Soap dish: Difference between revisions
In the "History" section, added information (with citation) on an 1887 operating table with a built-in soap dish. -T2. |
In the "Placement" section, added a sentence (with citation) on placement of a soap dish to avoid excess erosion. -T2. |
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===Placement=== |
===Placement=== |
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Most soap dishes are standalone accessories whose placement is at the user's discretion, though some are a built-in feature of a sink, shower, or bathtub. |
Most soap dishes are standalone accessories whose placement is at the user's discretion, though some are a built-in feature of a sink, shower, or bathtub. Standalone soap dishes may be entirely portable or may include options for semi-permanent or permanent installation on a horizontal or vertical surface. A soap dish located outside the perimeter of a faucet's or showerhead's stream will enable the soap to avoid excess erosion.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Truini|first1=Joseph|title=How to Install a Soap Dish|url=https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/how-to-install-soap-dish|website=This Old House|publisher=Old House Ventures LLC|accessdate=2 February 2018}}</ref> |
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===Aesthetics=== |
===Aesthetics=== |
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Revision as of 06:59, 3 February 2018
holds a bar of soap while it dries
A soap dish is a shallow, open container or platform where a bar of soap may be placed to dry after use. Soap dishes are usually located in or near a sink, shower, or bathtub. Most soap dishes are made from waterproof materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal, or glass, though some are made from bamboo. A china saucer[1] or sponge may serve as a soap dish. A soap dish accommodates bar soap, whereas a soap dispenser accommodates liquid soap or foam soap.
Design elements
Elements in the design of a soap dish include safety, ventilation, cleanliness, placement, aesthetics, and cost. When a soap dish is part of a bath accessories set, coordinated group design may be utilized. Notable soap dish designs include Robert A. Pitton's 1956 US patent for a reversible, hemispherical soap dish[2] and Bernard Cohen's October 2017 design for the "SoapAnchor"[3] (patent pending).
soap dish
with ventilating ridges,
self-draining contours, and
suction cup attachment
Safety
Because of their intended use in wet and slippery environments, soap dishes are usually designed with safety in mind. Such features include unbreakable materials, non-slip surfaces, rounded edges, and secure installation elements (e.g., wall mount hardware, a suction cup, or non-skid feet). Depositing or retrieving a slippery bar of soap is facilitated by an open (or semi-open) sided design or by a shallow lip.
Ventilation
Another important design element is ventilation. To speed drying time, many soap dishes feature vented surfaces or include bumps, ridges, or slats that raise the soap bar to increase air circulation around it.
Cleanliness
To aid in cleanup, some soap dishes are designed to allow soapy residue to collect in a compartment below the raised bar of soap. Other soap dishes are designed to funnel the soapy reside directly to the adjacent sink or bathtub, necessitating strategic placement of the soap dish.
soap dish,
to the right of the taps
Placement
Most soap dishes are standalone accessories whose placement is at the user's discretion, though some are a built-in feature of a sink, shower, or bathtub. Standalone soap dishes may be entirely portable or may include options for semi-permanent or permanent installation on a horizontal or vertical surface. A soap dish located outside the perimeter of a faucet's or showerhead's stream will enable the soap to avoid excess erosion.[4]
Aesthetics
Though utilitarian in purpose, soap dishes may be given aesthetic treatment. A soap dish in the form of a whale, for example, was patented in 1961 by Sonia Adelson, with "the mouth portion thereof being adapted to receive and dispense a bar of soap in an amusing, novel and useful manner".[5] Another example is the "Bodoni Soap Dish", a February 2013 design by David Strauss that was inspired by the legacy of Massimo Vignelli.[6][7]
History
A soap dish played a role in a seminal event in the 7th century when Byzantine Emperor Constans II (630-668) was assassinated with one.[8]
A June 1887 medical journal includes a picture and description of an operating table and "ward dressing-carriage" manufactured in Pennsylvania that included a built-in soap dish.[9] A book on industrial arts published in 1892 shows a soap dish attachment for a scrub bucket[10] and by the late 19th century, Sears Roebuck & Company was influencing the spread of the soap dish in American households.[11]
In March 2015, a gold-plated soap dish was one of over 60 artifacts from Saddam Hussein's private airport and palace that were returned to Iraq by the US government as part of an Iraqi national project to preserve its cultural heritage.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Mayhew, Elizabeth (12 July 2017). "How to give household clutter a new life". Home & Garden. Washington Post. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Pitton, Robert A. (4 September 1956). "US Patent #US-2867940-A: Soap Dishes". US Patent Office. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ Raskin, Randy (3 October 2017). "How My Father-in-Law Disrupted the Soap Dish: His 5 steps for designing a better version of anything". The Mission. Medium. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Truini, Joseph. "How to Install a Soap Dish". This Old House. Old House Ventures LLC. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Adelson, Sonia (16 January 1961). "US Patent #US-3063190-A: Soap Receptacle". US Patent Office. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ Strauss, David (14 February 2013). "Vignelli chair inspires typeface soap dish". University News. Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT Athenaeum. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Strauss, David (February 2013). "Bodoni Soap Dish". Activating the Vignelli Archive. Rochester Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Brownworth, Lars (24 October 2009). "A Soap Dish That Changed History: The enduring yet seldom-appreciated significance of a seventh-century emperor's bath". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Morton MD, Thomas S.K. (25 June 1887). "The Pennsylvania Hospital Operating-Table and Ward Dressing-Carriage". The Medical News. Vol. 50. Lea Brothers & Company. p. 707. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Household Mechanics". The Mechanical News: An Illustrated Journal of Manufacturing, Engineering, Milling and Mining. Vol. 21. James Leffel & Company. 1892. p. 125. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Hinckley, Michael (28 September 2017). "The History of the Soap Dish". Our Everyday Life. Leaf Group Ltd. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ Melia, Michael (16 March 2015). "Saddam Hussein's Door Knocker, Water Urn, Soap Dish Found in Connecticut". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
