Sign of the Apocalypse?
Posted by JJQuantum@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 127 comments
Not a serious post.
So like a lot of us I grew up pretty poor and even for those of us who didn’t there’s a good chance that we had parents who understood the idea of not being wasteful as a result of living through WWII or even the depression. One of the things I’ve done ever since I was a kid is to take the old sliver of soap in the shower and press it into the new bar of soap so as to not waste any. It may sound weird but it’s how I was brought up and I honestly can’t remember ever having thrown away any leftover soap, that is until today.
My 55 yo wife is fighting the signs of aging tooth and nail. She was talking with her doctor about her skin and he suggested she might start using moisturizing soap. So we started using the new soap today and for some reason, maybe the oil in the new soap, the old sliver simply wouldn’t stick to it. At the end of the day we ended up tossing it.
It certainly nothing Earth shattering but it just stands out as again it’s just the way things have been for 56 years. In a very non-serious way I’m thinking this may be the first sign of the apocalypse. Anyone else on here do this?
Verity41@reddit
Somewhere around the age of 10 I vowed I would NEVER allow a Frankensoap to cross my adult doorstep. All these decades later I have kept that pledge. 🧼🫧🧟🧩⛔️
(And I buy nice quality EXPENSIVE bar soap! Sometimes like handcrafted goat soap stuff. They used the paint stripping cheap Dial or Irish Spring. Wow my parents were Chesapeake’s).
MW240z@reddit
I miss the taste of Dial soap after dropping the C word in front of my mom and a neighbor. While Dial was one of the worst tasting, it beat frankensoap.
Dial, Coast, and a hint of Irish Spring was truly breathtaking.
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
https://i.redd.it/zsooux6urvtg1.gif
OperaBunny@reddit
I thought this was about world events, and how topsy turvy everything is. Could it be, is this Spring a new beginning for real? Like the old adage, has to get worse before it gets better, but it's good to know people have hygienic standards.
Gold-Enthusiasm7604@reddit
My mom grew up poor on a farm. She made sure we were not wasteful. It has carried over into adulthood for me. I dont know how my siblings are, but I feel guilty throwing out leftovers that don't get eaten. I will keep clothes until they have holes, then they get turned into rags, I also jam the slivers of soap into the new soap. Old habits are hard to break.
Embarrassed-Bet-4092@reddit
I make compost with uneaten scraps for a garden I don’t have.
ricperry1@reddit
Eww. I hate bar soap. No thank you.
tultommy@reddit
Me... I don't know what it is but bar soap is a heck no for me. I hated it growing up and I hate it even more now. Like rubbing itchy wax all over yourself lol.
Iwantaschmoo@reddit
I. Love bar soap but it is my travel indulgence. I like to by locally made soap of unique scents. I do keep a squirt bottle of moisturizing soap in the shower. Husband doesn't like my "unique" soaps. He'd be an ivory soap guy 100% but I don't let that abomination in my house. He has to use liquid Dove or Aveno or buy his own. I'm the CP of the house ( chief of procurement) for the house.
drtyhppi@reddit
I switched over to locally made soap and shampoo bars about four years ago after lathering up with chemicals for years. I cut my bars in half so they don't disintegrate in the shower, so I'm definitely pressing that sliver into the new bar. I'll have to check out these little shower soap bags everyone's mentioning.
Sorry-Government920@reddit
Do it still
15volt@reddit
I'm tickled to see people still using bar soap. I really thought I was the only one. I just presumed the rest of the world uses gels, that's all I ever see.
If you're in the market for a new bar, try Harry's. They have the lather equation just right. The scents are nice, if ever so slightly too subtle. A little more expensive than the bottom shelf varieties, but bars last so much longer than gels I don't feel bad about the extra $1 or $2 per bar.
And yes, as others have likely pointed out by now, stop buying water (shower gels) in all forms. Switch to powdered laundry soap, dishwasher powder, etc. Water is heavy and expensive to ship around the country, especially for no reason.
No-Travel-8949@reddit
We were in a CVS a couple of years ago and overheard someone asking about “solid body wash” ummmm…soap??? We still laugh about it!
15volt@reddit
Funny. I've been shaving my head for almost 20 years now and haven't even used shampoo in that long, let alone body wash. I occasionally see solid shampoo?
