How to Make Your Handmade Soap Last Longer

A good bar of handmade soap deserves better than sitting in a puddle until it turns into a soggy little pancake.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make handmade soap last longer, the biggest trick is simple: let it drain and dry between uses. A few small changes around the sink or shower can help you get more washes out of each bar.

Here’s how we’d handle it at Big PaPaw Soap Company.

My own daily shower bar, 43 days apart

I’m 6'1" and 280 pounds, and this is my own Smoky Barn daily shower bar, photographed 43 days apart. Between showers, it rests on a wooden draining dish. That’s my experience, kin. How long yours lasts will depend on how you use and store it.

The starting bar.

The same daily shower bar, 43 days later.

Give your soap a place to drain

A flat dish might look nice, but if water has nowhere to go, your soap ends up soaking in it.

Choose a soap dish with drainage holes, raised ridges, or slats that keep the bar above standing water. Empty and clean the dish regularly, too. Even a draining dish won’t help much if the tray underneath stays full.

You want a resting place for your soap, not a swimming hole.

Keep it out of the shower spray

That little shelf directly under your showerhead may be convenient, but your soap keeps getting wet even when you aren’t using it.

Move the bar somewhere the spray won’t reach. After washing, set it on its draining dish where air can circulate.

The goal isn’t complicated: wet the soap when you need it, then give it a chance to dry.

Try lathering a washcloth

You don’t have to rub the bar over your whole body to get a good wash.

Try working a little lather into a wet washcloth, then put the soap back on its dish while you wash. That keeps the bar out of your hands and away from running water for part of your shower.

Use what you need. More soap sliding down the drain doesn’t mean you’re getting any cleaner.

Consider cutting a large bar in half

If a full-size bar feels awkward to handle, cutting it into smaller pieces can make it easier to use.

Keep one piece at the sink or in the shower and store the other somewhere dry. Cutting it doesn’t create more soap, of course, but it lets you keep part of the bar away from daily water exposure.

Use care when cutting, and keep your fingers clear of the blade.

Store spare bars somewhere cool and dry

Your extra soap doesn’t need to live beside a steamy shower.

Keep unused bars in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and excess humidity. Follow any storage instructions on the packaging, and avoid sealing a wet bar in an airtight container.

Traveling? Let your soap dry before packing it when possible. If you have to pack it damp, take it out when you arrive so it can dry again.

Don’t throw away the last little piece

When a bar gets too small to hold comfortably, a soap-saver pouch can help you use those last bits. Hang the pouch where it can drain and dry, and clean it according to its care instructions.

A pouch left in a puddle has the same problem as a bar left in one.

The Big PaPaw bottom line

Handmade soap doesn’t need fancy treatment. Give it a draining dish, keep it out of the shower spray, and let it dry between washes.

How long a bar lasts will depend on its size, how often you use it, and how you store it. But keeping it out of standing water is a mighty good place to start.

From our small-batch shop in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina, here’s to getting a good, honest wash out of every bar.

Tough on Dirt, Easy on Kin.

Ready to find your next daily shower bar? Shop Big PaPaw’s handmade soaps and pick one that suits you, kin.