Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case Review

Are you a body wash user or a soap person? If you’re the former, head over to this review; if you’re the latter, you’re in the right place.

Once you open up that pristine bar, what do you do with it? That’s the challenge facing travelers, and many solve it with a hard plastic case from the dollar store. But those take up a lot of space, and they can crack if you drop them in a ceramic tub. What’s the solution? The Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case V2. Well, the first iteration technically solved the problem, but we’re happy to see Matador continuing to update the design.

If you’re unfamiliar, the cases are supposed to be completely waterproof yet still allow your soap to dry out, which is more than can be said for plastic soap cases. Plus, they’re more flexible to fit into your toiletry bag. Does it live up to our expectations? Let’s find out (though, spoiler alert, you can probably see from our rating that it does).

The Rundown

While a few of the materials changed between versions, we’re still happy to report that the functionality hasn’t. And, bonus, you can now get it in Juniper (green) and Garnet (red) if you don’t dig basic black as much as we do.

The Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case V2 is made from 70D ripstop nylon that’s free of BPA, PVC, and PFAS. It’s the right size and shape for most full-size bars of soap, and while the listed dimensions haven’t changed, our V2 is slightly taller and just a hair wider than our original. We’ve never had an issue fitting any rectangular bars of soap inside, whether they’re the travel-size ones you’ll find complimentary in your hotel room or a rough-hewn handmade soap from the local farmer’s market. You might struggle with one shaped like a rose or a mango, though.

There’s a reinforced portion at the top that features the Matador branding and the instructions for using the case. It’s pretty simple: “Roll 3+ times, buckle.” Hard to mess that up, right?

The buckles are made by YKK, and they work well. The only issue we’ve ever had is using them with slippery hands, but we’ve dropped a lot of things in the shower, so we’re not holding it against the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case V2. It’s definitely more of a user error, and it hardly ever happens.

There’s a bit more branding on the case: a tab that says “Matador” at the bottom, and a spot where the name is imprinted in black on the bottom right corner of the case’s front.

Inside, the material is much different from the ripstop on the exterior. Or rather, the coating on the material is different from what you’d expect to feel on the underside of ripstop nylon. This is the Dry-Through Technology, which allows the case to be completely waterproof while still letting your soap dry out instead of staying slimy. It’s a bit shiny and ever-so-slightly rubbery, like a very thin TPU.

We’re not engineers, so we don’t know how this works, but we can say that it does, in fact, work. Multiple Pack Hacker team members have used the original, and we’ve thoroughly tested V2; we’ve had the same experience with both. You put a damp bar of soap inside the case and toss it into your toiletry bag, and somehow it dries out without getting everything else in your bag wet or having to be propped open along the way. Obviously, if you hold the outside with wet hands or drop it in the bathtub, you’ll have to wait for the exterior to dry before packing it away, but the thin exterior material dries quickly, too.

However, the material can hang onto scents, and you can even smell them through the case. As long as you’re using a soap you like (and why wouldn’t you be?), that’s not an issue, but your toiletry bag will smell a bit soapy-fresh when you store this inside. We’ll take that over mildew any day, but we wanted to warn you just in case. It also means that fragrances from one bar can sort of seep into the next, especially if you’re putting in a milder scent after storing a stronger-scented bar. Eventually, the case takes on the new smell, but we had some lavender-mint soap that really overpowered the next soap for quite some time, since we didn’t wash the case before switching. However, it is pretty easy to clean. Flip it inside out, scrub it, let it dry, then flip it back to use again. Soap tends to get gunky, so cleaning it now and then helps to prevent build-up.

You don’t have to do anything special for the soap to dry out, but you can dab it dry with a towel to get the process started if you’re truly concerned. Everything dries out very quickly on its own, though, so we don’t tend to bother with that extra step.

Packability

The packability of the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case V2 really depends on the size of the soap you’re storing. It’s like our favorite wallets; it takes up as much space as what’s inside. In practice, that means it will get smaller and smaller as you use your soap—unless you refill it with a freebie from the hotel!

We find it really easy to stick it almost anywhere, regardless of how full your pack or pouch is. If you’re really trying to travel light, you can bring along a smaller soap and the case will pack flat around it, saving space and weight—an option you don’t have with traditional plastic soap cases. And transitioning to solid toiletries instead of liquids means you can leave your toiletry bag in your travel backpack as you go through TSA, instead of pulling out your 3-1-1 bag of body wash and shampoo. Pack a bar of soap and a shampoo bar instead, and you’re set!

It’s easier to store in the shower, too. When it’s rolled and clipped up, the buckle forms a useful little hook. Sometimes in hotels and hostels, you’re working with limited shelf space, so we found it useful to use a carabiner to hang it from a hook in the shower or bathroom.

So, whether you’re partial to your favorite moisturizing bar or like to spark memories of vacation when you get home by bringing back scents from around the world, the Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case V2 might just be your favorite new travel accessory.