When I was a kid it was pretty standard to give my dad a bar of Old Spice "Soap on a Rope" for Father's day each year. This was a big fat oval bar of soap with a big fat twisted rope coming out of it to hang in the shower. I assume it lasted until the following year when Father's Day would roll around again and I would get him a new one. As far as I knew soap on a rope was the prerogative of men because Old Spice was a men's cologne. I do remember how much I wanted my own though.

This instructabe will show you how you can make your own soap on a rope using Sugru and the soap of your choice. It's great because even though I did not invent "soap on a rope" it is a wonderful invention as the soap never gets yucky, and it also makes the soap last a long time. Best of all when the soap is all gone you are left with your Sugru rope which you can use again and again on future bars of soap.

If you don't yet know about Sugru I will give you a little information here, otherwise move right along to the steps. So, Sugru is a really great new product made in London. It acts like sticky clay for a few minutes, then acts like clay for half hour or so, then it hardens and acts like rubber. In fact it is silicone rubber. The hardest thing about using it it to open the package and think what to do with it - once you do that though the ideas just keep coming. But don't open the package until you know what you want to do.

It bonds to itself, aluminium, steel, ceramics, glass, wood, leather and some plastics. Go to their website to find out how to buy it and for lots of great ideas on what to do with it at Sugru.

This is my entry into the Sugru contest so be sure to vote for me if you like this idea, staring on Sunday when the voting starts.

Step 1: Supplies

A big knife
1 to 2 packets of Sugru ( you may have a bit left over so have another idea handy or make a bigger hook than I made)
One bar of the soap of your choice - this should be a glycerin type soap or one that is fairly easy to cut - you can find lots of wonderful handmade soaps on Etsy
A pencil or tooth pick for tracing the outline
A gouging tool of your choice

Step 2: Prepare Soap and Sugru

Firstly make a long snake of your Sugru with loop on the end as shown. Use your bar of soap to measure how long to make it. I added some cross pieces to help the "rope" stay inside of the soap.

Next cut your soap in half. While I was taking photos I changed the bar around and that is why you see a line in the soap in the fist photo as that was my original cut, mistakes disappear within a few days though.

Step 3: Trace Your Rope Onto the Soap

There is really no reason to do this while the Sugru is still in it's uncured state because in this project you are not relying on the adhesive quality of Sugru. This is one of the reasons you will be able to use this "rope" for all of your future soaps.

Step 4: Scoop Out Your Design

I used a gouge tool to scoop out inside of the traced design so that the Sugru would not squish when I add the soap halves together again. If you don't have a tool like that you could use your finger nail or a tiny spoon edge, really anything such as a Bic pen top would work.

Step 5: Squish

Place your Sugru rope into the area you gouged out. If this is your fist time then you will want to balance the end with the loop on it onto something that will let it cure at the same height level as the soap. If you are using a Sugru rope from past soaps of course you won't need to do this.

Wet one half of your soap and squish the two halves back together.

Step 6: Let Cure

I used a something the same height as half the soap to let the rope balance on as it was curing.

Step 7: Make a Hook

My shower walls are made of tumbled marble and nothing I have ever tried has stuck to them - until Sugru! I am very happy to have a cute hook that matches my Sugru rope. Let is cure right on the wall and it will stick and stay stuck. Just don't try to hang your soap on it for 24 hours.

Step 8: Done!

I have been using my soap now for 6 weeks and it is holding up just fine - I find it amazing at how long the soap is lasting now that it doesn't sit around when it's wet. Yes, it looks a little crooked but that was my fault as I didn't set it up perfectly straight as I was making it - I am sure now that you have seen a cooked one that you will make sure yours is nice and straight.

Enjoy your showers, rate my Instructable, subscribe to me for more Instructables coming soon and if you like this one vote for it in the contest. While I am making all these suggestions be sure to sign up to get a pro-membership as it is just better to view Instructables when you are "pro", and it supports this great site!