I'm thankful Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan popularized the bald look back in the day. Who knows what I'd look like without them.
Verity41@reddit
And you got some kinda brotherhood going too. Even though I’m a woman with tons of hair I have a guilty pleasure of lurking on r/bald - everyone is so kind to one another there! 💕
vagabondizer@reddit
Zest or Irish Spring for me.
15volt@reddit
I haven't tried Zest in awhile, but Irish Spring scent is on the opposite side of the scale from Harry's. I find it so strong it's like a chemical burn. I recognize the woodsy scent from long ago, but somehow it's changed to where its unpleasant. It's aggressive.
Verity41@reddit
I literally put shavings of Irish spring in my old disused truck to keep mice out. I’m not using that on my skin.
MovingTarget-@reddit
I'm still buying 8 packs of Dove soap for $13
CeeTheWorld2023@reddit
Still using Ivory soap …. Satan worship be damned, only thing that makes me feel clean. Everything else leaves a ….,greasy feeling.
theonetruegrinch@reddit
Satan worship?
15volt@reddit
If I recall, the old Proctor & Gamble logo was somehow a devil-something-or-other. It was newsworthy during the Satanic panic of the early 1980s.
nirreskeya@reddit
Hear, hear! It's weird to me that people don't use bar soap. For showering it is better in every way and even for hand washing it's fine if one doesn't leave the water running while lathering; just a tiny bit on the bar is enough. I do go for the bottom-shelf varieties though. I recently finally finished the last of 8 bars of Lever 2000 that I bought in the early aughts; it lasted that long because I save and use all the random hotel soaps. With all that running out I got a couple bars of Coast and that is a trip right back to the 80s for me, as it's what my dad often used.
Shower gels were a marketing coup.
15volt@reddit
I tried Lever 2000 about 6 months ago and it's not slippery enough for me and my washcloth. And maybe that's a variable I hand't accounted for when I say "the lather equation". Maybe some people don't use washcloths? I need a sufficient amount of suds and lubricity on the cloth to get the washing started. Lever seemed dull in that respect.
threedogdad@reddit
I think it's weird as well. Gels, body wash, all gimmicky trash, which I thought was obvious.
disinterested_a-hole@reddit
I'm team bar soap for everything - body and hair.
I do buy the bougie stuff that smells nice though. I think Lever 2000 would give me jr high locker room flashbacks.
Cheese-Manipulator@reddit
I prefer bar soap. Gel soap doesn't seem to clean as well and half of it seems to just drip off anyway.
MangoPip@reddit
You can buy these little crocheted soap savers. They are a loose mesh bag, with a drawstring. Pop the slivers in there, and then use the whole thing as a scrubbie.
Or I dry them out and chuck them in amongst my clothes drawers and linen cupboard. Keeps things smelling fresh.
leaping_lions@reddit
I do it too. Just turned 50. I also use Dr. Bronners interchangeably but whatever. Sometimes you travel and places have fun artisanal soaps. Enjoy it to the end.
LauraLand27@reddit
Honestly? It’s almost 6 pm EDT and I don’t know if we’ll be here in 2 hours. I’m contemplating eating more sushi than I planned before it starts glowing.
triggirl74@reddit
My family did the same with bar soap. I probably would still do it, but I mostly use gel and foam soap these days.
No-Travel-8949@reddit
Growing up we had a little plastic press gizmo from the Walter Drake catalog that you’d collect the slivers in and press them into a full bar, anyone else?
Sufficient_Space8484@reddit
Yup. Had it too.
data_meditation@reddit
I do the same--pressing an old soap with the new bar. It's among the things that drive my kids crazy.
peptide2@reddit
I work in a manufacturing facility with community showers ,like thirty guys showering in one room. Those little pieces of soap end up being imbedded on the ceiling of the room after being tossed violently upwards. Anybody else?
Rough-Patience-2435@reddit
Like pencils in the ceiling at school?
peptide2@reddit
Exactly like pencils in the cieling at school
formernonhandwasher@reddit
Off topic a little but 80-90% of skin aging comes from the sun. Tell your wife she can damn near stop her skin from aging from this point on by seeking shade, long sleeves shirts, hats, and/or sunscreen.
threedogdad@reddit
which will also eliminate the best source of D3
doubleohzerooo0@reddit
D3 supplements. I'm dark skinned and live at 48° latitude.
