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The Trumper Trek

Enjoy the nice soaps. I use both the Eucris and Violet soaps on a regular basis.
They have a small window for optimum amount and temperature (not boiling hot) of water.
It will take a bit of time to find out what works for you.

This is how I have gotten it to work for me.
When starting a new puck I always hydrate the puck the first dozen or times I use it, afterwards I have found that I do not need to.
  • Dribble some warm water on the puck to hydrate for a few minutes.
  • Put the brush to soak in warm water.
  • Shake out the brush and pour off any water that is on the puck.
  • Load a lot of product.
  • Begin to build the lather in the bowl/scuttle for a short time.
  • Finish building the lather on your face. You can feel when the lather turns thick and yogurt-like. I find that using the brush like a paint brush works well for me.

  • I find that it is a very good soap, but it will take some effort to dial in. I like to use a soap for at least a week straight (or a month), this gives plenty of time to dial in the soap with regards to amount of water, temperatures loading etc.
 
Eucris has potassium. The other Trumper soaps don’t from what I can tell.

The Violet I see online has no potassium. If you can make it lather, you must really be Chief Engineer Scotty 😉.

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never-stop-learning

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Look at the ingredients of the Trumper soaps. No potassium.

Potassium is required to form a lather. Sodium soaps are hand soaps, they clean well and rinse fast, they don’t lather.

You can load the whole puck in your brush, it won’t lather.

Trumper creams have potassium, they lather.

No potassium = no lather. Simple as that, regardless of brand.

Why would they cut potassium out of their ingredients?

That’s the million dollar question. Many other well-known potassium-free un-latherable shaving soaps exist. Williams was a notorious example. It was sold in every pharmacy and used by millions of men for decades.

Baume.be has a wonderful highly regarded cream. Their soap is a known dud, which confuses consumers (look it up on badger&blade). Last fall the new Baume.be owners emailed me to say they were well aware of the problem and a new reformulated (not complicated, potassium hydroxide instead of sodium) soap would be launched someday.

These products exist and sell, reputable producers and retailers. Maybe some consumers don’t mind shaving with such soaps. Some people shave with the bar of hand soap by the sink.

Find any shaving soap made with sodium instead of potassium (or mainly sodium according to its order in the ingredient list), and you can be certain it will not lather properly.
I get Trumper Limes soap to lather every time I use it.

Method #1:

BOSC SCIENCE meets George F. Trumper's Limes:

1. Bloom the GFT Limes and place a penny sized dollop of Cremo in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl:
View attachment 1381357
2. Load lots of GFT Limes using a damp brush:
View attachment 1381358
3. Build the lather, adding drops of water as needed:
The result? A very nice, full, slick lather that retains the wonderful GFT Limes scent and the great post shave face feel. :thumbup:

BOSC SCIENCE RULES! :thumbup: :letterk1:

Method #2:

*Start by blooming the puck for 5 minutes (or so).
*Use a minimally damp brush.
*Load heavily (and often) - then load more prior to lathering for each pass.
*Add a very few drops of water as needed. *My preference with GFT is to build a really thick Lather in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl and then paint the Lather on nice and thick.

Method #3:

*Spoon/grate a quarter to half a TSP (or so) into the bottom/center of the Captain's Choice Copper bowl
*Add a bit of hot water to soften the Trumper's
*Soak your brush in warm water - shake and squeeze most of the water out
*Load a LOT of soap onto the brush
*As soon as the Trumper's in the bowl has softened, start building lather - saturate the brush with lather
* Reload the brush from the puck before each pass, including the first pass
* Apply the lather to your face, dipping the tips lightly as needed.

In my opinion, none of these processes are particularly onerous. Using any of these processes, GFT is capable of good, slick lather with excellent post shave skin feel!

YMMV
 
I get Trumper Limes soap to lather every time I use it.

Method #1:

BOSC SCIENCE meets George F. Trumper's Limes:

1. Bloom the GFT Limes and place a penny sized dollop of Cremo in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl:
View attachment 1381357
2. Load lots of GFT Limes using a damp brush:
View attachment 1381358
3. Build the lather, adding drops of water as needed:
The result? A very nice, full, slick lather that retains the wonderful GFT Limes scent and the great post shave face feel. :thumbup:

BOSC SCIENCE RULES! :thumbup: :letterk1:

Method #2:

*Start by blooming the puck for 5 minutes (or so).
*Use a minimally damp brush.
*Load heavily (and often) - then load more prior to lathering for each pass.
*Add a very few drops of water as needed. *My preference with GFT is to build a really thick Lather in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl and then paint the Lather on nice and thick.

Method #3:

*Spoon/grate a quarter to half a TSP (or so) into the bottom/center of the Captain's Choice Copper bowl
*Add a bit of hot water to soften the Trumper's
*Soak your brush in warm water - shake and squeeze most of the water out
*Load a LOT of soap onto the brush
*As soon as the Trumper's in the bowl has softened, start building lather - saturate the brush with lather
* Reload the brush from the puck before each pass, including the first pass
* Apply the lather to your face, dipping the tips lightly as needed.

