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My Guess... 3017

A few days in now and I am understanding the appeal of continuing 3017 more. The lather is getting better daily, as even though I made this soap and have used it, I have not dedicated myself to continuous use before. I remember using AOS tallow for an extended period years back, but other than that there has been a lot of variation. This really does let you get to know the soap. Also, there's a subconscious tendency to load a bunch and then load some more to try to finish the soap, which I think will tend to yield better performance: use more product, and it works. Finally, the lack of decision-making is great. I make too many decisions day to day as it is. Eliminating a couple is really nice.

I'm glad I finally bit the bullet on this thread, years after I read the first few pages of posts.
 
Stopping by for an update. Just finished up a tub of B&M Bay Rum with about half a dozen shaves on it. No big deal, but by killing this soap I’ve burned up my original Stash:
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I’ve opened up a new tub of Pannacrema San Francesco for tomorrow’s shave. Including this soap I believe I’m down to 7 soaps in the stash.
I’m figuring another year at most before I’m totally out of soap.

Shave on gents.


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Well done. I look forward to having a nice manageable number of soaps, I’m getting there but progress is slow. Is there a plan for a year from now when they are all gone? Have you identified your perfect soaps(s)?
 
Well done. I look forward to having a nice manageable number of soaps, I’m getting there but progress is slow. Is there a plan for a year from now when they are all gone? Have you identified your perfect soaps(s)?

Honestly I have no plans for when they are gone, I’m still trying to decide what to buy lol. I’ve given some thought to what my perfect soaps would be, but I realized the majority of the soaps I’ve purchased 2 years ago are no longer in production or have been reformulated. So I’m basically still at ground zero. I’ll probably just stick to the classics and well regarded soaps that are discussed here.


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Stopping by for an update. Just finished up a tub of B&M Bay Rum with about half a dozen shaves on it. No big deal, but by killing this soap I’ve burned up my original Stash:
proxy.php


I’ve opened up a new tub of Pannacrema San Francesco for tomorrow’s shave. Including this soap I believe I’m down to 7 soaps in the stash.
I’m figuring another year at most before I’m totally out of soap.

Shave on gents.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:clap:

That's some excellent work.
 
hmm, must make a note to bring it up dripping with irony when we get to 1400 pages :001_rolle

Not sure why but this thread struck a chord with me (and presumably others) at the start with a mission to use up a drawer full of soap. The learning to get the most out of a soap, was kind of a bonus.

When binge reading the thread people seem to use up pounds of soap a day... so I was thinking hmm 60+ unopened soaps will be no problem... then you get to the end and read each episode as it is released every day or two and soaps can take months sometimes years! I personally don't load as much as possible and I am lazy and want to do/use as little as possible to achieve a easy comfortable shave (so I can move on the the coffee part of my day) so I guess I will finish those soaps when I finish them. Right now I am working through 800+grams of Vitos and have dialed it in pretty well but it will be quite some time before I will be able to report it as.... finished.

Ruckin (enjoying the journey)

This thread has really evolved since the beginning. @johnniegold and his quest to finish the (in hindsight) relatively modest stockpile of very excellent soaps he had inspired a lot of us who had bought too much before we realized that buying a soap was a much longer commitment than a tube of cream or (worse) a can of goo. After he finished his quest, it evolved a bit more and 'load it like you hate it' or 'load it like it owes you money' turned into a focus on enjoying and reveling in a good soap and a great lather.

The experience from using the same soap day in and day out yielded a lot of lessons about individual soaps, and its one of the reasons why this particular thread is the most important one on all of the shave forums. Why? Because a summary on a soap's performance relied more on *actual* use than one or two hasty latherings of the latest 'it' soap brewed up by the artisan of the day.
 
The experience from using the same soap day in and day out yielded a lot of lessons about individual soaps, and its one of the reasons why this particular thread is the most important one on all of the shave forums. Why? Because a summary on a soap's performance relied more on *actual* use than one or two hasty latherings of the latest 'it' soap brewed up by the artisan of the day.
Exactly. The evolving opinions of guys using the same soap every single day really point out that
1. Most soaps can be made to work.
2. Many soaps can be made to work really well.
3. Optimal experience with a soap is the product of knowing it really well and using it consistently.
4. Great performance of a soap over time is real; great performance of a soap because you just bought it and are really giddy is fleeting.
5. Most shavers would probably only repurchase a couple of soaps if they were to see them through to the end.

I really get a better sense of what works from 3017 than any other threads I have read.
 
I have several afflictions:
  1. Sabbatical
  2. Minimalist
  3. Frugalist
  4. 3017'ist
The Sabbitical is easy. I can plan purchases either during the resupply week or as an exception during the year. I can make it through 2020 without buying anything. About halfway through 2021 I'll need to buy some blades.

My goal is one razor, one type of blade, one brush and one soap.

I currently have a Van der Hagen razor, a Futur clone, Astra SP blades and Gillette WS blades. I get 10 shaves/blade and have 80 new blades remaining. Both give equally good shaves. When I restock, I'll likely buy Astra SP blades. I have a Cremo horsehair brush that I'll replace when the hair falls out.

Here is my inventory of soaps and the number of shaves on each soap. My plan is to 3017 a puck of Williams and then 3017 one of the other soaps.

upload_2019-5-14_5-16-10.png


I only make one pass with soap and then one or two more with water. It works for me. Because of this, I use tiny amounts of soap each shave. The amount depends on the type of soap. I estimate I have 1,990 shaves left before I need to buy soap.

I started to 3017 a puck of Williams 52 days ago. I already had 36 shaves on the puck. I only use 0.124 grams per pass. Best case, I have 210 shaves left on this puck. Total estimate for all the soaps is 1,990 shaves remaining. Worst case is about half of these estimates.

3017 for Williams:

upload_2019-5-14_5-23-52.png
 
My problem is that I use 4 or 5 products a year, but if I take a trip to a country with great stuff, I buy 5 or 6 (or more!) new products. And if the stuff is good, I’m wired to make it last. Having trouble getting ahead.
 
Interesting side effect for me: I've used the same brush for the last several days. Time was, I had only one brush, but I've been rotating through a dozen or so for the past few months. All of a sudden, I'm just really enjoying having things dialed in with this combination and sticking to it. When it works, it works.
 
Interesting side effect for me: I've used the same brush for the last several days. Time was, I had only one brush, but I've been rotating through a dozen or so for the past few months. All of a sudden, I'm just really enjoying having things dialed in with this combination and sticking to it. When it works, it works.

The brush is a variable too. I am finding that despite my still formidable brush collection, I tend to stick with the same brush for several weeks to a month. That leaves a couple of days for dial in, and then weeks of bliss.
 
I would definitely recommend any of the Italian Barber/Razorock “Plissoft” brushes. I use a Plissoft Monster and love it!

Also, Yaqi has some great synthetic brushes, but i ordered mine straight from their aliexpress site in China...

These are the only two brushes I use anymore, and they were both about $15 USD if I recall.
Thanks for the reply gcconspiracy, will look at the plissoft brushes on IB.
 
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