Yes products made out of wood will need more maintenance when the product is in contact with water!

Reason why your soap dish may “curve”:

The soap dish could absorb water and could curve which is where the name “Soap dish with a curve” comes from.  If a soap dish sits on water constantly, it will absorb water and start to curve.  Its the natural for wood.  Wood absorbs water unlike products like plastic, ceramic or cement.

If this happens, all you have to do is to let the soap dish totally dry for a couple of days.  The soap dish will flatten out again to it’s original shape.  After it is all dried, simply reapply oil used on cutting boards if you choose.  We recommend to clean the soap dish anyway every so often since there will be soap scum build up from the soap.  That would be the perfect time to let the dish dry after cleaning it.

A wooden soap dish will last for many many years, it just needs a little more maintenance than one made of plastic or ceramic.  Even soap dishes made from other products will have soap scum build up.

If you buy a pair of soap dishes, then you can use the other one while one dries.  Perfect way to try a couple different types of wood!

Here is a link to best ways to fix a warped cutting boards.  A wood cutting board acts the same way as a wood soap dish does when it comes to water.