Soap: everybody’s got it, everybody uses it, every single day. Right? Recently, two well-known celebrities faced the court of public opinion after revealing their very sparing soap habits. That story raised an important question—is it time to come clean about Americans’ relationship with soap? Here’s what we know:
Most folks have a pretty close relationship with their suds of choice. In fact, 76% of respondents report using soap every time they’re in the shower.
When compared with income, there’s a correlation between increased earnings and a higher frequency of soap usage.
Maintaining one’s natural oils is important to most folks who use soap with a degree of frequency.
In terms of soap type, 49% of respondents prefer bar soap compared to just 41% in favor of shower gel. It appears that younger generations are generally behind the no-soap trend.
However, respondents without kids tend to be slightly more sparing in their soap usage while showering compared to parents and grandparents.
People who have a significant fondness for multi-purpose soap tend to be more male than female.
As for brands? Turns out, name recognition is everything—70% of people reach for the companies they know when it’s time to refill. Those who aren’t into the big names tend to use soap less overall.
Here are seven major soap brands ranked from most to least favorable.
While more public figures continue to come forward about their move away from soap, it seems as though most Americans, especially those who are older, in higher income brackets, and share a preference for recognizable brands, will be keeping their commitment to cleanliness.