Knitting washcloths part deux - or shower gel verses soap

Having a sister that is currently popping over the pond on a regular basis, she was able to enlighten me on the American fascination for the washcloth. Apparently, they don't use shower gel anywhere near as much as we do, but use soap instead, using the humble washcloth to distribute the same over their bodies.

This started me thinking, why do we use shower gel as opposed to soap? There are plenty of shower gels etc on the market, but there are equally just as many soaps. Type in 'soap shops' to any search engine (don't just type in 'soap' - you get lots of links to the soaps on TV rather than the washing kind) you can see the wide variety of soaps available. These include many handmade soap sellers from large ones such as Lush, to smaller business, such as the Isle of Skye Soap Company. I came across the latter whilst in Scotland last May and I bought bath bombs (I chose the beautifully scented geranium rose, that smell just like the scented geranium we have in our garden and the lavender varieties). But I didn't buy any soap. And why not? Well, there's shower gel in the shower and liquid soap by all of the sinks, when would I use it?

Since I've started knitting wash cloths and trying one out myself, I'm becoming converted to using them and soap. This means the next time I come across some handmade soap, I'll be buying! 

A couple of years ago, whilst on holiday in Scotland, I'd bought a bar of soap
Since