In my long ago submarine days we were generally viewed by the skimmers (surface navy) as a bunch of soap dodgers. Not unreasonable in diesel boats but in boats with a nuclear kettle the distillers could generally provide enough water for a modest amount of personal cleanliness, including some short showers. Patrols were often several months so it was generally wise to stock up before sailing with loads of stuff, including soap (preferably not powerfully scented). As the patrol progressed and people's stocks ran low, any last slivers abandoned by the 'wise virgins' with some left would be eagerly gleaned by the 'foolish virgins' and stuck together using a bit of water and a good squeeze into a usable bar of soap. Given that the slivers could be of any colour the resulting commodity was generally referred to as 'rainbow soap'.
Soap-related rambling.
Now years afterwards as each bar of Wrights Coal Tar soap reaches sliver point, I squeeze it into the new bar. I like the Wrights stuff even though it stopped having anything to do with actual coal tar decades ago. However the latest new bar was not the same rectangular block onto which sliver-squeezing was easy. No! Although the length and breadth are the same as they were, one face of the block is now a deeply concave bowl. A quick check reveals that the former 250gm bar is now in the same sized wrapper but weight 20% less at 200 gm. Well, at least the beggars only increased the price per bar slightly. (To reduce the risk of being noticed, the shelves were bare for a month or two so all the 250gm bars were gone before the first 200gm ones showed up). Shrinkflation in action - it aint just food!
