag to hang the soap up to dry between showers, and the added texture thing sounds nice. If you still need a volunteer let me know!
[...] talking about. A few weeks ago I put out the call to get a few readers to help me out with new Organic Needle designs. (Whenever I have a new idea I force readers to play along.) So for this guinea pig round I sent [...]