Bar soap needs no instructions. Still, a few small habits make the difference between a bar that works well every day and one that ends up soft in a puddle.
Here is the whole routine.
1. Wet your hands and the bar
Run water over your hands and the bar for a moment. Soap needs water to lather.
2. Build the lather
Turn the bar between your wet hands a few times. That's usually enough. For your body, you can rub the bar straight on, or lather a washcloth by rubbing the bar across it.
Build enough lather to wash. The amount of visible foam can vary with use and water conditions.
3. Wash
Spread the lather where you're washing. For hands, scrub all surfaces for at least 20 seconds, including the backs, between fingers and under nails.
4. Rinse
Rinse with clean water until the lather is gone. If you have hard water, you may notice the bar lathers less and leaves more residue on the dish or shower. Issue 27 explains why.
5. Dry your hands and rinse the bar
After washing your hands, dry them with a clean towel or air dryer. Give the bar a quick rinse before returning it to the dish.
6. Let it dry
Bar care affects how the bar holds up between washes. Put it on a draining dish, out of the shower spray, where water runs off and air reaches the underside. A bar that dries between uses stays firm. A bar left sitting in water goes soft.
Issue 10 covers bar care in full.
Hands at the sink
Wet your hands and the bar. Lather, scrub all surfaces of your hands for at least 20 seconds, rinse and dry your hands. Return the bar to a draining dish. This follows CDC’s handwashing guidance.
When the bar gets small
Don't throw out the last piece. Issue 28 covers simple ways to use the end of a bar.
The short version
Wet. Lather. Wash. Rinse. For hands, scrub for at least 20 seconds and dry your hands after rinsing. Put the bar where it can drain.