no soap en · X
Etymology
The phrase appears, with no clear meaning, in a 1755 Samuel Foote nonsense prose poem, "The Grand Panjandrum". In the U.S., soap took on the meaning of money (see OED), and so no soap was a denial of money, say in response to a request for some.
Meanings
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(dated, idiomatic, slang) It is (or was) a failure.
Still and all, after weighing the pluses and minuses of Smooth's offer, he came, to the only possible conclusion for a civilized man—no soap.
1983 March, Bruce Jay Friedman, “Detroit Abe”, in Esquire:And he tried again—Lou always persisted—but no soap.
1992, Richard Ben Cramer, What It Takes: The Way to the White House, Random House:I went back down to the men's room on the second floor and yelled his name in front of the private apartments, but no soap.
1942, Rex Stout, Black Orchids, Farrar & Rinehart:I waited for his assistance but it didn't come. He let me trail for I don't know how long. I hollered and cried, cursed, rocked the boat. No soap.
1953 September 18, Saul Bellow, chapter XXV, in The Adventures of Augie March […], New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC:I rang. Nothing happened. I rang again and leaned on it. No soap.
1973, Robert B. Parker, The Godwulf Manuscript, Houghton Mifflin: