Hi Tker32, Welcome to B&B, I see that you recently joined. Glad to hear you are enjoying your Van Der Arko blend.I made my first Frankensoap Tuesday. It’s a simple mix of melted Van Der Hagen that I dropped in 5 or 6 slivers of Arco that I cut off the puck. Used it Tuesday night and am really happy with. Lathered well and nice and slick with no pulling
Van Der (fill in blank) soap blends work really well as I noted above. Next time try grating the Arko and see if you the blend works better/is more consistent.
I started out blending Van Der Hagen and Williams (Van Der Williams) and over time added other items ranging from small amounts (10-15% of blend by weight) of Ivory soap (more slickness) and Dove Men+Care (super lathering ingredient) to the Van Der Williams blend. My latest includes all of the above with the addition of some Arko in place of some of the Williams (Williams was discontinued a year ago) and is excellent. Basically grate the ingredients other than Van Der Hagen (VDH) and then, as you did, melt and pour in the VDH. I then mix and knead the blend for consistency and form into pucks. With Williams discontinued Arko is likely the best available low cost tallow based shaving soap option for blends in the U.S.
While I've added other commercial shaving soaps and creams to my rotation my custom blends still deliver top quality core shaving performance.
Find what works best for you by experimenting with the soap ratios and addition of other ingredients.