Has anyone ever "converted" a hand-held bath soap to a shave soap?
Bath Soap to Shave Soap?
- Thread starter REV579
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I initially bought a glycerine soap from India, Medimix, to use as a pre-shave, but it lathered so well, I often shaved with it alone, or as a component in a super lather to add slickness.
Yes, of course. Many people have shaved with Ivory or Yardley in years past, for example. It's not ideal, but it can work. Hand soap & bath soap can be very drying to the skin, and may not have the slickness of a good shave soap. Glycerin soap, as mentioned, is slicker than something like Ivory.
Considering you can buy a puck of Williams for less than $2, that might be the better way to go.
Considering you can buy a puck of Williams for less than $2, that might be the better way to go.
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- #4
I have a couple of bars of Penhaligon's Halfeti bath soap, and as a tinkerer in nature, it would be worth the effort to try to convert a bar to a more appropriate shave soap. The soap is advertised as being triple-milled and has an amazing scent to it, so it is a little different than utilizing Ivory or a typical bath soap.
You might try just holding the soap bar in your hand and loading up your brush that way. Give it a go, and see what happens.
The problem is that shave soap and bath soaps are not the same formula. You won't get the same slickness and cushion, might be a rough shave. You might have better success grating and mixing the bath soap with some unscented shave soap and press into a container.
Glycerin soap is a better choice.
As near as I can tell the AmerFresh soap I have isn't formulated any different than their other prison-industrial products, it's just a basic glycerin soap. It works fine.
As near as I can tell the AmerFresh soap I have isn't formulated any different than their other prison-industrial products, it's just a basic glycerin soap. It works fine.
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- #7
I do understand Glycerin is really slick. Mixing with another soap might be a pretty good idea. I can't seem to find much information on the Penhaligon's soap. Understanding the make-up of the soap might help point me in a good direction too.
I've had many shaves with bath soap + disposable razor.
I do not wish to return to it.
I do not wish to return to it.
Looks like I am with the consensus here!
The worst thing I can say about a ’shaving soap’ is, ‘This one belongs in the bath.’
The worst thing I can say about a ’shaving soap’ is, ‘This one belongs in the bath.’
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- #10
In comparing 3 different ToOBS options: Cream, Shaving Soap, and Bath Soap, the Cream and Shaving Soap are virtually the same with the only exception being the content ratio of Triethanolamine(Greater in the soap) and Parfum(Greater in the cream). The ToOBS Bath Soap ingredients are almost completely different. Further, the ToOBS soap mirrors Penhaligon's Bath Soap with the salts and such. Replacing the majority of the dominant sodium compounds in bath soaps with their potassium equivalents is not really possible. It looks like Plan B.
Did some hand-washable laundry with Zote Pink Soap and noticed it was 66% tallow.
Think I'll try a shave lather with it.
Think I'll try a shave lather with it.
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- #12
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Pentasodium Pentetate, and Tetrasodium Etidronate are salts that are not typically present in shave soaps and shave creams.
When I was a cartridge shaver and didn't care about BBS I often used bath soap for a quick 1 or 2 pass serviceable shave before work. These days its much more common for shaving soaps that don't make the grade to end up as bath soaps for me.
What? No sodium lauryl sulfate?
If you want to consider using a bath soap for shaving, the one I recommend is Yardley of London with Cocoa Butter. The ingredients are:
Sodium Tallowate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa), Seed Butter, Fragrance (Parfum), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopheryl (Vitamin E), Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Iron Oxides, Yellow 5, Red 33
As a tallow soap, it lathers easily and has excellent slickness. Since it contains cocoa butter and Shea butter and vitamin E, the post-shave conditioning is better than some shave soaps. The only fault I find with the soap is that the lather is not as thick and rich as most shaving soaps. However, I rate it above some shave soaps I have tried.
Sodium Tallowate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa), Seed Butter, Fragrance (Parfum), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopheryl (Vitamin E), Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Iron Oxides, Yellow 5, Red 33
As a tallow soap, it lathers easily and has excellent slickness. Since it contains cocoa butter and Shea butter and vitamin E, the post-shave conditioning is better than some shave soaps. The only fault I find with the soap is that the lather is not as thick and rich as most shaving soaps. However, I rate it above some shave soaps I have tried.
So, last night I palm lathered the Zote's pink soap; found it light and airy, but slick. Wasn't going to shave, but applied it to my face to gauge dissipation of the lather. It disappeared at a moderate rate.
So this morning I super-lathered it with Van De Hagan Luxury and got a darn good shave. Stable lather. Zote is so tallow slick, I didn't have to reapply lather for my second pass, I just re-wet it and shaved with residual slickness.
So this morning I super-lathered it with Van De Hagan Luxury and got a darn good shave. Stable lather. Zote is so tallow slick, I didn't have to reapply lather for my second pass, I just re-wet it and shaved with residual slickness.
There was a time when things were simpler. There was soap. The same soap was used for washing clothes, dishes, pots and pans, bathing both body and hair, and shaving. It is the modern world that has complicated things with different things for each purpose.
I occasionally use bath soap to shave. It may not be the best lather, but as long as it gets nice and slick, it works fine for me.
I was tempted to try that one, and still might do it. But Williams is $1.12, the price of Yardley, so sometimes I question what in the world is going through my head.
