Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap vs Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made: Which Is the Smarter Buy?
Quick Summary
Best overall for most people: Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap — verdict 4.6/5. It delivers antibacterial cleaning at roughly a quarter of the price per bottle, which is why it wins the head-to-head for everyday households. If you prioritize scent, essential oils, and a more spa-like sink-side experience, Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made (4.6/5 on our verdict scale, 4.8/5 on Amazon) is the upgrade pick.
This is a straightforward, no-drama comparison. Both soaps have earned strong ratings from tens of thousands of shoppers. Both have loyal fan bases. But they are built for different buyers, and the gap in price is big enough that it changes the math on which one belongs in your kitchen and bathroom by default. We pulled the data from our full reviews of each product and broke down where each one wins, where each falls short, and who should actually buy which.
Heads up: we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page. It doesn’t affect our verdicts.
The Two Contenders
Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap
Softsoap’s antibacterial formula is the household name in liquid hand soap for a reason. It’s a workhorse — priced to buy in bulk, formulated to kill bacteria, and stocked in kitchens and bathrooms across the country. Our full Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap review covers the pump design, lather, and how the white tea scent holds up over a full bottle.
- Our verdict: 4.6/5
- Amazon rating: 4.6/5 from 21,351 reviews
- Price: roughly $7.75
- Best for: high-traffic sinks, families, anyone who wants antibacterial protection without thinking about it
Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made
Mrs Meyer’s is the aspirational countertop soap — plant-derived ingredients, essential oils, and a biodegradable formula that looks as good next to the sink as it smells. Our Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made review digs into the Rain scent specifically, plus how the formula performs on dry or sensitive skin.
- Our verdict: 4.6/5
- Amazon rating: 4.8/5 from 16,155 reviews
- Price: roughly $31.30
- Best for: scent-driven buyers, sensitive skin, gift-worthy sink setups
Key Specs Side by Side
| Feature | Softsoap Antibacterial | Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made | |—
On paper, this is a tie on our verdict score. In practice, the two soaps are doing different jobs. The 0.2-point Amazon rating edge goes to Mrs Meyer’s, but Softsoap has reviewed by far more shoppers — which matters when you’re reading the numbers.
Where Softsoap Wins
Price per use
This is the headline. At roughly $7.75 versus roughly $31.30, Softsoap costs about a quarter of what Mrs Meyer’s does. If you have multiple sinks, kids who pump way too much soap, or a household that washes hands 20+ times a day, that gap compounds fast. You can buy four bottles of Softsoap for the price of one Mrs Meyer’s and still have change.
Antibacterial protection
Softsoap’s antibacterial formula is the point of the product. For kitchens where raw chicken and toddlers coexist, that’s not a marketing line — it’s a reason to buy. Mrs Meyer’s is a cleaning soap, not marketed as antibacterial, so if germ-killing is your priority at the kitchen sink, Softsoap is the obvious call.
Review volume
21,351 ratings versus 16,155 is a meaningful gap. More reviews means more chances for problems to surface — and Softsoap still holds a 4.6/5. That’s a durable, battle-tested track record. Our Softsoap review covers the details of the white tea scent, which reads clean and mild rather than perfumed.
Availability and refill convenience
Softsoap is everywhere — grocery stores, big-box retailers, Amazon. You can restock it without a second thought, which matters more than most people admit when they’re on their last pump.
Where Mrs Meyer Wins
Scent quality and experience
Mrs Meyer’s essential-oil blends are the reason people pay the premium. The Rain scent — the one in our Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made review — is a fresh, clean, slightly green scent that doesn’t smell like a hospital. If you’ve ever used a hand soap that made your bathroom smell like a chemistry lab, you understand the value here.
Skin feel
Essential-oil-based formulas tend to leave hands feeling less stripped. For people who wash frequently and end up with dry, tight skin, Mrs Meyer’s is usually the gentler daily option. The 4.8/5 Amazon rating from 16,155 reviewers suggests this is not a niche opinion.
Biodegradable formula
Mrs Meyer’s markets its formula as biodegradable and plant-derived. If you’re trying to reduce the chemical load in your home — especially around kids or pets — that positioning has real pull. Softsoap doesn’t make the same environmental claims.
Aesthetics and gifting
There’s no polite way to say this: Mrs Meyer’s looks better on a countertop. The label design, the scent names, the whole presentation — it’s a soap you don’t mind guests seeing. It also makes a genuinely good housewarming or hostess gift. Softsoap is functional; Mrs Meyer’s is decorative.
Where Each Falls Short
Softsoap’s weaknesses
- The scent is fine, not memorable. White tea is pleasant and inoffensive, but nobody buys Softsoap for the scent experience.
- Antibacterial ingredients are a tradeoff. Some shoppers specifically avoid antibacterial formulas for everyday use, and Softsoap isn’t the pick for them.
- Packaging is utilitarian. It looks like what it is: a value soap.
Mrs Meyer’s weaknesses
- The price is the price. At roughly $31.30, it’s about four times the cost of Softsoap. There’s no version of the math where it’s the budget option.
- Not antibacterial. If you want germ-killing claims at the kitchen sink, you’re looking at the wrong bottle.
- Runs out faster in heavy-use homes. Because it’s the soap people actually enjoy using, it disappears quickly — and at this price, that stings.
Who Each Soap Is For
Buy Softsoap Antibacterial if:
- You have multiple high-traffic sinks and want one soap for all of them
- You want antibacterial protection, especially in the kitchen
- You’re buying for a family, a rental, an office, or anywhere soap gets used fast
- You want the lowest cost per wash without sacrificing a solid rating
Buy Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made if:
- Scent and skin feel matter more to you than price per ounce
- You or someone in your home has dry or sensitive skin
- You want a biodegradable, essential-oil-based formula
- You’re styling a guest bathroom or buying a gift
The Smart-Money Play
Here’s the thing most comparison posts won’t tell you: you don’t have to pick one. The genuinely smart setup for a lot of households is both — Softsoap at the kitchen sink and in the kids’ bathroom where volume and germ control matter, and Mrs Meyer’s at the guest bath and primary bathroom where the experience matters. You get the antibacterial coverage where you need it and the nice-smelling soap where you’ll actually notice it.
If you’re only buying one, the decision comes down to a single question: do you care more about cost and germ-killing, or scent and skin feel?
- Cost + antibacterial → Softsoap
- Scent + skin feel + biodegradable → Mrs Meyer’s
There’s no wrong answer, but there is a wrong answer for your specific sink. Don’t buy a $31 bottle of soap for a mudroom sink your kids destroy twice a day, and don’t put value soap in the powder room you spent a month decorating.
Final Verdict
For most people, most of the time, Softsoap Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap is the smarter buy. It scores 4.6/5 in our testing, holds a 4.6/5 from 21,351 Amazon reviewers, kills bacteria, and costs roughly a quarter of the alternative. That combination is hard to beat for everyday household use, and the review volume gives it a proven track record that few soaps can match.
That said, Mrs Meyer Hand Soap Made is not overpriced — it’s just priced for a different buyer. Its 4.8/5 Amazon rating from 16,155 reviewers is the highest in this comparison, and the essential-oil formula, biodegradable positioning, and genuinely pleasant Rain scent justify the premium for shoppers who want their hand soap to feel like a small luxury. If that’s you, buy it without hesitation.
Our recommendation: Default to Softsoap for the whole house, and upgrade your most-used or most-visible sink to Mrs Meyer’s if the budget allows. That’s the setup that gets you the best of both — and it’s the one we’d actually run in our own homes.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Our verdicts are based on real customer reviews, not affiliate commissions.
Browse all verdicts →