Travel Soap Tips

Uses for Liquid Cleanser when on the Road and in Hotels

Jun 12, 2006

How to use liquid hand soap for practically everything when traveling.

Here are some real good uses for a single liquid soap product (in this case, Lush Happy Hippy Shower Gel), to make your body care kit concise for traveling:

Washing hands. Yeah, that one is a given. But you can also use the cleanser for a body wash, as well as for...
...Shampoo (make sure you have conditioner if you need that - this stuff is drying)...
...and also for shaving. It lathers just fine and is creamy enough for my face, or a woman's legs...
...and for hand washing clothes (in your hotel's bathroom sink. Just swish around in water and soap, rinse, wring dry and hang. Clean clothes should be ready by morning, especially if you lay them over the air vent).
Aromatherapy. If you have a strongly scented cleanser (ie - grapefruit, or anything citrus) then the scent alone will help get you going in the wee AM after a long, jet lagged night.
Liquid gel also works for washing "dishes". You know, those mugs and cups and plastic utensils you get in your room and from fast food pit stops. I actually have my own travel mug, plate and Lexan utensils for all business trips.
A very small amount works as an emergency hair gel and pomade.
Clean hotel bathroom counter tops, your hotel desk area - even spot cleaning wine off the carpet (oops).
I've used this to wash my dog in the hotel sink when we travel together.
If your spouse or children are with you, you can use it as an easy bubble bath maker. For the spouse it's romantic; for the rugrats it's fun.
Don't try soap products to brush your teeth. Gross; really, it's nasty.
Softsoap-type pump bottles sometimes pump themselves inside your luggage, so double-bag them in a sturdy freezer Ziplock and seal well. Or decant soap into a leak-proof container from REI or The Container Store.

A Note on Antibacterials

It's not so good to use an antibacterial soap (ie - one with the active ingredient of trichlosan), since studies are showing it 1. doesn't help prevent colds from viruses in any case, and 2. it only helps bacterial germs get stronger and more medically-resistant. If you must use a hand sanitizer, the gel by Method is gentle and alcohol-based, contains ingredients like eucalyptus and green tea, and comes in a recyclable pump bottle.

The copyright of the article Travel Soap Tips in Business Travel is owned by Dan Florio. Permission to republish Travel Soap Tips must be granted by the author in writing.

Comments

Jun 14, 2006 9:16 PM

Jill Florio :

I LOVE talking about multiple uses for things! I have a ton of toiletries that I use for all kinds of things.

Lush is especially fun because their products are so unsual, but I even have multiple uses for the simplest drugstore products (like using lip balm as a cuticle cream and emergency flyaway hair tamer) and even for things that normally get tossed, like cardboard toilet paper tubes (ie: use them to store and organize those grocery store baggies, or give them to pet rodents as toys).

I even have a peppermint/arnica foot lotion that helps me get rid of back and neck aches.

And many people know that flat beer is excellent mixed in with your shampoo.

Jun 15, 2006 6:03 PM

Jennifer W. Miner :

I thought that was a myth, about beer! Anyway, Dan, I'm glad you mentoned the relative ineffectivenes, and potential for future problems, with the overuse of antibacterial ingredients in soaps. It really is a looming crisis; those nasty little staph bacteria are good at adaptation. Jen

Jun 16, 2006 1:42 PM

Jill Florio :

Yeah. All we are doing is speeding along the growth of highly resistant staph, strep, E. coli and other nice wriggly creatures.

And yes Jill puts beer in her hair.

Dan
(logged in as Jill on her computer, oops)

Jun 18, 2006 1:57 AM

Joy Butler :

I like articles like this. I'm one who likes to travel as light as possible and this is a great tip.

Also, I agree that antibiotics are way overused. And I'm a lab tech.

Jun 19, 2006 6:07 PM

Kelby Carr :

First of all, beer is FAB for your hair!!! Must be the barley and malt.

Second, I agree we are messing with the delicate balance with so many anti-bacterial soaps (and taking so many antibiotics and flu shots). I so keep some anti-bacterial hand gel on my purse, just if I have an emergency need to clean something nasty off and then touch kids or food.

But I have a great recommendation for the one-for-all soap. Baby shampoo, and not just the standard type. Now, you can get great scents like lavender, berry, etc. What's great about it is it serves as pretty good shampoo, soap, hotel-sink clothes washing soap, but since it is for babies, it is gentle enough to even wash dishes. And it smells great! It's a discovery I happened to make while traveling with my daughter.

Jun 21, 2006 1:15 PM

Jill Florio :

Jen, you are the queen of all things Lush, so surely you know they have Stout beer in several of their hair products. Beer works great to add weight to floofy hair like mine. Maybe your hair isn't floofy. :)

Jun 21, 2006 1:57 PM

Ginger Groves :

I don't have floofy hair but I do have goofy hair. Do you think beer will help? And even if putting it on my hair doesn't help, maybe I can just drink it, then I won't care that I have goofy hair:)

Jun 25, 2006 12:24 PM

Jill Florio :

Heehee! Beer for the hair! Beer for the belly! And, as Ben Frankliln used to say, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Jul 1, 2006 4:51 PM

Kelby Carr :

You should totally try it! You can even just get in the shower, pour beer on your hair, let it sit a few minutes (while you take a couple sips of what's left), then wash and condition. You won't believe how great your hair looks!

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