The surprising afterlife of used hotel soap

[Pluvious]

And now, home kits available for collecting and donating your own unwanted tailings !

But these tiny bars come with a big problem.

While some of us smuggle home every bar we can get our hands on (a totally acceptable move, according to hoteliers), most guests leave behind sizable, half-used hunks of soap.

At scale, this is a big deal:

Every year, it has been estimated that the hospitality industry ~440B pounds of solid waste — much of it soap and bottled amenities. That’s the equivalent weight of 2m blue whales.

What happens to all that leftover soap?

Fourteen years ago, one man asked that very question. And the answer led him down a path that has since saved tens of thousands of lives all over the world.

https://thehustle.co/the-surprising-afterlife-of-used-hotel-soap/

[dchill]

1. Fascinating! And a happy ending!

[LeftInTX]

2. Awe! I'm glad I clicked the link.

Great story.

[Talitha]

3. Brilliant!!!! Thanks for posting this.

[txwhitedove]

4. A happy news story, thanks.

[MagickMuffin]

5. I always take mine with me including shampoo. Great for camping

Or traveling on the road

[central scrutinizer]

6. My mother grew up during the Depression

She saved every leftover sliver of soap and when there was enough she chopped them up and did a load of laundry. No soap ever went in the garbage.

[KPN]

13. Great idea -- "Great Depression" or not!

[frazzled]

18. I don't think you can put soap in most modern washing machines

Most require HE detergents.

My mother-in-law used to keep all the scraps of saran wrap, wash them, and use them for rewrapping, as well as the plastic bags (which are thankfully banned in my city, though I do use the thin produce bags for other purposes rather than throwing them out right away, and take reusable vegetable bags to the farmer's market.) I used to think she was kind of crazy.

But she, like my own mother, was a product of the depression. My mother's thing was enforcing turning out a light as soon as a room was left, and allowing only an inch or two of water in the tub, to conserve. Brrrr!

Our parents (or grandparents, depending on your age) were, perhaps unwittingly, or just because they were cheap, much better stewards of the environment than we are.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. It's Not Just That

Most bar soaps are synthetic detergent or a mix of soap & detergent. (There's a chemical difference between soap & detergent.)
But, the predominant surfactant in bar soap are isethionates. These are not heavy duty surfactants, so using them in a washing machine is inherently less effective.
Those are also higher foam surfactants & the lower water usage of HE machines could lead to less thorough rinsing.
The first reason makes it a poor plan in any kind of machine. The second makes it an even worse idea for HE machines.
One more consumer fact: the heavier duty surfactants in laundry formulas have never been high foaming, so there's almost no difference HE detergents & those not marked HE. The only difference between premium & discount brands is water. A product like Tide has 20% more active ingredients than something like Surf. And the real discount brands are probably around 60% of Surf.
Laundry detergents are an actual example of "you get what you pay for".

[central scrutinizer]

42. She made her own soap with her mother

It was an awful smelling process. I don’t know what was in it but I couldn’t stay in the house when their cauldron was bubbling in the basement. We had a wringer washer, no dryer. Clotheslines in the basement in the winter, outside whenever possible.

[ProfessorGAC]

61. That Had To Be Natural Soap

Beef tallow or lard, reacted with lye or caustic soda.
If it's made from coconut oil, it doesn't smell that bad. That's what the legendary Ivory soap was made from.
The sterols & protein in animal fat denature & they stink plenty.
It's not a hard process, and not terribly unsafe. Just makes a substantially less effective surfactant.

[central scrutinizer]

62. All the aunts and uncles were farmers

So beef tallow and lard were readily available. I just remember this overpowering miasma that drove me from the house.

[panader0]

49. Every other time I read one of your posts I have to look up a word (or two).

There are a lot of very smart people, such as yourself, on DU.
"isethionates" Who'da thunk it?

[calimary]

60. I swear, learn something new on DU, every day!

I LOVED this story!

Just sent it to a friend who’s going through a health challenge for her husband right now. Might perk her up! She’s a problem-solver by nature.

[Susan Calvin]

32. When the old soap gets thin enough

I plaster it on top of the new bar and mash. They stick together just fine. Works for bar shampoo and bar conditioner as well.

[ChazII]

38. That is what I do, too. n/t

[radical noodle]

57. Same here although my mother

would stick the leftover sliver of soap onto the new bar each time. I do that too, although I don't use bar soap a lot anymore.

[Hotler]

7. That's cool.

[CrispyQ]

8. Wow!

Its biggest partner, Hilton, which signed on all of its worldwide locations in 2019, has contributed 14.5m bars of soap in less than 3 years.

[mrsadm]

23. I just stayed at a Hilton and was thinking about the soap!

I was hoping it went somewhere, got melted down and remade into new soap.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Marvelous story. One very good-hearted man.

[iluvtennis]

20. +++ agree. n/t

[LudwigPastorius]

10. "What happens to all that leftover soap?"

Hmm..

I was expecting an Arby's or Jack In The Box tie-in.

[KPN]

11. Neat!

I've often thought about the slivers or soap our household throws away each year and if there wasn't a way to make use of them like this. Of course, they bare just slivers at that point so using a potato peeler to remove dirt and hair from them might not work so well.

[Deep State Witch]

27. I usually just add them onto the next bar

When I take a new bar, I try to meld the old bar with the new one. Yeah, it can be lumpy and difficult, especially if the composition of the two soaps don't mix well. But, this way, I reduce a bit of waste.

