[Disclaimer: I have no affiliation to any of these sellers or products, and receive no commission from any sales of them. These are links and images I found on the Internet, and I have no connection to the shops or sites selling them.]
The other day, one of my customers asked, “Will you be selling soap dishes? I need some for this handmade soap, to take care of it.”
I hadn’t planned on selling soap dishes, because everyone has such divergent tastes in decor! However, I understood that what she really wanted was recommendations on which soap dishes would be best for her uses. I can definitely recommend my favorite soap dishes!
Soap Dishes For the Sink
Countertop soap dishes that I particularly like are waterfall dishes. The idea here is to drain off the water so that your soap can dry in between uses. I love waterfall soap dishes, and this is the kind that I have all over my house (I have a lot of sinks!):
These are also lovely examples of waterfall soap dishes I wouldn’t mind seeing next to my sink:
Again, the idea is to drain off the water so that your soap isn’t sitting in a puddle (and dissolving) between uses. An enclosed bowl soap dish has to be emptied constantly, which is why I don’t recommend them. I also don’t like grill-type soap dishes that leave marks on the counter or cause soapy water to puddle under the dish (but don’t drain into the sink).
Soap Dishes For the Shower
In the shower I’d prefer a soap dish that attached to the wall. I’m not comfortable drilling holes in the wall, and because of that, I prefer suction-cup or sticker-attached soap dishes. (If you’re the handy type, drill away!) It’s important that you have a relatively large smooth surface for the suction cup to attach to. If you don’t, you might have to use a sticky-surface soap dish instead. I’m quite partial to the wire-basket type of soap dish in the shower. Mine is attached to my shower caddy, but this is the kind of soap dish I’d look for, with emphasis on drainage holes:
If you have a tub, all the countertop soap dishes I’ve mentioned in the first section should work just fine for your tub too! However, there’s a certain luxury you can use in a tub that you can’t in a shower:
Aaaaah, reading in the tub. (Hmm. Now that I think about it, I might need to buy one of these for my tub!)
Kitchen Sink Soap Dishes
I have a waterfall soap dish next to my kitchen sink, but sometimes that’s either not possible or just not your way. Here are some hanging-basket type soap dishes that would work too! (Disclaimer: I haven’t tried using any of these hanging soap dishes, and am merely picking them out by noting their drainage features.)
Non-dish Soap Savers
There’s one kind of soap saver I’ve never tried, and that’s the magnetic “soap in the air” type. However, if this works for you, it definitely keeps your soap nice and dry between uses!
[Edit: My recommendation for soap lifts has been removed, because over time the soap lifts get saturated with mushy soap.]