Stephen King Sparks Heated Debate About Soap Bars And What To Do With Them

bar of soap

iStockphoto / redstallion


Author Stephen King has one of the most creative minds of his generation.

The ‘King of Horror’ has sold over 350 million books and counting. Films based on Stephen King‘s books have earned over $2,846,000,000 at the global box office.

A recent tweet from Stephen King has gone viral. It sparked an Internet-wide debate about what to do with a bar of soap as it wears down to nothingness.

King asked if it is possible to use a bar of soap until it completely disappears. His question is interesting because on a microscopic level, it’s probably not possible. But there are practical ways to get every last nubbin out of the bar soap.

One person wrote that it’s possible to get them small enough that they never come back:

This is a common reply. In my experience there’s always some part of the bar that needs to be waffle stomped down the drain:

Some completely crazy folk in the comments pointed out ‘soap bags’. Using a mesh bag to collect the remnants of a soap bar to then meld them into a new soap bar is apparently a thing people do.

Soap bags had some people thinking about the ultimate soap conservationists and what their end game could possibly be, a bit famous from Jerry Seinfeld:

Seriously, what’s the end game here? A bar of soap is meant to last 4+ weeks on average. It’s not as if soap is expensive. Why are people going to extreme lengths to save it?

I take back what I said before. This grandma’s form of revenge is actually pretty great:

Given that Stephen King is a genius it’s safe to assume he knew this debate would ignite all-out chaos. It also sparked discussion about whether or not you should wash your feet in the shower.

I’ve said it before (in that article) and I’ll say it again. If you think that the soapy water that’s been washed down your body is filthy then I’d question just how dirty you are to begin with. And why you aren’t showering more frequently in the first place.

If you’re standing in a few inches of water because your shower doesn’t drain well then you’ve probably got some hygiene problems to begin with and aren’t cleaning your shower regularly.

Otherwise, you should be standing on a clean shower/bathtub floor and should be plenty fresh by the end of the shower whether or not you choose to scrub. I’d say I wash my feet more than 50% of the time out of habit but there’s absolutely no reason to, it’s only the force of habit that keeps me going.