Why have they gone to foam hand soap instead of liquid soap in (almost) all public restrooms?

Answer 1

Because of the expansion of the foam. If you get soap in a liquid form, its a solid glob of soap, half of which you will probably wash down the drain, and most people usually use 2-3 pumps of soap.
The foam soap comes initially in a liquid form, but when you pump the dispenser, it injects air into the soap, and you get a foamy glob. In this respect, you use less soap(since you're getting a mixture of air and soap), and you dont wash half the soap away getting a lather.
So essentially, it works out to be cheaper, and works just as well.

Answer 2

The purpose of the liquid soap is to spend the time to lather it so that it is effective. Most people don't spend the time to do that. They put soap on their hands, rub their hands together for a few seconds, and rinse. (According to my preschooler, who is the ultimate expert on hand-washing in our house thanks to a very clean teacher, you should scrub your hands long enough to sing the alphabet song). By already being in the form of a lather, the soap is effective immediately.

Also, it is SO much cheaper to use the foam soap than it is to use the liquid soap, because it just requires a lot less of the soap to be just as or more effective. We use it in our home, and now there's even dish soap that comes in the form of foam rather than liquid (Dawn is the brand we use). I bought a bottle of the foam soap for each of the bathrooms in our house. In the one my three-year-old uses, of course, it lasted around two weeks, since he was pretty impressed by the BUBBLES, but the one in our bathroom has lasted for months, where I usually had to buy more every two or three weeks.

Answer 3

I use Level 2000 or Dial for showers, Dove for my face, and Dial Foaming for my Hands. Once in a great while, I use Irish Spring Bar soap in the shower because it has Aloe and makes my skin soft to touch.

Answer 4

I think to many people peed in the liquid soap so they switched it to foam so that you would be able to tell if it was tampered with ahahah

Answer 5

Foam costs less than concentrated powders. It's all about making money!

Answer 6

Its more economical. I mean, think about it.... people leave blobs of the stuff ALL over the place, but if its foamy, its not only easier to clean up, but less is being wasted.

Answer 7

The Almighty Dollar has spoken - it's cheaper.

Answer 8

less waste, more economical