Why does using bar soap when washing my hands and/or body give it a very grippy feeling after using it, while liquid soap doesn’t?
In: Chemistry
Bar soap has a more alkaline pH than liquid soaps. This breaks down your skin’s natural oil barriers easier and more so than liquid soap. Liquid soap does still break it down, and can still make your skin feel ‘grippy’ but just less so as it’s less alkaline, and not as good at dissolving that oil barrier.
The oil barrier is acidic, and keeps moisture in your skin. When you remove it, your skin can’t hold the moisture, feeling odd.
Bar soap also binds with particles in hard water creating “soap scum” that is not only deposited on your sink/tub but on your skin too. This adds to the grippy “squeaky clean” feeling. Skin shouldn’t feel like this. Literal “soap” is harsh and over washes skin which, while it gets rid of the germs, also creates toughness and cracks that can harbour even more germs than healthy smooth skin.
Quick edit/add: I notice some comments saying the content of the thread isn’t accurate. The vast majority is pretty spot on. “Squeak” is good for dishes not skin. Over-washed/unclean skin ages quicker, and is more vulnerable to problems on the whole. Source: I ran a global research team for 5 years (chemists, biologists, social scientists) to work on this exact understanding. Also – skin is very smart and very resilient. it’s designed to cope with anything you throw at it…so associated problems tend to be really minor. If you love your Irish Spring, and don’t experience dryness – keep using it and enjoying it.
The advice on not masturbating with it is also spot on.
The difference relates to water hardness (dissolved mineral content). If your water is hard, and a certain soap doesn’t have sufficient softening agents in it, it will result in that squeaky feeling, which is actually soap scum on your skin. The same thing that causes white buildup on glass shower doors. The bar soap you are using must have less softening agents than the liquid soap you’re using — but that isn’t the case with every bar vs. every liquid soap.
The way to truly address this is with a whole-house water softener. Once the minerals are removed every soap will feel silky and you’ll notice your dishwasher and clothes washer do a better job. You’ll also notice any glass shower doors no longer need special cleaning.
Scum. The tap water we use contains impurities in the form of mineral ions. These ions precipitate with the soap to from salts which appear as a fine later of scum. It is this later that gives us a sqeaky and grippy feeling. Next time try washing your hands with bottled water and see if you still get the feeling.
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This is why I use Dove soap. It’s the only one that doesn’t make my skin feel like that. If I use other soaps on my face, I can’t even get my makeup off. My mascara just smears under my eyes because I can’t rub my eyes to clean it away. My fingers just stick to my face. That’s why I only use Dove.
Switch to a sensitive skin soap and it won’t. Like dove. I have the same problem until I switched.
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I’ve always thought that the bar of soap would get really nasty after continuous use, am I wrong? It just doesn’t make sense to me that several people use one bar of soap and they just rub their hands all over it.
I would highly suggest trying a handmade bar soap. Industrial bar soaps remove glycerin from their soap created as a byproduct of the soap makinh process, handmade soaps leave it in. Glycerin helps protect the skin and draw in moisture and as a result wont leave you with that same feeling. In fact I make my own soaps and everyone in my family uses them to shave because the feel so good and slip so well from the glycerin and natural oils.
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