Which is Better: Bar Soap or Body Wash for Men?

Tue, Jul 1, 2025•00:55•Natural Living & Health,Ultimate Guides

Which is Better: Bar Soap or Body Wash for Men?

If you’re on the fence about switching up your shower routine or just want to learn more about what you should look for in a soap, we’re here to help. Keep reading to learn about common shower misconceptions and some of the glaring differences between traditional body washes, commercial bar soaps, and natural bar soaps. We’ll debunk some common soap and body wash myths and explain what’s really happening to your skin when you scrub down.

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So You Think You’re a Body Wash Guy? Think Again.

Based on a survey of over 1,000 of our current customers, about 70% of Squatch Nation used body wash prior to making the switch to our manly scented, natural bar soap.

Body Wash VS Bar Soap

Commercial Bar Soap

People generally like body wash because it feels like it’s more hydrating and moisturizing than traditional bar soap. Commercial bar soap gets a bad rap because of all the sterilization and drying agents that it typically contains, like these chemicals below:

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: compound found in nail-polish remover
Triclosan: antibacterial agent used in detergent
Parabens: Common preservative found in cosmetics that mimics the hormone estrogen in the body and can contribute to a hormonal imbalance if used in large quantities.

These ingredients are used to keep the skin sterile and dry, but can have some nasty side effects and irritate the skin.

Commercial Body Wash

Traditional body wash may feel more gentle because it leaves out the common drying agents found in commercial bar soap. But in reality, body wash can actually do more damage to your skin because of the emollients that it uses to clean your skin in place of the drying agents used in traditional bar soap.

Now, most soaps have some degree of emollients (just a fancy word for anything that softens the skin). The issue with emollients in commercial body washes is that most of them contain powerful chemicals, like these:

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate – also an antibacterial agent used in detergent
Petroleum – chemical found in plastic, asphalt, and obviously fuel
PEGS (Petroleum-Based Compounds): Widely used in cosmetics as thickeners, solvents, softeners, and moisture-carriers. Long-term use can cause damage to your tissues and veins – especially if it gets into any open wounds.

Most body wash solutions are made up primarily of water and surfactants, which tighten and strip your skin of natural oils. The chemical lubricant added in body wash is what makes it feel like it’s moisturizing the skin, but it actually works by re-moisturizing the skin – which means pulling moisture out from beneath the epidermis. So while this may feel moisturizing in the short term, it ultimately dries and damages your skin in the long-term.

Basically, it exposes your under-layer of skin to all the chemicals it contains, and scrubs the dirt that’s on the surface of your skin deeper into your bloodstream – instead of down the drain.

Natural Bar Soap

Most traditional body washes and commercial bar soaps are actually classified as synthetic dish detergents. Read more here about the differences between detergent and true soap and why it matters. You’re not a dish, you’re a man. So shower like one.

Dr. Squatch bar soap actually provides the benefits that body wash is perceived to have – without any of the drawbacks from the harsh detergent ingredients in body washes churned out by America’s corporate suds machine.

Dr. Squatch Soap

Most Body Washes

Our natural, cold processed soap hydrates and cleanses the skin without use of harsh chemicals or synthetic skin softeners. It removes dirt but cleans gently, so that the natural layer of moisture produced by your skin stays in-tact. The ingredients that we use are the least drying of any on the market – we use natural, fully biodegradable exfoliants like oatmeal, sand and sea salt that scrub deep enough to remove any bacteria (instead of pushing it deeper into your skin), but gentle enough to not strip your skin dry.

At the same time, our soap gives your skin the same smooth feeling that people only think they get from body wash – we use natural emollients (skin softeners) like Kaolin Clay, goat’s milk and shea butter, that hydrate your skin and maintain moisture from natural body oil instead of “re-moisturizing” and stripping your skin, like body wash does.

Debunking Shower Myths: The Truth About Soap

Raise The Bar For Your Shower

Maybe you enjoy your generic, brand name bar soap or like to rub down with liquid detergent every day. But the truth is, you’re not a dish – you’re a man. As a man you have some skin in the game, and that skin craves natural, nourishing ingredients. Get back to the basics with Dr. Squatch and let nature do the work!

Thu, Jul 16, 2026

Which is Better: Bar Soap or Body Wash for Men?

So You Think You’re a Body Wash Guy? Think Again.