Two of the biggest names in men's bar soap, and two very different bars. Dr. Squatch is the scent-forward one that made bar soap cool again. Duke Cannon is the giant brick with a sense of humor. We make soap too, so neither of these is our horse in the race, which makes this a fun one to write.
Duke Cannon vs. Dr. Squatch at a glance
| Duke Cannon Big Ass Brick | Dr. Squatch | |
|---|---|---|
| Bar size | 10 oz | 5 oz |
| Price | $9 on Duke Cannon's site, $7.99 at Target | $7 on Dr. Squatch's site, $6.99 at Target |
| Price per ounce | About 80 to 90 cents | About $1.40 |
| How it's made | Triple milled | Cold process |
| Main oils | Tallow and/or palm, plus coconut or palm kernel | Plant oils such as olive, palm and coconut |
| Scrub | None | Rated heavy, medium or zero grit, depending on the bar |
| Made in | USA, with domestic and globally sourced materials | USA, with globally sourced ingredients |
| Owner | Founded 2011, with a growth investment from Main Post Partners in 2020 | Founded 2013, acquired by Unilever (deal announced 2025) |
Prices and labels are from each brand's site and Target as of November 2026. They change, so check before you buy.
Is Duke Cannon soap good?
Yes, especially if you hate buying soap. The Big Ass Brick is a 10 ounce bar, about twice a Squatch bar and roughly three ordinary drugstore bars, and it's triple milled. That means the soap is ground and pressed until it's very dense, so it wears down slowly. It lathers well, the scents are bold without being perfume-counter loud, and there's no grit in it.
The thing to know is the first ingredient. Duke Cannon's label lists sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate, so a given bar may be made with beef tallow. That's perfectly good soap (it's how most soap was made for a very long time), but if you avoid animal ingredients, it isn't your bar.
Is Duke Cannon soap natural?
Duke Cannon doesn't make a big "natural" claim on its own product page, though Target's listing describes it as made with natural oils. The base is a classic tallow-and-coconut style soap. If "natural" matters to you, read the ingredient list rather than either brand's marketing.
Who owns Duke Cannon, and where is it made?
Duke Cannon was founded in 2011 by Anthony Albanese and Sam Swartz. In 2020 the private equity firm Main Post Partners made a growth investment in the company. The soap is labeled made in the USA with domestic and globally sourced materials, and the company says a portion of proceeds goes to support U.S. veterans through partners like the Gary Sinise Foundation and Honor Flight Network.
Where to buy Duke Cannon
Their own site, Target, Ulta, H-E-B, and Costco, which sells it in four-packs. You'll also find it at plenty of outdoor and hardware stores, which tells you something about the audience.
And Dr. Squatch?
Squatch is cold process soap made from plant oils, sold in 5 ounce bars. It's all about scent, with big woodsy and cologne-like bars and lots of options, and many bars carry grit like sand or pumice. Dr. Squatch labels each bar heavy, medium or zero grit so you know what you're getting. It was founded in 2013, and Unilever announced a deal to buy it in 2025. We wrote more in our favorite Dr. Squatch bars and Dr. Squatch alternatives.
So which should you buy?
Get Duke Cannon if you want value and a bar that lasts forever, and you don't mind tallow. Get Dr. Squatch if scent is the point, you want a plant-based bar, or you like a bit of scrub. Either way, keep it on a dish that drains. A big bar sitting in a puddle is just a big puddle.
And if you're open to a third option, we compared six bars side by side, ours included, in the best bar soap for men. Our men's bars are small-batch cold process soap with organic oils, made in Massachusetts.