Soap bars

Pears never goes mushy

This is what I said too, so surprised about OP's reply that it also does. ???

Despite being careful to leave them as dry as possible the soaps I bought in Cyprus all went mushy. Really disappointing as I bought for friends too.

Faith in Nature for me too

I would have said that it important to air it and keep it on a raised dish with as many drainage holes as possible. As you've tried all that without success, perhaps you could just get a soap dish where it's easy to get the slops out and use them for washing your hands every second or third wash to give the soap a chance to harden up between times. Also prevents waste as you are using what you would otherwise just rinse away.

My parents used to buy soap in larger batches and keep it in the cupboard for ages to harden up. I'm not sure if it helped, once the soap was exposed to water, but it might be an idea to try.

I put the paper the soap comes wrapped in in my knicker drawer until the smell has faded.

I still have used soap bars that belonged to my mum who saved everything ‘ for best’ which must be over 50 years old. They have mostly lost their perfume but are still usable.

Unused not used