It's late, the body wash ran out, and there's a bottle of hand soap sitting right there by the sink. Can you use it in the shower? Yes. You can use hand soap as body wash, and body wash as hand soap, and nothing bad will happen. They're closer cousins than the labels let on. There are a couple of small differences worth knowing, though, and one simple way to stop worrying about it altogether.
Can you use hand soap as body wash?
Yes. Hand soap and body wash do the same basic job. Both use cleansers that loosen oil and dirt so water can rinse them away. Most liquid hand soaps and most body washes are built on the same family of synthetic cleansers, with water, fragrance and a few thickeners and preservatives rounding things out.
The differences are mostly about how they feel.
- Hand soap is made for hands that get washed many times a day, so it's often a little thinner and rinses off quickly. Some are labeled antibacterial, though most aren't these days.
- Body wash usually has more added moisturizing ingredients and a thicker texture, because it's meant to go on a lot more skin, once a day, and feel nice doing it.
So hand soap in the shower may leave your skin feeling a bit more squeaky clean than you're used to. That's about it. If you're using it for a night or two until you get to the store, carry on.
Can you use body wash as hand soap?
Also yes. Pour a little into an empty pump bottle, or just use it straight. Some people even dilute body wash with a bit of water for a foaming pump, which works fine and makes the bottle last longer. Twenty seconds of scrubbing and a good rinse matter far more than which bottle you used.
What about the face?
Faces tend to be a little fussier than hands or legs. Plenty of people use the same soap everywhere, and plenty of others prefer a separate, milder face wash. If something you use leaves your face uncomfortable, switch to something gentler, and if your skin is giving you real trouble, that's a conversation for a dermatologist.
Bar soap or body wash, which is better?
Neither is cleaner. Studies on hand washing find both work when you wash properly, and bar soap is perfectly sanitary (we dug into the research on that). The real differences are practical.
- Bar soap comes with little or no packaging, usually lasts longer per dollar, travels easily, and one bar does hands, body and, for some people, even hair.
- Body wash is easy to share in a busy household, comes in endless scents, and some people simply prefer the feel of a gel on a pouf.
Which brings us to the easy answer.
The easy answer is one bar
A good bar of soap doesn't care whether it's in the shower or at the sink. Keep one by each, and the whole hand soap versus body wash question goes away. Handmade cold process bars like ours are true soap made from plant oils, they lather well on hands and body, and there's no pump bottle to throw out when it's empty.
Two tips make a bar work everywhere. Give it a dish that drains, because a bar sitting in water goes soft (more in how long a bar of soap lasts). And if you share a sink with a crowd, a bar per room keeps everyone happy.
If you'd rather skip fragrance, our Castile Soap is fragrance-free and works at the sink or in the shower. If you like a bit of personality, the rest of the soap shelf is right this way.