[KPN]

28. Haha. Actually, me too. It works to an extent, but not always.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. I remember when they first started doing this

and since then, you actually have many hotels (including some of the chains but more specifically, the "boutique" hotels) that have stopped providing "bars" and use dispensers, both for the sink and for the tub/shower in hotel rooms, and this includes dispensers for shampoo as well. They have also offered patrons the option to not have the bed sheets or towels replaced every day, saving on commercial washing.

Good to see an "update" article on this effort!

[packman]

14. My wife and I used to travel a great deal and accumulated

A lot of those bags of toiletry. We had quite a collection of them along with those "gift" bags dentists give you, which you throw into the bathroom drawers and forget about them.
Came a day when we just piled them all into a box and drove them to a local shelter. The woman behind the desk thanked us saying how much they needed those individual bags of shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and personnel care items.

[catchnrelease]

30. I do the same

With the dentist bags. I go 4 times a year, so the bags accumulate pretty quick. I stash them and every once in awhile I'll hear about a local toiletry drive for either shelters or--my favorite--for homeless teens. I'm happy that they will go to people that really need them. (I also like to go to places like 99cent store or Big Lots and get more personal hygiene items to add to the dental supplies, when I hear about a big drive for the homeless high schoolers.)

[Ilsa]

35. Nursing homes. as well. nt

[tblue37]

33. I also donate those things to women's and homeless shelters.

[Sogo]

15. WOW!!

Good on him!

[SunSeeker]

16. K & R

[3catwoman3]

17. How inspiring.

We have dozens and dozens of little bars of soap. My husband flew for United for 15 years after retiring from the Air Force, so stayed in lots of hotels. I have a net drawstring bag in my shower, and that's where the little bars of soap go. Nothing wasted.

According to the linked article, 86% of hotel guests report using the bars of soap.

What I want to know is, why isn't it 100%. Are those in the 14% not washing there hands or showering at all during their stay? Or maybe I don't want to know.

[skamaria]

22. Possibly the fourteen percent are folks who prefer their own toiletry's!🤔

N/T

[Lars39]

24. Chemical allergies

I can’t use a lot of products because of 2 ingredients that are in a lot of products.

[catchnrelease]

31. Yes, this!

One of my best friends has allergies to every scented thing on the planet! She would never be able to use the products in hotels.

[Skittles]

40. I know a pilot, and I sent tons of those little soaps to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan

yes indeed

[FoxNewsSucks]

46. I rarely use hotel soap

Only if I'm on vacation and staying long enough to use it up. Most of my trips are one to two days, so it would go to waste. I have a small bottle of liquid soap that I refill at home and use that. So I just leave the hotel soap there, unopened. Some are pretty big bars to use once and be wasted.

[StarryNite]

19. This is great!

[ancianita]

21. Happy news. We need more of it. Thank you for it, Pluvious.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Surprisingly cool article!

[Deep State Witch]

26. Fascinating!

I always wondered that myself. Good for him!

[Joinfortmill]

29. Wow. Have a drink at a bar, save a million lives.

[BWdem4life]

34. No thanks to the Gates Foundation.

[Quakerfriend]

36. Great read! Thanks for posting.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. Cool Idea!

Glad this guy is successful with it.

[Warpy]

41. It wasn't that big a problem in years gone by

My grandmother made her ow soaps, mild white bathroom soaps and brown laundry soap that would take the hide off you. When the bathroom soap got down to a sliver, she'd shave what was left into a dishpan and wash dishes with it. The brown soap got the same treatment when she did the laundry. The only extra step was adding an aquamarine tablet with the second rinse because washing in soap alone tended to turn white things yellowish.

When people ask me about the 2 things I'd want to take into the future after the apocalypse, I say anesthesia and detergent.

Tgere are workarounds for toilet paper and the like, but anesthesia makes medical care easier on the person getting it, and detergents make everything easier for women who are stuck with the job of keeping things clean.

[malaise]

43. Great thread

Rec

[Wounded Bear]

44. Cool story! nt

[mcar]

45. What a great story!

Thanks for sharing.

[FoxNewsSucks]

47. That was a really good story,

and something I'd wondered about also. All those used soaps and mostly-full little bottles of shampoo, conditioner & lotion going to waste.

I don't travel as much as some mentioned in the article, but long ago I started taking the remaining little bottles home with me. I haven't bought shampoo or conditioner for 30 years. Most of those little bottles have enough for at least four uses, so I make sure to use it all. It's a shame, and so wasteful, that so many people who only stay 1-2 nights leave so much to waste.

I have a small bottle of liquid soap that I refill at home and use that instead of opening and wasting the little bars of soap just for one or two showers.

[oasis]

48. Nice! Very nice.

[FakeNoose]

50. Cool story

[denbot]

51. K&R. n/t

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

52. K&R!

Interesting good news.

[pansypoo53219]

53. i use up everything + i take all schnibbles + make soft soap w/ water. reuse shampoo bottles for

travel.

[NNadir]

54. Having been a road warrior, without ever thinking where the soap went, this warms my heart. n/t.

[Oppaloopa]

55. Just stayed at marriott courtyard . Had large bottles of soap shampoo etc glues to the wall

They had pumps at the top I really didnt like putting my hands on the pump bottles.

[marmar]

56. Fascinating. I always feel bad about leaving all the partially used soap in hotels.

[nolabear]

59. That was a really great story.