Because of the angle of the sun at this latitude, I don't get enough D3, so I take supplements.
GypsyDoVe325@reddit
Shitake mushrooms are a good natural source and you can boost the Vit D by setting them in the sun gill side up for 30 min to an hour.
doubleohzerooo0@reddit
I'm currently taking over 4000 IU daily to combat Vit D deficiency.
Kinda hard to let anything sit in the sun when there is no sun.
Yet another reason to love shitake mushrooms.
formernonhandwasher@reddit
Well then you don't have to worry about sunscreen. The point of the whole comment was to focus on the anti aging benefits of staying out of the sun. if you don't have sun then it really doesn't apply to the convo.
GypsyDoVe325@reddit
I was on 50,000iu every week for awhile and live up north. Dandelion tea and 3-4 crimini mushrooms a day got me off the supplements pretty quickly. Now they are staple panty items for me. Shitakes are even better and contain 3 different forms of vitamin d naturally. Unless your above the artic circle there is sun at some point long enough to charge the mushrooms a bit before eating. Merely sharing because I care about others. I turned my health around completely no meds nor supplements just teal foods from MotherEarth. Dandelion is a great herb as well cleanses liver amongst other uses.
threedogdad@reddit
of course, many of us don't. the key to my comment was 'best'. don't skip the sun if you have access to it.
formernonhandwasher@reddit
Seriously, you really don’t need as much as people think. You’re fine if you leave the house. Or drink milk. You see the post of dermatologists at a conference in Hawaii? Sun still gets through sunscreen and people rarely put it on as much as directed.
turtle0831@reddit
There’s so much soap and body wash, if the apocalypse does come and I survive, I won’t be worried about finding any.
Totally_not_Carl@reddit
When they make us fight in the arenas..I hope I get a talking dog companion. GLURP! GLURP!!
Snarcastic@reddit
Garret is that you?
Totally_not_Carl@reddit
Sometimes I do smell like a long forgotten chorizo left out on the counter at a low end air BnB, and I am awfully accident prone.
Moondra3x3-6@reddit
😂
ActionableStupidity@reddit
you will not break me.
Miss_take_maker@reddit
Mongo is appalled.
confabulatrix@reddit
I threw away a little sliver a few days ago that wouldn’t stick. Thought about it many times that day.
bonzai2010@reddit
I always, always merge the soaps. There’s an art to it. With the moisturizing ones you might get scuffing them up with a washcloth, folding them in that wash cloth, and squeezing the shit out of it, then take it apart and leave them to dry, even if the one is still sliding around. It’ll harden up :)
Curious_Matter_3358@reddit
Best to put the sliver on the floor of the shower so it gets really soft and squishy while you use the new soap. It squarshes onto the new soap seamlessly.
LazyDramaLlama68@reddit
Use the lone sock and put the soap in it. That way you don't waste anything
SuspiciousMeat6696@reddit
Cubs winning the World Series (108 yr gap) was the sign.
titianwasp@reddit
Boston felt your pain.
SuspiciousMeat6696@reddit
Boston came close but did not surpass a century
titianwasp@reddit
Whoa!! That’s really frikking cool!
Cheese-Manipulator@reddit
Winning the world series was the best and worst thing to ever happen to Cubs fans.
stabbingrabbit@reddit
Grandma would keep the slivers in a coffee can till it was full and then melt them down into a new bar.
Fantastic-Archer-864@reddit
Oh my grandmother had a friend that ran a motel and she would give my grandmother all of the soaps that people had used and my grandmother would make them into new soaps and give them back to her to use in the motel! This was early 70s. Makes my skin crawl to think of it. I take my own soap now still lol
stabbingrabbit@reddit
I saw there is a company that does this now. I think they help hire disabled folks.
Miscellaneous-health@reddit
They make little washable bamboo bags that you can put the remnant and the new bar inside - it acts as a scrubby thing to help with exfoliating too.
CH1974@reddit
Ivory soap is what I use for everything. If it tasted better I would brush my teeth with it
JackSkell049152@reddit
Which brand tastes the best for you?
Asking for a friend.
not_a_moogle@reddit
Ocean Breeze Soap – it’s like an ocean cruise, except there’s no boat, and you don’t actually go anywhere
iamdrshank@reddit
Thanks for the reference. I even hear their voices! RIP Jim Henson, you gave the world a huge gift.
