Another day, another new trend. Today, may I present soap cutting. It’s quite straightforward, it’s cutting soap. But if, for some reason, you are confused, search Instagram or YouTube for soap cutting videos. There you will find soaps of all shapes, sizes and colours, hard soaps, soft soaps … and hands clutching craft knives, coming into view. Sometimes the cutters shave smooth pieces off; sometimes the soap is scored through first, so tiny bits fall off the bar in small squares. What on earth is the point of it all? Let’s see.

Why?

Soap cutting is part of the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) scene. Fans of ASMR say certain activities, such as whispering or hair brushing, provide auditory, olfactory or visual stimulation that gives them a pleasurable, tingling feeling on their scalp. Kaelin (soapydopey416), a 27-year-old from Maryland in the US, is a new enthusiast of soap cutting. She says the act is “weirdly mesmerising. I feel like I can forget things for a while and just focus on the feel and sounds of cutting the soap.” Nazish, 25, from Leeds (asmr.crackle) has more than 80,000 Instagram followers. She started her account last year “as a personal form of art therapy to relieve my own anxiety and insomnia”. It is, she says, “an alternative type of white noise”. If soap cutting is not for you, you could try the related online slime craze – people prodding, poking, stretching and squeezing gooey stuff – which boasts more than 6m Instagram posts.

It’s soothing, even if you’re not into ASMR

Watching people cut bars of soap can be strangely calming. Nazish says that, although she caters for the ASMR community, she thinks the videos are “visually and audibly satisfying” for others. “They may provide an introduction to ASMR for many people,” she adds.  

It’s big in Russia

Dasha (soap_asmr_ru) is from Moscow. “In Russia, it is very expensive to have a hobby,” she says. “People try to do something to distract themselves.” Cutting soap, she adds, is “like hypnosis”. However, all that soap comes at a cost, she admits: “I spend $100 a month; it’s a lot for Russia.”

It’s mainly done by women

Most accounts are created – and followed by – young women. Kaelin notes that ASMR “is all about feeling good and relieving stress and I feel men are most definitely taught that they don’t need to tend to their feelings”.

Anyone can do it

You just need soap, a knife and a camera. Dasha recommends “old, dry soap”. Kaelin buys cheap designer soap at TK Maxx. Soft soaps such as Palmolive and Pears are Nazish’s favourites.

It’s not necessarily wasteful

Most cutters make new soap with their cuttings. “I recycle, reuse and repurpose as much as I can,” says Nazish. “Used soap is always recycled into new bars.”