When I was a child we only use soap alone, we just have to get it wet and rub between in out palm.And or sometimes we just rub it directly into our skin to make it bubble. Growing up with this, there is no problem from doing so but it causes my skin is so dry that;s is why we need to apply lotion afterwards. When teenager hit me, I have learned to used a clothing material to make the soap bubble and use that one to rub into my skin. Until discover the Lofa and use it but, they were painful at first use. I have tried to use sponge but I don't like it either because usually most germs live on a sponge no matter how you dried it. And then, I discover this net, and its pretty simple to use but, the only problem is it will tangle in a long run of usage. So now, I bought this soap from ebay and it was covered with net itself. So, basically the purpose of it is to get the water run in it and rub until it bubble. And the bubble is the usage so it won't make your skin dry. So this is what I am using now no matter what soap I will use.