Drying Soaps after use

[Fat Larry]

I'm far from a newbie but i guess i missed this part of the tutorial and as i haven't found a solid answer in my brief searching i need to ask an important question.

Should a tub of soap be dried out after usage? If so why and what does sealing in moisture do to the soap?

 

[naughtilus]

Moisture is perfect environment for bacteria and mold. You want as less of it as possible, especially with soaps that don't have perservatives.

 

[Robknock31]

So tip all the water out and leave the lid off until its dry ?

 

[Rusty Blade]

Unless you really supersaturate the soap with water there is no need to leave it open to the air. I leave my soap tub open while I am shaving and then put it back on just before I leave the bathroom. Years ago when I first started wet-shaving with store-bought tubs of soap (I was a Williams puck in a coffee cup user for 40 years) I went to great lengths to dry my soap and then I realized it didn't matter. Even if you have many soaps in your rotation. Unless there is something drastically wrong with the soap it will resist mold growth.

 

[naughtilus]

Unless there is something drastically wrong with the soap it will resist mold growth.

If there are no perservatives (Williams does) and you leave it moist and unused for longer period, it will likely turn rancid and grow mold. Unsaponified fats in soft soaps are problematic (Williams has none).

 

[Fat Larry]

In the interests of full disclosure, i should admit that if i wind up with a significant amount of lather left i often will squeeze it out of the brush and put it back in the tub.

 

[Fat Larry]

If there are no perservatives (Williams does) and you leave it moist and unused for longer period, it will likely turn rancid and grow mold. Unsaponified fats in soft soaps are problematic (Williams has none).

Yikes, ok i will stop doing that pronto and start paying attention to getting moisture out of the tubs.

 

[naughtilus]

In the interests of full disclosure, i should admit that if i wind up with a significant amount of lather left i often will squeeze it out of the brush and put it back in the tub.

If you use that soap frequently then you have zero issues to worry about. But closing the lid and leaving it in storage for a week or longer isn't a good practice.

Taking lather back to the soap container doesn't do much for you. There's very little soap in the lather, it's all water and air.

 

[Earcutter]

I’ve always bloomed my soaps and closed them after shaving pretty wet. I enjoyed this because it was that much easier to lather next time. Then I actually had mold grow on the lid of a jar once because I left it too moist and didn’t get back to it for a while. I wiped it off and called it good.

It wasn’t a big deal. What was though, a big deal that is, was I was finding some of my soaps kind of becoming mushy. I don’t know how to truly describe it, but it was a bigger deal for me than the mold. The consistency just wasn’t the same on some soaps.

Now, if I shave in the morning, I leave my soap bowl upside down propped so air can get at it until I go to bed. If I shave at night, until morning. If it wasn’t so much easier to load off the puck, I’d probably scoop soap out and bowl lather everything.

 

[naughtilus]

 

[RayClem]

Once big factor of the need to dry your soaps has to do with how frequently you use them and how long it takes to consume them. If you use one or two soaps and will consume them in a few months, then their is little need to allow them to dry. I have so many soaps in rotation that I only use a soap once every three months and it will take me several years to finish a tub. Thus, always dry my soaps after use, hoping they will last.

 

[Fat Larry]

I currently have 47 tubs of the finest North American and Southern Pacific artisanal soaps. As someone with a slow growing beard that shaves every second day at most this is probably too many.

I don't know how this happened, the acquisition disorder is real. Is there a B&B 12 step program yet?

One of my bigger concerns with the water was the older soaps losing their fragrance which i understand is a real thing with essential oils and can begin to occur a few years into the life of a tub.

 

[ajkel64]

When I use my tubs of soaps, I leave the lid off for 24 hours and then I put the lid on when I next shave. Twenty four hours should be enough time to dry. I don’t use a soap for a few shaves and then forget about it for several years. I use about 7 soaps in my rotation and I try to use them until they are just about gone. I have a few bits and pieces ready to make a Frankensoap.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

I keep the lid off for 24 hours. Only have two in rotation. Can only recall mold once over the last five decades...and that was the underside of a puck.

Mac

 

[BigJ]

Once big factor of the need to dry your soaps has to do with how frequently you use them and how long it takes to consume them. If you use one or two soaps and will consume them in a few months, then their is little need to allow them to dry. I have so many soaps in rotation that I only use a soap once every three months and it will take me several years to finish a tub. Thus, always dry my soaps after use, hoping they will last.

Great point! I tend to rotate 3-5 soaps at a time, so I don’t worry much about thoroughly drying after use.

 

[dmshaver]

I have several soaps, 10 or so, that I regularly use, & rotate through them randomly. I leave the tub open after I shave until my next days shave. At that time I put the lid on & return it to the drawer. Then I select my soap for the current day.

 

[MaDsHaVeR]

I rinse out the soap till theres no suds left shake out excess water leave the lid off for an hour then close lid and done.

 

[mr_houston]

After I lather and take it to my bowl, I run my finger over the soap to remove remaining lather, which I use on my face as pre-shave. I put the top of the soap container partially covering the soap, so it will dry out but not get dust. In the evening or next day, I close it up and put it away.

 

[RayClem]

.......

I don't know how this happened, the acquisition disorder is real. Is there a B&B 12 step program yet?
.....

The way I understand it is that in order to have a 12- step program, you have to have someone who as remained "sober" for a period of time to serve as leader of the group. With B&B members, there are few members who have been able to avoid acquisition disorder long enough to qualify them as program leaders. I suffer from a variety of such disorders, so I know I am not qualified.

 

[xxvaleria]

So tip all the water out and leave the lid off until its dry ?

Yes, about 24 hours.