Whether I’m planning a long weekend away or an extended international vacation, I avoid checking a bag at all costs. I’ve become something of an expert at packing a carry-on, but one thing that long eluded me was how to efficiently travel with my many bars of soap. I avoid single-use mini toiletry bottles because of the plastic waste, and while reusable containers are great, there’s only so much room in a quart-sized liquids bag — which means I typically bring body wash, face wash, laundry detergent, shampoo and conditioner in solid form.
The problem: I’m not a fan of those plastic or metal containers — they have too much wasted space, especially as the soap bar shrinks — and the soap can quickly get gross in most sealable bags. Enter: the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case, one of my holy grail travel products.
This practically weightless case makes traveling with solid soap as easy as can be. The roll-top closure means there’s zero wasted space, and the dry-through technology means your soap will dry in transit without exposing anything else in your suitcase to moisture.
How I found the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case
In late 2019, I was preparing for a six-month trip around the world with my husband — and we were set on traveling with only one carry-on suitcase and one backpack each. I was actually researching the best packable backpacks for our daily outings when I came across Matador. It looked like a cool brand, so I browsed the entire site after finding a backpack and found the FlatPak Soap Bar Case.
When doing one-bag travel, I place a large premium not only on space but also on weight — my suitcase may be filled to the brim, but I don’t want it to be any heavier than absolutely necessary. I had yet to figure out a great solution for packing my solid soap products, so I decided to give the Matador cases a go. That trip I was planning for — which began in early 2020 — didn’t actually last six months (three weeks, actually), but it was enough time to get hooked on the soap cases, and I’ve since used them for everything from two-week vacations to the other side of the world, to two-night road trips to the other side of Lake Michigan.
Why it’s a score
From day one, I loved practically everything about these cases. I was immediately impressed with how lightweight these soap cases were while still being big enough to fit a large bar of soap. I typically travel with four or five cases, for body soap, face soap, laundry soap, shampoo and conditioner.
When packing, I sometimes keep them all together (in my Matador FlatPak Waterproof Toiletry Case), but if my suitcase is nearly at capacity, I can place the soap cases in various nooks and crannies that would’ve otherwise been wasted space. In fact, I’ve gotten into the habit of cutting the bars down to smaller sizes for travel (I typically don’t need a full bar of shampoo or laundry soap to get through a vacation), so they take up even less suitcase real estate.
Depending on the setup at my destination, I sometimes use the case as a makeshift soap dish on the bathroom counter; if there isn’t sufficient shelf space in the shower, I’ll hang the case around a knob or the shower head and take the product out when I need to use it.
One of my favorite features is the “Dry-Through” technology: I don’t have to worry about wet soap sitting in a plastic case or metal tin and remaining in that state until I get home or to my next destination. I just put the bar in the bag, dry off the outside with a towel, roll and close it, then pack it. The inside dries on its own, without ever leaking through to the rest of my belongings. Over the past three years, I’ve put all sorts of products in these bags — various brands of body soap, face soap and shampoo and conditioner — and almost every single one has kept its shape. Only one face wash has gotten mushy to the point where I was using it more like a cream than a bar of soap, though I can’t say for sure that wouldn’t have happened in a different case. A small amount of residue sticks to the inside of the case, but it’s typically less than you lose storing a bar flat.
I’m a pretty picky customer when it comes to travel products, but I can honestly say there are practically zero downsides to the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case. My only real gripe is that there isn’t a good way to label it, which is frustrating when you travel with multiple soap cases that look exactly the same (it currently comes in only two colors). I have yet to find a great semipermanent method (I don’t want to use permanent markers, in case I change the contents) to indicate what’s inside. I’ve tried reusable adhesive labels (like those I sometimes use on my reusable freezer bags), but they don’t stick well to the material, especially with the curved surface. I’ve tried liquid chalk markers, but the ink mostly rinses off when it gets wet. My most recent attempt has been writing a single letter in nail polish to indicate the contents (presuming I’ll be able to remove it later on if I’d like). It’s not the end of the world — all I have to do is open the case to see what’s inside — but it’s a tad frustrating.
That said, I can’t imagine using anything else for carrying and storing solid soap when I travel. The Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case gets the job done in spectacular fashion, and I can’t recommend it enough.