In my opinion, none of these processes are particularly onerous. Using any of these processes, GFT is capable of good, slick lather with excellent post shave skin feel!

YMMV


Well, in my (and many others’) experience, sodium soaps will not lather. Every once in a while when I’m bored I still try a new one to play around with.

I always end up throwing them out. But not before I grate them and dissolve the whole puck into a thick slurry, so I can use any amount, even the whole puck, in one brush load. Makes no difference.

Anyway the vast majority of shaving soaps and creams use potassium as the main salt, from Proraso to Acqua di Parma, so most of the time we stumble on good products.

Thanks for sharing, I am very interested in this topic and hearing any opinions and experiences. Maybe a chemist could explain the difference between sodium and potassium in soaps.
 
That’s the million dollar question. Many other well-known potassium-free un-latherable shaving soaps exist. Williams was a notorious example. It was sold in every pharmacy and used by millions of men for decades.

Baume.be has a wonderful highly regarded cream. Their soap is a known dud, which confuses consumers (look it up on badger&blade). Last fall the new Baume.be owners emailed me to say they were well aware of the problem and a new reformulated (not complicated, potassium hydroxide instead of sodium) soap would be launched someday.

These products exist and sell, reputable producers and retailers. Maybe some consumers don’t mind shaving with such soaps. Some people shave with the bar of hand soap by the sink.

Find any shaving soap made with sodium instead of potassium (or mainly sodium according to its order in the ingredient list), and you can be certain it will not lather properly.

In regards to Baume.be, I just ordered their hard soap the other day and per the website I ordered from the recipe now uses potassium hydroxide before sodium hydroxide in the ingredient list. I’ll report my results but hopefully it performs well.
 
In regards to Baume.be, I just ordered their hard soap the other day and per the website I ordered from the recipe now uses potassium hydroxide before sodium hydroxide in the ingredient list. I’ll report my results but hopefully it performs well.
Where do you see this? I just looked at their website baume.be. The soap is the same, potassium lower down the ingredient list, it doesn’t work. Everybody warned me last year but I had to try it anyway. Their cream is outstanding though, as everyone agrees.
 
Where do you see this? I just looked at their website baume.be. The soap is the same, potassium lower down the ingredient list, it doesn’t work. Everybody warned me last year but I had to try it anyway. Their cream is outstanding though, as everyone agrees.

I hope it’s ok to post a link to this vendor but this is where I purchased it.

www.therazorcompany.com

Baume.BE - Artisan Shaving Soap in a Ceramic Bowl 125gr

Soap puck is 135 grams Artisan Shaving Cream from Belgium The extremely subtle scent has top notes that are fresh and spicy, with middle notes of rose and cedarwood, and base notes of wood, tobacco, vanilla and musk. Carefully formulated, this cream is alcohol-free and intensely hydrating...
www.therazorcompany.com

I’ll post a picture of the ingredient list on the product packaging once I receive it.
 
I hope it’s ok to post a link to this vendor but this is where I purchased it.

www.therazorcompany.com

Baume.BE - Artisan Shaving Soap in a Ceramic Bowl 125gr

Soap puck is 135 grams Artisan Shaving Cream from Belgium The extremely subtle scent has top notes that are fresh and spicy, with middle notes of rose and cedarwood, and base notes of wood, tobacco, vanilla and musk. Carefully formulated, this cream is alcohol-free and intensely hydrating...
www.therazorcompany.com

I’ll post a picture of the ingredient list on the product packaging once I receive it.
Tabarnak you’re right, this is the first time I see their reformulated soap, the baume.be website says nothing about this, although the original version is «sold out». I hope this isn’t a mistake on the vendor website. Make sure you let us know what it says on the container and how the soap works. I think many baume.be fanatics have been waiting for this.
 
Wait, I just noticed the ingredient list is that of the cream, vendor website error. Water, stearic acid, . . ., identical ingredient list of the Baume.be cream (and of most creams, Proraso etc.).

But please let us know when you get it, and before I start babbling about potassium soaps to strangers in the street 😵‍💫.
 
I get Trumper Limes soap to lather every time I use it.

Method #1:

BOSC SCIENCE meets George F. Trumper's Limes:

1. Bloom the GFT Limes and place a penny sized dollop of Cremo in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl:
View attachment 1381357
2. Load lots of GFT Limes using a damp brush:
View attachment 1381358
3. Build the lather, adding drops of water as needed:
The result? A very nice, full, slick lather that retains the wonderful GFT Limes scent and the great post shave face feel. :thumbup:

BOSC SCIENCE RULES! :thumbup: :letterk1:

Method #2:

*Start by blooming the puck for 5 minutes (or so).
*Use a minimally damp brush.
*Load heavily (and often) - then load more prior to lathering for each pass.
*Add a very few drops of water as needed. *My preference with GFT is to build a really thick Lather in the Captain's Choice Copper Bowl and then paint the Lather on nice and thick.

Method #3:

*Spoon/grate a quarter to half a TSP (or so) into the bottom/center of the Captain's Choice Copper bowl
*Add a bit of hot water to soften the Trumper's
*Soak your brush in warm water - shake and squeeze most of the water out
*Load a LOT of soap onto the brush
*As soon as the Trumper's in the bowl has softened, start building lather - saturate the brush with lather
* Reload the brush from the puck before each pass, including the first pass
* Apply the lather to your face, dipping the tips lightly as needed.

