Thursday, May 5, 2016

Saving Soap

What do you do with the bar of soap that washes itself down to a sliver?  My dad has always mashed it down onto a new bar of soap.  If the sliver is just too thick to mold onto the bar, soak it for a bit in a little water to make it pliable.  

For a few years now, I've been copying his method, pleased with the lack of waste and the continuation of a childhood detail so minuscule it's worth blogging about.



13 comments:

e said...

I save the slivers in a small mesh bag. You can use it as a scrubber on your hands! Learned that from my grandma...

Lisa said...

My mother would put them in a jar and add water. We'd dump some into the toilet and then scrub around. I also keep a small plastic bowl near the kitchen sink to put dirty cutlery in (no dishwasher), with a couple of soap pieces in there. But I also learned from a Craftsy class that you can draw around your pattern pieces with the thin edges, onto the fabric, then cut.

Margo said...

Lisa, love the toilet and cutlery ideas! We don't have a dishwasher either.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I have done this many times but sometimes I can not get the sliver to stick. Any suggestions?

I love the comment about the mesh bag I may have to try that one!

Margo said...

Vickie, if I can't get the soap sliver to stick, I soak it a bit which makes it gooey and pliable. Then I can press it on the new bar.

jenny_o said...

We were taught this, too (by observation). Thanks for the tip for getting it to stick, because that's my main issue with doing it!

jenny_o said...

And I heart your hippo soap dish so much :)

Betty said...

We do the same..usually have no problem with the sliver to stick to the new bar of soap. As you said a little water soak helps.

Becky said...

I do that, but sometimes I do the mesh bag trick too - I have a scrubbie I bought somewhere that is made for putting soap in the middle of it, so I toss the slivers in there and keep it in my travel bag. That way I always have soap and a scrubbie!

BLD in MT said...

That's what we do, too. I find such satisfaction in these simple household details. Good share.

Rebecca said...

My grandmother had a tool specifically for the job. It looked like one of those pinchy/stirry things you can put loose tea in but bigger with an open mesh. Squeeze the handle and the mesh disc opened; put you soap slivers in there and then swish around wherever you need suds. Am now wishing I grabbed it up when we were divvying up kitchen stuff.

Lana said...

My Mom used to tie slivers into a section of pantyhose for kids to wash with in the bath which we thought was a real treat. When I married hubby 38 years ago I found out about sticking the sliver onto the new bar so that is how we do it. We use a handmade organic safflower oil soap so I don't want to waste a bit of it.

Unknown said...

Love this.