TheBariSax@reddit
Palmolive has a piquant after-dinner flavor, heady with a mellow smoothness. Lifebuoy, on the other hand... Bleach.
CrazyCatMadame1@reddit
My personal favorite is Lux.
CH1974@reddit
If I had too....Aloe, when on sale only.
Owlthirtynow@reddit
That’s so cute.
heelslover_1@reddit
I had to keep re reading thinking WHEN was silver put into soap and why have I not been saving it to realize it should have been sliver
Thirsty-Barbarian@reddit
It’s not just about saving the soap. It’s about passing the knowledge and the wisdom of the old soap to the new soap, especially the secrets of the body parts that the unbroken chain of soaps have washed and the lessons learned. Now those memories are lost after 56 years. Your new soap is starting off as a naive new baby soap with no guidance from the generations before it.
Pinkbeans1@reddit
You’re a poet.
MovingTarget-@reddit
I wept
JackSkell049152@reddit
Loss of generational knowledge, good and bad, is the X’er way. I would posit that we do keep more of the good, than the bad, by a fair margin.
no1oneknowsy@reddit
Went back to bar soap to save and reduce plastic. We do have plastic option for guests though
catchinNkeepinf1sh@reddit
I make my own soap and they always stick together!
BudBundySaysImStupid@reddit
I opened up my drawer full of mystery cables and power bricks and threw away about 90% of them, including ALL of my red-white-yellow composite A/V cables. Every single one of them.
theonetruegrinch@reddit
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I needed those for my vintage stereo
BudBundySaysImStupid@reddit
Should have said something sooner- I had about 20 of them!
Fantastic-Archer-864@reddit
I put my box full of mystery cables into storage and I have needed to check for a cord twice since then lol
Neat-Brother-6570@reddit
30 seconds after the garbage truck drives away you’ll need one.
BudBundySaysImStupid@reddit
So far it’s been 3 months and I’ve survived so far!
Neat-Brother-6570@reddit
I just can’t believe you. Lol
JJQuantum@reddit (OP)
The crappy thin ones that came with every piece of AV gear until about 2010? Nice!
BudBundySaysImStupid@reddit
Yep. Those. AND every single cable and power bricks I couldn’t identify, too. No matter how useful they might have been at some fart-off distant time.
AndiPandi_@reddit
Sounds scary lol!
Leakyboatlouie@reddit
I found a soap press on Etsy that I can compress a bunch of slivers with. Have to microwave them a bit first, but it works well.
balthisar@reddit
What's the ROI on an Etsy soap press, LOL?
Leakyboatlouie@reddit
I can't imagine it's much.
theonetruegrinch@reddit
It's psychologically priceless
AnrufBeworter@reddit
The other day I tossed some perfectly intact shoelace into the bin.. because the shoelace jar was packed full, and I thought to myself: Maybe this should last while I still roam this earth
If some portal to hell should crack open any time soon I will take responsibility, I promise
illgiveyouasthma@reddit
What is a shoelace jar?
AnrufBeworter@reddit
As it name says - it is a glass jar filled to the brim with obsolete shoelaces.
Need a strong string to tie something in place? Grab the shoelace jar!
You save both the planet and money on buying any string - the latter will not happen in the next 30 years or so.
Genny415@reddit
Back when shoes were made to last a little while, sometimes the shoe would outlive the laces (shocking, I know) and you'd need new laces for your shoes
The shoelace always seemed to snap at the most inconvenient time, so it made sense to have spare laces of appropriate weight, length, and color on hand.
Thick, long, white sneaker laces just won't work for dress shoes that need short, round, black laces. You needed a variety of spares.
Now, the lifespan of both the shoes and the laces seem to be matched, mostly by the enshittification of shoe quality to match the laces' lifespan, so there is little need for a jar full of spare laces
Maverick-Mav@reddit
It's the jar of shoelaces you end up with when you buy shoelaces, but your shoes don't need them. Look best displayed with your shoe jars.
crit_boy@reddit
I haven't had a bar of soap in the shower for over a decade.
Body wash, moisturizing body wash, etc.
DramaticAd337@reddit
Aha. Another late adopter 😄
RascalOScrimp@reddit
That is 100% the first pony preceding the four horsemen. We are doomed!
breid7718@reddit
That's when you press the sliver into your washcloth.
