Having spent so much consistent time at home in the last few months, I have come to see the profound difference that little things make in our life.
Take for instance hand soap; something I have rarely thought about in any major scope before now. It’s a household necessity that I purchased at a big box store and then later via an Amazon subscription once I found a brand and smell worth committing to.
Lately though, I have seen several ads and read several stories in magazines and newspapers about the negative impact of hand soap packaging. I agree with it all and want to make a change in the new year that reduces the waste left behind by hand soap bottles.
Not only that, I have seriously come to dislike every soap dispenser I have come across in the last 10-15 years. From the single use plastic bottles to fancy sink vanity sets, I have never had a dispenser last more than a year. Glass, plastic, ceramic, or metal – they are seem to get gunky and fall apart eventually. Some might suggest the battery operated, no touch dispensers, but I really don’t like the idea of using batteries for yet another thing in the house.
The problem has only gotten worse as I observe my children using hand soap and dispensers, and how rough and wasteful they can be just because it isn’t something they consciously think about.
Even when I switched briefly to bar soap for hand washing instead of a liquid. I noticed how the bar stayed too wet, or gunky, or on the floor, or stuck to the tray.
Eventually all this thinking about hand soap took an interesting turn when all of a sudden, I remembered what I used to wash hands while growing up in India. There was definitely no liquid soap.
Instead, it was a giant salmon colored bar of soap on a string, shaped like a fish. My mom would hang it near the sink and I’d rub my hands around it a few times, scrub, wash, and move on. No containers. No gunk. No sticky stuff on the sink or tray. No searching for the bar soap on the floor. The string allowed it to naturally air-dry between use and kept it in place. No batteries. So low tech. So practical.
I instantly searched the Internet for “fish soap on string” and found this, this, (as pictured below) and several other options on Etsy and Amazon that seemed to have been created specifically for those who love to fish or those who enjoy a good fish joke.
The $39 Japanese version looks lovely but that price tag seems a bit steep. Also, I wonder if they still make that sopa in India?
Also, I think the hanging soap brings a new challenge of just how I am suppose to hang it near the sink.
Like I said, I have been thinking really hard about this stuff! ; )
So friends do share all your hand soap and soap dispenser wisdom with me. What is your favorite brand? Do you use liquid or bar? Do you use any of the new fangled subscription companies like Soapply or Blueland or Fillaree or others?
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