We’ve always got our feelers out for new and unique Wake Forest news to report. This latest information comes from a press release sent out by a company called InventHelp.
InventHelp says their Raleigh office, which is in Durham, is assisting an unidentified Wake Forest inventor with an idea to help rescue lost soap nubbins. The product will be called the Soap Rejuvenator.
The press release says:
“Every household winds up with a bunch of soap chips that are too small to use. About all you can do with the chips at this point is throw them out, which, of course, wastes money,” said an inventor from Wake Forest, N.C. “I came up with this idea so that you can reuse soap chips.”
He developed the SOAP REJUVENATOR to allow small soap chips to be reused. The unit eliminates the need to throw out soap chips. The invention saves money by reducing the need to purchase soap as often, as it prevents soap from being wasted. Additionally, the device is designed to be more environmentally friendly. The device also allows for crafts and decor for arts and crafts enthusiasts.”
If you read that last line closely, yea, we don’t get it at all either. What kind of crafty thing are you going to do with a used soap tool?
For any that either grew up in the depression or are the kids of depression era parents the Soap Rejuvenator is not a new concept at all. Hell, grandmothers around the world have been smashing together orphaned bits of soap for decades to make little soap mutants that live again in the shower.
Of course these were the same people who used to say “You never need to use more than four squares of toilet paper.” I’m splurging there.
While we certainly wish our local Wake Forest inventor well and hope for much success from the invention, hopefully the implementation of the soap discards is done in a new and crafty way. If you could give it an IP address and monitor it remotely, it might be interesting.
Until then we still have the age-old Grandma instructions to follow:
- Get soap dish that will drain and not leave soap sitting in puddle.
- Wet loose last bits of soap bars until soft. Press them together with all your might until they meld together.
- Apply for Boy Scout soap frugal badge.
Which Picture?
So the toughest part of writing this story was the twenty minutes we spent looking for the right picture to go along with it. As hot as the used soap bit market might be, good images are hard to come by.
That left us looking for alternatives. And the winners are below.
It came down to a picture of a pile of old tea bags to frugally reuse and a very odd picture of a woman in a swimsuit holding a piggy bank. Why is a woman in a swimsuit even holding a piggy bank and besides this story, what kind of stories can you use it for? “I never go to the beach without my piggy bank.”
Hoping to get something out of all the work we put into wasted with this piece and judging by the fact the tea bags look like a pile of dear scat (change ca to hi), our vote is to go with the picture of the boobs. You can’t go wrong with a boob picture. Think we are wrong?
BONUS – Oatmeal Raisin Soap
Then there are more modern alternatives to the soap recycling craze. (If saving soap chips ever becomes a massive craze in Wake Forest, we are moving.)
Try making the oatmeal soap bar below if you have nothing to do and have folded all the shopping bags in the house.
Oatmeal Soap from Used Soap Chips
1/2 cup oatmeal,
1/2 cup small soap pieces,
1 and 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil,
1 tablespoon water
- Slice or chop the soap slivers into small chunks.
- Put chunks in a blender, add the oatmeal and pulse until grainy.
- Pour into a bowl and add the oil and water.
- Mix with your hands, removing any remaining bigger chunks of soap.
- Shape the mixture into a ball or soap mold and let sit until hard, about two hours.
- Be sure to wash the blender thoroughly to remove the soap residue. – Orig
It sounds like a great recipe if you anticipate getting your mouth washed out with soap. Optional, add raisins as well.