Best soaps with RESIDUAL SLICKNESS in HARD WATER.

[Asker]

I've seen the past threads but with all the insane amount of new soaps coming out(and perhaps people changing their opinions over time) decided to ask all you fine gentlemen your current opinions. Just to let you guys know in advance I have tried baking soda and I have tried citric acid and I have tried distilled water(but it's too much of a hassle for me and the results weren't significantly better). And I've used Proraso Pre-Shave
Here are the soaps I've tried:

-Arko(Currently using it having grated it into a bowl. Good slickness when there is lather but residual slickness isn't where I'd like)

-Tabac(Wasn't very slick even though It REALLY LOVES WATER and felt very heavy on my face)

-Mitchells Wool Fat(I like it.Quite slick and decent residual slickness. It's just that the lather itself dissipates)

-Proraso(Very Average soap. Nothing special)

-Haslinger Schafmilch( It was alright, again, not too much residual slickness)

-Cella(Nothing special in terms of slickness)

-Palmolive cream(Meh)

All these soaps provide adequate slickness(nothing marvelous though. The 2 best have to be Arko and MWF) when there is lather on the face but after the stroke is where they suffer in performance. I wouldn't consider myself a bad lather maker either as I've practiced a million times(Shaves as well as just lathering practice sessions) with each new soap I try

I want to try:

-Williams Mug Soap

-Saponificio Varesino Soaps(They say "Tundra Artica" is the slickest)

-Razorock soaps(I hear Mudder Focker and XXX are great)

What do you guys think??

 

[ajduplessis]

If those soap don't give the slickness you require, I doubt you will find one that does.

Have you tried pure, unscented, ph-balanced glycerin soap?

MF (one of my favorite scents) is very nice so is P.160 (marzipan scent), but I suspect you will find them similair to MWF/Tabac.

 

[Ivo4u2]

Proraso also depends which soap for me the Firenze is more slick but less cushion as the normal ones.

try stirlings pine sheep (or electric sheep). I have lathered the electric sheep everywhere without issues but I do not mind citronella in the tropics!

and I have used mudderfocker and for me it is less slick/cushion as stirling not a bad soap though.

 

[samhain666]

Try Palmolive stick. Their cream is OK and works well but their tallow based stick is superb. Maybe also Speick and Wilkinson stick, both tallow. For me they produce good and slick lather but they tend to be a bit on the drying side, YMMW.

I must say I am surprised that you didn't like Tabac, I have pretty hard water and I use Tabac and Palmolive stick almost exclusively.

Could you elaborate what do you mean when you said you find Tabac heavy on face?

 

[McKinneys]

I have (very) hard water in my region and the soaps with best slickness despite that fact are Tabac and Vitos Super Extra (Coco).

 

[Atlantic59]

Wilkinson stick has lanolin and seems to work well in hard water. Get the stick, not the bowl! They are very different.

Another possibility, mix MWF and Haslinger Schafmilch together 50:50 by grating and combining in a container. The makes a soap that has the post-shave of MWF but lathers easier.

For the ultimate combo superlather:

• Use glycerine soap as a pre-shave. Rinse half of it off and leave your face wet.
• Apply a layer of Wilkinson Stick soap to your beard.
• Face lather with a wet brush loaded with the MWF + Haslinger combination soap on top of the Wilkinson.

 

[Russrat]

B&M Reserve. Excellent slickness and ghost lather in hard water.

 

[BigJ]

You have some great soaps on that list! I especially like MWF, Haslingers, SV and Cella!

For me, getting the optimal ratio of water to soap can take awhile to get optimal performance. So my first suggestion is to stick with each product for awhile to assure that you ’dial in’ the soap before moving on.

 

[hydro-magic]

I have hard water and have used a lot of those soaps you've got. It sounds like you may not have some of them working at their full potential but understand no soap is going to allow you to take swipe after swipe once it's removed. I prefer to think of residual slickness as how slick a soap is when I wet my face after the pass. Could I do a touch up pass with just that slickness on my face? Some soaps won't allow that.

