Since almost two years I am mainly using soap bars instead of shower gel in plastic blottles. What kept bothering me all the time is: over time a soap bar gets smaller and smaller…. and at a point it falls apart into tiny pieces that feel annoying to use for showering
Now, what to do?
A friend told me that one could buy a small “soap bag” made from e.g. loofah or quickly drying tissue. The bags purpose is to contain such small soap-pieces so one can use them up properly – instead of throwing them away or using swear words while trying to use them up.
Handicraft skills to the rescue!
About 8 months ago I wrote a small piece on the beginner’s mindset and sewing. And about 10 months ago, I started my journey of reconnecting with handicrafts as a means of keeping the balance between brainwork (with people and software products) and creating really tangible things.
Solving the soap-pieces problem appeared like the perfect next sewing project for me. But, which tissue to use as a beginner? During one of my running tours I a spontaneous inspiration: why not just buying some microfibre cleaning cloths? They’re already the right size, they dry again very quickly and you can machine wash them.
First product prototype
Long story short, here’s my minimum valuable soap-bag product. And you know what? I am so proud and very much looking forward to the next shower with tiny, little soap pieces.
After using the soap bag a couple of times I noticed that it needs a small textile hanger which I’ll add once the current soap pieces are gone. So soap-bag 2.0 is released soon. 🙂
Innovative or retro?
I was so crazy about this well-working handcrafted product that I enthused about it during my next chat with my mom. I was prepared to first explain to her what a soap-bag is… because I thought it’s one of those “green hipster” products.
I was so wrong! My mom surprised me by asking: so you mean such a soap bag which your grandmother already had? Wow! That bag is nothing new, it’s a rediscovery. Now I love it even more… that tiny little handcrafted retro soap-bag. In fact I’m so in love, I already considering creating some more as Christmas presents this year.