Why I like Ivory Soap

Why do I like Ivory soap? Because, it floats! Ever since I was a kid and discovered that for some reason Ivory soap floated while other soaps sank, I was amazed. And I still am. Back then I believed the soap must have been made out of some super special ingredients or that somehow it was better for my skin because it floated. More recently I’ve discovered it’s actually just that way because one of the ingredients in Ivory soap is air. That’s not so magical I guess. But heck, it still floats, and I’m still using it.

Another great reason to like Ivory soap: There is a tutorial at wikihow.com for how to turn your bar of Ivory soap into a giant cream puff. Why would anyone ever want to turn a bar of soap into a humongous ball of cream? I have no idea. But it’s cool. And you can’t do that with any ordinary bar of soap either. I feel so much better about myself while bathing since I know that my soap can double (if the need ever arises) as a gigantic cream puff. I think Ivory should consider that a key feature of their soap and even list it on the side of the package.

On a slightly more serious note, another reason I like Ivory soap is the smell. I’m a guy and don’t particularly desire to walk around smelling like soap. I just aim not to smell at all if I can help it. That’s my preference at least. And Ivory fits well into that picture. It smells good but it doesn’t have a strong scent to it. But who knows, maybe you like smelling like soap. It’s your call.

What else is to like about Ivory Soap? The history to it is just neat. First of all, there’s the thing about how it floats. That was a total accident. Some guy mixed it the wrong way back in the day and that made it float because very tiny air bubble were mixed into it. People liked the floating soap. (I guess they were all goobers like me back then) And so the company Proctor & Gamble Inc. kept on doing that way. So you see, a great deal of the soaps success might be based on pure luck. Another neat thing about its history is how Ivory soap got its name. It didn’t come from a marketing panel or whatnot but from one of the founders. Harley Proctor came up with the name inspired by something he had heard read out of the bible about ivory. I can’t find it officially documented anywhere but here is the story that was passed down to me. The passage he was supposedly inspired by was Psalm 45:8 where it mentions “Ivory Palaces”.

All in all other soap just can’t measure up to Ivory soap with it’s level of uniqueness and historical lore. Plus it smells alright and costs way less than some other “fancier” soaps.