You might want to try a brushless cream. They're usually very slick and have good residual slickness but even they won't do quite what I think you're looking for. You'll still have to add some water after a pass to see how much slickness is left.

 

[mr_houston]

I have hard water too. You are on the right track with Saponificio Varesino. However, you should look for soaps in version 4.3 over Tundra.

 

[147_Grain]

What do you guys think??

I think if your Tabac felt really heavy on your face it still wasn't hydrated enough. Yes, it can seem to take forever, especially if you load heavy.

My other thought is that, if your MWF dissipated, it wasn't a fully developed lather. It's easy with a lot of hard soaps, especially those with more Na-salts than K-salts, to run into this problem; personally if I start out too wet with MWF I end up under-loading and getting airy garbage lather that never seems to want to settle down and which will never incorporate enough water to avoid dissipating. It's the same deal as modern-formulation Williams, though to a much lesser degree - I don't have to soak/"bloom" MWF to get around the problem like I have to do with Williams. Rather, I find it easiest to get to the ideal wet-dense-slick stage with MWF by simply starting with a brush that has been squeezed to make the hair damp but not wet, loading until I have a very pasty proto-lather, then adding water in small increments while face-lathering.

 

[old_school]

...simply starting with a brush that has been squeezed to make the hair damp but not wet, loading until I have a very pasty proto-lather, then adding water in small increments while face-lathering.

This^
When you reach a point the lather has a bit of a sheen you're in the zone. Tabac will give up plenty of 'beard reduction' strokes if you're in the zone before you need to re-wet it. The sheen point is pretty obvious no mysteries here.

 

[eyesofgrey]

Barrister and Mann soaps are all fantastic and very slick. I’ve tried everything the OP mentioned, and B&M is way better in my hard water.

 

[Omarz]

If you want extra slick ness there’s a thread about the super lather I don’t remember exact but you add vegetable glycerin instead of water makes a thicker lather and better glide

 

[VerbaVolant]

...What do you guys think??

Well, I have been on that road myself. I spend my week days in one residence (water hardness 122 mg/L) and weekends/holidays in another (water hardness 5 mg/L). I can see a huge difference.

However, the problem with residual slickness, in my opinion, is a real problem only when you overlap strokes. I quit wasting my time chasing products with better residual slickness. I make the best lather I can, observing proper hydration, and just shave with fewer strokes while avoiding overlapping strokes. If I have to, in some areas like the upper lip or just above the chin, I drag the razor on skin so I leave some lather behind for the next overlapping stroke. Try not to go more than two strokes on the same spot.
Problem solved and I get the same great results. Now, this might not work for you, but worth considering.

 

[VerbaVolant]

...When you reach a point the lather has a bit of a sheen you're in the zone. Tabac will give up plenty of 'beard reduction' strokes if you're in the zone before you need to re-wet it. The sheen point is pretty obvious no mysteries here.

This ^

 

[Levue]

Why obsessing so much about residual slickness? Try improving your technique so you don't have to buff up the same area too much.

 

[camoloc]

I have hard water.

live in indiana. lime from all the limestone that is everywhere.

B & M, especially excelsior based!

camo

 

[Asker]

Barrister and Mann soaps are all fantastic and very slick. I’ve tried everything the OP mentioned, and B&M is way better in my hard water.

Barrister and Mann that good huh?? I'm interested

 

[Asker]

Try Palmolive stick. Their cream is OK and works well but their tallow based stick is superb. Maybe also Speick and Wilkinson stick, both tallow. For me they produce good and slick lather but they tend to be a bit on the drying side, YMMW.

I must say I am surprised that you didn't like Tabac, I have pretty hard water and I use Tabac and Palmolive stick almost exclusively.

Could you elaborate what do you mean when you said you find Tabac heavy on face?

Sure. I mean you can literally feel the difficulty in which the brush that pushes through the lather. Even when it's super shiny gloopy/yoghurty lather