WeirdRip2834@reddit
When things like that happen, there is a glitch in the matrix. I know exactly what you mean. 😂
positivitittie@reddit
Little mesh bags on Amazon. Like a hemp kind of material. Throw the slivers in there and scrub away.
TrapperJon@reddit
Cut the end of a stocking off. Put the soap slivers in there until there is a good ball of soap in it. Use that.
HypergolicHyperbola@reddit
I remember doing that in the 70s. Thanks for jogging my memory
AbsolutesDealer@reddit
No soap, radio.
Agent-15@reddit
There’s the punchline! Makes me laugh every time.
Ms_ankylosaurous@reddit
Can you just melt the scraps and mold into a new bar?
ThePythiaofApollo@reddit
Tell your wife to get Differin .1% gel. It’s sold OTC for acne but it’s an effective retinoid which is great for anti-aging properties. Also, sunscreen. Sunscreen. SUNSCREEN.
Frosteecat@reddit
I’m a sliver presser too!
KarmaKitten17@reddit
😂You can buy natural fiber mesh “soap bags” to put the slivers in. Tell your wife that coconut oil is a miracle moisturizer.
LDawnBurges@reddit
I’m also 56 and I add the sliver to my new bar too. The only bar soap I use is my Neutrogena Face Soap and it’s not overly expensive, but I just can’t ‘waste’ it.
Walts_Ahole@reddit
Crazy tossing a good sliver of soap. A decade ago I wanted to learn to make my own soap and I've been using the same recipe a few times a year, wife won't use it but I like my cherry tobacco & peppermint lemon soaps with oatmeal.
I always press the sliver into the next bar.
Fantastic-Archer-864@reddit
Wait! You open a new soap before the old soap is completely gone?
worrymon@reddit
My soap looks like a dissolving breath tab when I'm done with it. If you can't see through it, there's still cleaning power in there.
justmeonlyme66@reddit
I use moisturizing soap bars and yeah, they don't stick well. But I got these little soap pouches from Amazon. You slide the soap slivers in there. Then they operate kind of like a washcloth. I put all my slivers in there and use that once I have enough to make decent lather. Once it's all gone, wash the pouch and reuse. I think my set of 4 pouches was like $8. Come in a variety of materials to suit your taste. Can purchase elsewhere if amazon isn't your vibe. My grandma had sewed up the sides of an old washcloth for this purpose and I randomly remembered it one day so I went to see if anything existed that was pre-made. I am a terrible seamstress but would have done that if I hadn't found anything. Highly recommend.
Advanced_Tax174@reddit
I’ll use a bar of soap right to extinction. But the wife will usually replace it before it’s gone to be nice, and I’m always a little disappointed that I didn’t get to ‘finish’ it.
fastcatdog@reddit
We are destroying the planet with waste and it’s some kind of crime if you point it out. I cut out all single use plastic possible. Same steel safety razor for years. I use natural bristle tooth brushes as stuffing my face with microplastics twice a day and then tossing a plastic brush seems moronic. Can’t remember the last time I used a single use plastic cup. Genx failed 😞 use it all up and leave the kids a polluted rock all while teaching them to do the same. How about a good Genx fight and we rebel against single use trash? Good job on saving soap every small thing counts if millions do it.
Maverick-Mav@reddit
The slivers stick together better than to new bars these days. Just pile them together and make a new bar. 😃
Neat-Brother-6570@reddit
You people are insane. Tossing away perfectly good garbage
Upbeat_MidwestGirl@reddit
I’ve done a couple of things with slivers of soap. I’ve melted several of them into one larger piece, I’ve also put them into fabric bags and use that to wash up. Package.
trashboatfourtwenty@reddit
Bigger sign of how shitty evwrything is getting for the common person, probably indicative of some cost-cutting filler in the soap. So yea, apocalypse basically, just a slow one
Malapple@reddit
You did WHAT?
There were at least 4-5 washes worth of soap on that thing. Next you'll be leaving lights on in rooms you aren't in, standing in front of the fridge with the door open too long, opening the door to the house without running through while the AC is on.
Madness. Madness, I tell you.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
wait what? people actually throw away the sliver of soap? That is blaspheme.
My wife don't care for it either because she don't like it when I mix the different sented soaps. She don't even use the damn bar soap.