I can’t stop watching soap-cutting ASMR and I think I know why

I think I may be a little obsessed.

ASMR has had an exponential rise in viewership over the years–be it kinetic sand, slime, or just tapping noises on a microphone. Whatever it is, people have begun to dedicate hours of their time just listening to these sounds that they find exceptionally relaxing and/or fascinating. I didn’t think I was one to also foray into the ASMR world as I didn’t feel that tingle when I watched other ASMR videos–but I was wrong.

As soon as I saw my first soap-cutting video, my world shut off and I felt compelled to replay it over and over again.

It wasn’t until 20 minutes passed and I was still watching that I realized that I’d been replaying and replaying, completely in awe of the little clacking noises and how the little cubes fell in what looked like a wave of other little cubes. It was a mixture of a lot of things, not just the sound. It was also the visual how they rose from the soap plate and then slid off, creating a sharp pitter-patter that was unique to the texture and weight of the soap. It was also the texture of it, the way I could just feel in my hands how it was supposed to feel. But most of all–the sound. That clattering sound that almost resembles rain but just a little more nuanced and a little more mesmerizing. I can wax poetic for days about soap ASMR.

And it didn’t stop there. I spiraled deeper. I got into lacquered soaps, vintage soaps, crumbly soaps, all kinds. Not just the cubes. They didn’t just become something I watched for fun but they became ritual to my day, I had to watch at least one video before going to bed. It was the only way to get me to sleep anymore. I was hooked.

And because I was a Philosophy student, I began to question why exactly I was so obsessed with these videos. Was it the “controlled chaos” aspect of it? Was it just because I like soap? What on earth was it??

I thought of the following reasons:

I defy societal constructs and want to take them apart–like the soap

As someone who thinks plenty of social constructs are ultimately very damaging to a society, I thought to myself that maybe this was my release for the need to pull those constructs apart. Like the soap falling apart, I imagined the constructs of binary gender, womanhood, and other harmful things to be the soap. We were setting the world free while creating this harmonious balance of sound and visual stimulation.

But that probably wasn’t it, really.

The concept of purity in this society must be deconstructed and the soap is a metaphor for it

Because soap washes and makes things clean, I thought of purity and how it has some outdated connotations in this contemporary society. Similar to the previous point, I thought my love for watching these soaps crumble apart was me projecting my desire to take apart the concepts of purity and cleanliness.

Buuuut that probably wasn’t it either.

I need to feel control over something because I have lost all control of my life

This seemed to be the most obvious explanation. Of course! If I could feel like I had control over what happened to the soap, I could ignore the fact that my life was a steaming hot mess categorized under flaming poop and tragic accidents. This sense of control could mean I at least could watch something chaotic in an organized manner, whereas my choices wee just purely chaotic.

Or maybe I just enjoy soap.

Do you like soap ASMR? Let us know!