How could such a controversial thread not have any action since December 2018? Weird.Cool. It's not a huge difference, but it's there.
How could such a controversial thread not have any action since December 2018? Weird.Cool. It's not a huge difference, but it's there.
Thanks for doing these optimization things Mr Numbers! You did catch a lot of flac before, and held your head up. And Cappy Scott took it on the chin like the true Gent he is!
Thank you know Who that we still have freedom of speech here, many places don't.
Please keep these reviews coming, even though you OBVIOUSLY have it out for the Arko Man! Remember, just because he looks like a nice, smiling guy, doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings!
How could such a controversial thread not have any action since December 2018? Weird.
Any post about my loveliest smelling soap is going to get some traction! I will scream it from the rooftops! Your hard werk needs to be rewarded! Like maybe a lifetime supply of Arko sticks, delivered by the Arko Man himself.Very true!
Also very true!
Maybe I'll get back to them someday. The Arko Man made me promise by knifepoint, but I was under duress!
I was surprised about that, too, as I remember it . . . a little disappointed, actually. Hey, when you put time into a thorough evaluation, you like having some discussion about it. I learned that sometimes a review just doesn't hit all cylinders and seems to get lost among other posts going on.
Any post about my loveliest smelling soap is going to get some traction! I will scream it from the rooftops! Your hard werk needs to be rewarded! Like maybe a lifetime supply of Arko sticks, delivered by the Arko Man himself.
Of course, by my very studious calculations, a lifetime supply of Arko, supposing you start face shaving at 12.5 years of age, and shave every day until you die at 102, like I plan to, well, my calculations came up with 5.67 sticks of Arko. So the Arko Man may figure mailing you your reward would be cheaper than air fare for an in person presentation.
And ya know, anybody who looks THAT MUCH like Clark Kent maybe can fly too, ya think?I don't know, Dave. With flights being so cheap now, maybe it would cost less for the Arko Man to hand-deliver!
Well said.I will keep looking for the Guide to appear again. I have appreciated many of @ShavingByTheNumbers posts, but have yet to dip into the lather guide.
I have been tweaking my lathers lately. Taking up SR shaving stimulated me to pay more attention, especially to initial lubrication (how easily my SR starts cutting), which to me is one aspect of slickness.
I’m not trying to get one perfect lather, rather trying to adjust my lathering to different types of razors (SR, OC, slant, Gem SE), to different models of razors and blades, and to different amounts of beard growth. And just to explore how very different lathers can be.
I don’t hope to dial in a lather for every possible shave set up, but tweaking and observing have been pretty instructive. I have been combining soaps and creams lately. It all started with someone’s suggestion of a dab of Cremo on a puck before loading.
Getting these detailed and thoughtful posts on lathers is extremely helpful. I’m personally juggling too many variables to generate anything rankable myself, but these numbers and the judgements are instructive. Thanks for doing all that work!
Yes it sure is! It's great when someone like @ShavingByTheNumbers takes the time to do something like this. It's very helpful in indicating how much product, water, and time are required to optimize their favorite soap or cream. And ultimately to see what each shave costs. The table indicates in clear numbers how long a tub of Stirling goes and very likely why so many people love it around here, same with Arko.
And yet, it's still just one shaver's experience. Many others with many years of experience have used the same products and arrived at completely different results. It looks like science, doesn't it? But cushion is determined by the quality of the lather you make on any given day, and the technique you produce on that same given day. And after all that it's still an opinion on what the cushion felt like.
It's interesting, but if you look at any post of "favorite soaps" you'll find that there are 37 clear winners in that category. I always appreciate the effort put into these endeavors, but in the end there is no substitute for doing your own experimenting until you find what works for you.
And yet, it's still just one shaver's experience. Many others with many years of experience have used the same products and arrived at completely different results. It looks like science, doesn't it? But cushion is determined by the quality of the lather you make on any given day, and the technique you produce on that same given day. And after all that it's still an opinion on what the cushion felt like.
It's interesting, but if you look at any post of "favorite soaps" you'll find that there are 37 clear winners in that category. I always appreciate the effort put into these endeavors, but in the end there is no substitute for doing your own experimenting until you find what works for you.
And yet, it's still just one shaver's experience. Many others with many years of experience have used the same products and arrived at completely different results. It looks like science, doesn't it? But cushion is determined by the quality of the lather you make on any given day, and the technique you produce on that same given day. And after all that it's still an opinion on what the cushion felt like.
It's interesting, but if you look at any post of "favorite soaps" you'll find that there are 37 clear winners in that category. I always appreciate the effort put into these endeavors, but in the end there is no substitute for doing your own experimenting until you find what works for you.
+1! Yes indeed! Probably more than ‘37 clear winners!’
It takes me awhile to ‘dial in’ a new soap. Getting optimal results is trial and error, very far from ‘science.’
How is mass of soap and water controlled?
Why is there such a disparity in soap mass between soaps? I haven't used your bottom or top soap, but the top soap having the highest mass in testing and the bottom soap having the lowest mass in testing suggests something... especially when it's almost 3x the soap in the "best" example vs the "worst".
I could make ANY two soaps rank with one above the other if I incorporated 3x the water into one vs the other. Ivory will beat Tabac if I put 3x the water into the Tabac. Or vice Versa (cough*Mdc*cough). If I wanted to make a soap that can HANDLE a ton of water bad, I could use far less water and then produce a tacky, irritating lather.
From these results and what I understand about your technique. It appears to favor soaps with a lot of superfatting... ie certain artisans, absolutely screws any hard soap you didn't soak (not soaking basically makes testing a hard soap pointless), and past that it can be highly controlled by adjusting water ratio.
How could such a controversial thread not have any action since December 2018? Weird.
I'm just amazed that Arko wasn't number one!I think FarmerTan’s mystical powers have invoked the action!
I'm just amazed that Arko wasn't number one!
I agree. It may not please everyone in the scent department, but it is as good as any shaving soap in performance.Used Arko today after a long hiatus (Arko August!) and man, the stuff really does a magnificent job. Still mildly funky but the lather is without equal, in my limited experience!