Does anyone else take home the little soaps they don't use?
 

I just can't leave behind those little bottles of shampoo, lotion, mouthwash, etc. I travel fully stocked, but end up bringing them home. Haven't bought real store soap in ten years. LOL <BR> <BR>The best was in a renovated hotel in Witchita, Kansas. They had not only the regular amenities, but gronola bars and a quarter to buy a soda from their vintage gift shop in the lobby! <BR> <BR>What has been your experinces?

Great question! Yes, I take them all home. :) Most of them I donate to a homeless shelter our church supports. But some of the more unique items I keep as another sweet reminder of special times our family has spent together.

Yep, I save those and also the personalized gift-bags from souvenir & gift shoppes! DH hates it, but oh well!

The shampoo is especially nice to take in the RV. If you notice, hotel shampoo rinses out of your hair faster that the brands you use at home. It saves a lot of water when camping. They are also great if one of us has to go away overnight. Much nicer than packing a large one of everything.

Oh yes I take them (unless they are really tiny) and like someone above I haven't bought soap or shampoo in like 15 years or more.

My company asks that business travelers bring in these items; they are donated to our local homeless shelter, which is very grateful...

I never knew shelters and the like would be interested, but what a great idea. Yes, I take the home but can't say I haven't had to buy shampoo in so many years. I find they're handy when I just couldn't get to the store and need a day or two's supply.

I can't seem to NOT take them home! I find the shampoo's great for short little trips. Honestly, though, we rarely use the soaps; they just sit there. I like the ideas of giving them to shelters, though!

Usually I give it to a local domestic violence shelter. I keep a few of the shampoo, toothpaste, lotion in my travel bag, in case I have to leave town in an emergency; in my desk at work; and in a cabinet in my guest bathroom. I live near a popular tourist area, so I have lots of visits from my nephews and their girlfriends at Spring Break and in the summer.

Showercaps! 100s of the Little darlings!!

We take them, and all the rest of the small complementary toiletries. We would accumulate them and donate them to the Spring, a home for battered women in the Tampa area.

Yes, I take everything that is free, shower caps, lotions, etc. <BR>I donate most to an abused women's shelter but always keep a small supply for visits to 3rd world countries. <BR>I always keep 3-4 small soaps in my purse. Their gas stations rarely have soap; I open a new small bar, use it and leave it for the next person. <BR>Next stop--same thing.

Yes. The sewing kits are my favorites. The most I ever sew is a button so they really are nice. I always carry one set with me in case. Our local homeless shelter, Shepherd of the Streets is always in need of personal care items, these are especially nice for "overnight" bags. <BR> <BR>The soap and shampoo is also great for camping trips. If the soap gets dirty, throw it out!

I haven't bought soap since the 1980's.

Boy I wish I had heard of the Giving to Charity before. I usually collect them but have started to give them to little nieces who love the minature bottles and using them for trips to shore, sleepovers, etc....

This has nothing to do with little soaps/shampoos, etc. <BR>Except this other idea grew out of the soap/shampoo one. <BR>You know those pacets of mustard and soy sauce from chinese restuarants? <BR>Don't throw them away. <BR>Save them and donate to a food shelf. <BR>Someone will definately use them!

My husband strips a hotel bathroom of all little bottles/soaps/etc incredibly quickly. One time I called Housekeeping to complain that we had no soap (we had been in the room 5 minutes - as I'm on the phone Richard is making desperate hand signals at me attempting to communicate that we had them - but they were already packed away). I had to bargain with him for one bar of soap! <BR> <BR>Usually we give them to our goddaughter.....but like other posters I had never thought of giving them to shelters. Thanks!

It must be a male thing. My husband insists on taking all the soap, etc. <BR>He uses the shampoo but the soap is not really that usefull to us. A shelter is a good place to donate it. <BR>

I too take all the little toiletries; I keep some for trips; I put some in baskets and leave in the guest bathroom; I also give the rest to whomever needs them - homeless shelters, battered women shelters, disaster victims, etc. <BR> <BR>If you watched "the 1900's House" on PBS, the mom said what she missed most were cleaning products; that made me stop and think how 'clean' can be so important to self-esteem, how I take it for granted, and others can't. <BR> <BR>Off the subject, but ditto for all those lipsticks, lotions, etc. that come free with cosmetic purchases. I've donated them to battered women's shelters.

Oh, yeah. At one time I thought I was the only one. Then during a meeting at an out-of-town conference, the regional VP flipped open his briefcase to get out his notes and exposed all the toiletries he had collected from his room the night before. At least I put mine in my luggage....

<BR>Yes, we also take the soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc. In the meantime I have become a collector of those little things and I will never use them. <BR>

We absolutely take them! My linen closet is overflowing with soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. that we have collected over time. The best are the bars of soap at the Disney resorts. What a great idea to donate them. My husband is also obsessed with all pens and pads of paper in hotel rooms.

I always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that, like rolls left on the table, any unused toiletries were tossed by the cleaning staff. So, of course, I take them. Thanks to the others here for the idea of giving to a shelter.

I use the soaps in our spare bathroom for guest, then each guest always gets a fresh bar of soap.