In my opinion, none of these processes are particularly onerous. Using any of these processes, GFT is capable of good, slick lather with excellent post shave skin feel!

YMMV
By the time you finish lathering it I’m already done with my shave and shower 🤪

In my opinion any shaving soap that requires a forum thread on how to lather is not worth the hassle. Particularly at Trumper’s price point. I love their colognes and aftershaves, and their shaving soaps do smell very nice, but for me it’s a hard pass. Too many better, cheaper and easier options out there
 
Well, in my (and many others’) experience, sodium soaps will not lather. Every once in a while when I’m bored I still try a new one to play around with.

I always end up throwing them out. But not before I grate them and dissolve the whole puck into a thick slurry, so I can use any amount, even the whole puck, in one brush load. Makes no difference.

Anyway the vast majority of shaving soaps and creams use potassium as the main salt, from Proraso to Acqua di Parma, so most of the time we stumble on good products.

Thanks for sharing, I am very interested in this topic and hearing any opinions and experiences. Maybe a chemist could explain the difference between sodium and potassium in soaps.

I agree. I tried many methods to lather up GFT and baum.be but both these sodium soaps behaved like a bath soap.

I even soaked the entire baum.be puck in warm water for a few hours, still nothing but airy foam.

I used them as pre shave bars!

Where do you see this? I just looked at their website baume.be. The soap is the same, potassium lower down the ingredient list, it doesn’t work. Everybody warned me last year but I had to try it anyway. Their cream is outstanding though, as everyone agrees.

Baum.be i believe did reformulate their soap.
I didn't buy it because when i emailed the owner about my non-lathering puck, they didn't even bother to respond.
So the entire brand went on my Blacklist!
 
I agree. I tried many methods to lather up GFT and baum.be but both these sodium soaps behaved like a bath soap.

I even soaked the entire baum.be puck in warm water for a few hours, still nothing but airy foam.

I used them as pre shave bars!



Baum.be i believe did reformulate their soap.
I didn't buy it because when i emailed the owner about my non-lathering puck, they didn't even bother to respond.
So the entire brand went on my Blacklist!
I don’t see a reformulated Baume.be soap anywhere yet. The new owners emailed me in December that they were working on it and planned to launch in winter 2022. Anyway no matter, their cream is great. And like macintosh just said, too many other good soaps available to bother with duds.
 
Look at the ingredients of the Trumper soaps. No potassium.

Potassium is required to form a lather. Sodium soaps are hand soaps, they clean well and rinse fast, they don’t lather.

You can load the whole puck in your brush, it won’t lather.

Trumper creams have potassium, they lather.

No potassium = no lather. Simple as that, regardless of brand.
Potassium is not strictly required to form a lather...and some Trumper soaps actually do contain potassium palmate/stearate, but it improves lather by making it denser, creamier, yoghourt-like.
Potassium hydroxide is found in virtually all shaving "creams" and liquid soaps. It is an emulsifier. It saponifies but softens soap to a cream or liquid. You cannot make a hard soap with potassium hydroxide as the main ingredient.
In hard soaps, sodium hydroxide or tallowate was traditionally used. Nowadays, potassium or sodium palmate is substituted.
They are all surfactants and emulsifiers. The latter are essentially saponified palm oil and form lather, but perhaps not quite as readily as potassium hydroxide, or a tallowate for that matter. They are also more drying than a tallowate. [The tallow-heads were right all along!]
The only difference between sodium and potassium is that potassium is a smaller molecule. Hence, a denser lather.
Thus, it is true that it is easier to form a lather with a cream than with a hard soap, but I think we all already knew that.
Hard soaps are generally made with both potassium and sodium palmate or stearate (to mimic tallowate), or sodium palm kernelate. This allows them to be solid and still emulsify easily into a rich lather.
Hard soaps are also more at the mercy of water hardness than creams, making a good lather a little more elusive.
 
I always found soaps and creams, from hard triple-milled to soft watery toothpaste consistency, lather and shave equally well, as long as potassium is the main salt. No potassium = no lather. As for the source of fat (palm oil, tallow) I never found differences.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
By the time you finish lathering it I’m already done with my shave and shower 🤪
Personally, I take my time and thoroughly enjoy both my shaves and my showers - a lot. As I've gotten older (and retired), I've learned to slow down and enjoy all of life's pleasures. ;)

Regarding GFT soaps, I enjoy the scent and the post-shave feel enough that, on occasion, a little extra effort doesn't break my heart. ;)
 
Just to clarify that milling and/or curing renders a hard soap, irrespective of element (potassium vs sodium).

(MdC, for example, is made without sodium hydroxide, yet it's hard.)
Most correct.

All hard soaps that lather have potassium as the main (or at the very least major) salt. DR Harris, Edwin Jagger/Muhle, Dr Dittmar, Gold Dachs, Klar, Plisson, Pre de Provence, TOBS, Tabac, to name a few examples.
 
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