Soap strip, dispenser and refill

A dispenser for dispensing soap strips provided in a stack, the stack having an uppermost strip, a lowermost strip, a leading edge, a trailing edge and an aperture passing from the lowermost strip to the uppermost strip through the stack, adjacent to the trailing edge, the dispenser comprising:

• a housing, having a compartment for receiving the stack and having a dispensing opening through which an individual strip can be dispensed to a user;
• and
• a retaining element positioned within the housing, sized and arranged to be received within the aperture and having a length that is greater 4 cm, whereby a stack of soap strips can be retained by the retaining element and individual soap strips can subsequently be removed from the retaining element during a dispensing operation.

The dispenser according to clam 39, wherein the bias element comprises a pressure plate for engaging the uppermost strip, the pressure plate preferably comprising a hole through which the retaining element can pass.

A soap strip refill, comprising a plurality of soap strips provided in a stack, the stack having a stack height extending in a direction from a lowermost strip to an uppermost strip and having a stack length defined between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the stack, the stack comprising an aperture passing through each of the strips in the stack from the lowermost strip to the uppermost strip, the aperture being adjacent to the trailing edge and arranged to receive a retaining element of a dispenser.

A method of dispensing soap strips from a stack having an uppermost strip, a lowermost strip, a leading edge, a trailing edge and an aperture passing from the lowermost strip to the uppermost strip through the stack, adjacent to the trailing edge, the method comprising:

• inserting a retaining element through the aperture to retain all the strips in the stack;
• and
• removing the lowermost strip by tearing it from the retaining element.

A method of refilling a soap strip dispenser comprising a housing, having a compartment with a dispensing opening through which an individual soap strip can be dispensed to a user and a retaining element positioned within the housing, the method comprising:

• providing a soap strip refill, comprising a plurality of soap strips in a stack, the stack having a stack height extending in a direction from a lowermost strip to an uppermost strip and having a stack length defined between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the stack, the stack comprising an aperture passing through each of the strips in the stack from the lowermost strip to the uppermost strip, and
• inserting the refill into the compartment by placing the aperture over the retaining element.