Thank you Fodorites for once again proving that I'm not a total nut! LOL! The first thing I do when I get to a hotel room is pack up the tolietries. What do I do with them? I either keep them (especially the Neutrogena products), donate to a shelter or I give them to a co-worker (she sends packages of hotel tolietries to her husband's impoverished relatives in Jamaica).

I take them, keep some soaps for the guest bathroom, and donate the rest to a women's shelter. <BR> <BR>My mother does the same for a soup kitchen she is involved in running; the recipients are so pleased to have items of their own as well as items with which to keep clean - total self esteem booster!

I too am laughing! At least I use what I need before taking the rest. My brother is the worst...he used to travel to Europe frequently, and each time he'd keep the little cloth case of overnight toiletrys (business class?). His closet is overflowing with these items! He really needs to donate them to a shelter. Personally, I like to keep the pens from the hotel.

I'm such a Yankee that the idea of waste is horrifying to me. So it always bothers me when the maid replaces a slightly used, open soap with a brand-new one. <BR> <BR>But has anyone ever asked or seen what actually does happen to the things we don't lift and take home? <BR> <BR>I take things I know I'll use but generally leave what I know would fill up my linen closet 'til the next move, when I'd just toss 'em. (And yes, this is a constant source of friction with MDH, who hoards hoards hoards.) <BR> <BR>As a point of tight-fisted, hyper-morality, I don't think the hotels are in business to supply shelters with soap. But they _are_ in business to charge me three times the cost of a new dress just to change my sheets, so I do take the soaps and shampoos, etc.

To the last poster's question as to what hotels do with left over toilettries, Canadian Pacific Hotels (now called Fairmont) began an aggressive program 4 years ago and now reclaims over 80% of used soap which is sanitized and sent to shelters and the third world. This program, and many more environmental efforts, have led to many environmental awards. It started at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto and the lady who championed it is something of a local hero.

I haven't bought a bar of soap since 1966. or shampoo. <BR> <BR>I also have tons of hotel towels - so thick and soft!! That biz started cuz I borrowed two suitcases from a friend who owned kitty-cats - unbeknownst to me, they slept there! gotta love cats, but not their hair on the black sweaters... anyway, I lined the insides with the hotel towels on the way home to avoid having to have my stuff dry cleaned again... (hey, for a one month stay they charged my room almost 10K - they can give up a few towels!) <BR> <BR>and you oughta see my bathrobe collection! <BR>

A great use for the shower caps (besides the obvious) is to wear one while you are painting your ceiling. No more paint in your hair! <BR>

I gotta ask, since so many of you take this stuff to donate to worthy causes: are you sure that the hotels are throwing them away? I would hate to think that the big hotel chains raise their prices by $20 per night to compensate themselves for the loss of the little soaps! I'd happily pick up a package of soap to donate in return for not getting dinged in hotel prices!

I stayed in a motel that practiced the same policy. We had the ice bucket from the Ramada Inn up on the hill, the soap from the Quality Inn and I think the soap was from the Comfort Inn. The room also had a few velvet paintings on the wall, but it was clean and the room was huge. <BR>P.S. Our wake up call was the train that passed directly behind the building at 7 am.

I have 3 strategies for hotel toiltries. 1. Soaps from resorts and posh hotels (if the wrapper or soap have the hotel name on it) go in a large decorative jar in my guest bath. 2. Twice a year my company collects all that we (the business travelers) have saved to give to the local women's shelter (The Spring). 3. I put several items in ziplock bags and keep the bags in my car to give to the homeless on the street corners. This might sound anal, but I am a trainer and I also include a marker so they can make a better sign.

Hey Mustangs81! Now I know how that little guy at the corner of Courtney Campbell and Memorial got such a nice looking sign. ;)

I actually don't load up on hotel shampoos and soaps. I think it's because my mother was an overzealous collector of such things and I didn't want to get in the habit or start another useless collection. Also I'm faithful to my chosen shampoos and the hotel shampoos don't do it for me. I did take a few bars of soap recently just because I liked the smell of it, but that was probably the only time. What I do take - sewing kits and the stationery which I use all the time. Hmmm...I am a fanatic hand washer so I do like that idea of carrying the small bars of soaps around to use in unequipped public bathrooms. So maybe now I will starting taking them home....

Yes, I've been taking the shampoos, lotions, etc. for years..finally got my hubby to clean out his medicine cabinet of years of soaps..as a matter of fact I could write a travel story about each one..but they will go to a woman who does packages up for xmas at a shelter...which I think is the greatest idea..as is the sewing kits and shower caps...I bring my own toiletries.. Right now I have another huge bag full which I'm going to make sure my friend gets those shortly..

OK, I thought I was the only one who did this. I have a cabinet full of them. <BR> <BR>The best are from the Metropolitan Hotel in London. Their soaps and shampoo,moisturiser and bath soak are all from Kiehls so they are actually worth something!! <BR> <BR>Anybody wanna buy some bath soak?

I don't usually take anything home (I'm allergic and have to stick to unscented products), but once they had the most beautiful Gilchrist & Soames products (English Herb Soap, English Shell Soap, shampoo, conditioner, Camomile soap) in such pretty packages that I brought them all home and placed them in my bathroom in a basket lined with a gorgeous doily. I've been dusting them for years...

Who stops there? I haven't bought sheets for my double bed at home in years!