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What is 'Ivory Soap'

I have seen Ivory Soap mentioned often on this board (usually in comparrisson with ARko Sticks or shaving about 30-40yrs ago). I was just wondering, what is Ivory Soap exactly?
 
Ivory is a "household name" bath soap bar that has been around for a long time. Not something that most would want to shave with, but it's possible that it was an option to those finding themselves in tough financial times.
 
Does this stuff have a bad smell at all, because I have seen the Arko Shave Stick compared to Ivory soap in terms of its rather...unique...scent.
 
Classic ivory is a great soap. I would not want to use it as a shaving soap but for body application it gets you clean and in an ideal world that is all I want out of my soap.
 
Ivory soap is mostly whipped air in a soap base. That is why it floats. So, bottom line: air for sale in a soap base.
Ivory floats because it is full of fat, not just because it is full of air. There is an issue with Ivory, which is that it has too much water in it. Back when Ivory was new, in the late 19th century, what P&G recommended was that you should buy 6 bars and put them, unwrapped, on the rafters in your bathroom. As each bar was used up, you should replace it with a new one. This wasn't a marketing ploy to get you to buy bars at once -- exactly the opposite: by letting the bars dry out, they lasted practically forever, which is why P&G stopped recommending it.

That said, I'd never use Ivory for shaving. It has, by the way, no scent other than soap.
 
Probably the reason it gets mentioned so much is not because of its quality (which is fine), but its ubiquity. Growing up, our family and everyone I knew used Ivory soap exclusively because it was cheap, wasn't heavily perfumed, and it worked. You mention Ivory soap to any American over 30, and there's a 95% chance he or she will know exactly what it smells like. That's why it's used as a basis for comparison as often as it is.
 
I think that P&G sold the product but going into downtown Cincinnati on the west side of I-75 stands the plant. It has an interesting facade that is classical and I believe that the area was once, or possibly still is known as Ivorydale
 
Probably the reason it gets mentioned so much is not because of its quality (which is fine), but its ubiquity. Growing up, our family and everyone I knew used Ivory soap exclusively because it was cheap, wasn't heavily perfumed, and it worked. You mention Ivory soap to any American over 30, and there's a 95% chance he or she will know exactly what it smells like. That's why it's used as a basis for comparison as often as it is.

There are lots of people under 30 who remember it clearly too. I used it exclusively until I moved to a colder climate that called for a moisturizing soap.
 
I don't know what it is, but the smell of plain ordinary Ivory bar soap really offends me to the point where it makes me cringe when I smell it.
 
It is one of the cheaper bath soaps available. My wife and her father have horrible allergies to just about everything, and Ivory soap is the only soap they can use that does not cause them to break out. So if you have issues with sensitivity, this would be a good soap to go with.
 
years ago when i was a "grunt" we all packed ivory to take to the field. we used it for hore baths, (face, armpits and crotch) and shaving. heck, i even used the stuff for shampoo...the price was right and a bar of it would last a long time...
 
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