I am sure many on here have lots of shave soaps they bought over the years that they have used a few times and than put away because they bought other soaps. this may a dumb question, but can you use shave soaps that are a few years old without any issues? also, for those that have a ton of shave soaps (mainly the older ones you don't use anymore), what do you normally do with them? do you just toss them, used them up for test lathers?
can you use old shaving soaps without any issues?
- Thread starter jonwilson
- Start date
Try it. What’s the worst that can happen? If it works keep using it.
Personally I don’t keep more than 7 soaps. They don’t tend to last longer than a year or two. I’ve PIF’ed all of the ones that didn’t make the cut.
Personally I don’t keep more than 7 soaps. They don’t tend to last longer than a year or two. I’ve PIF’ed all of the ones that didn’t make the cut.
If they smell rancid toss them. If they have mold on them you can either toss them or scrape the mold off until you get to clear soap, personally I would toss them. The triple milled type soaps will last decades with no issues. The newer, softer, artisan soaps with all kinds of oils and fats in them could go rancid, but I’m using some that are going on 6yrs and they seem fine.
I was PIF'd a bunch of soaps that were over 5 years old a while back. They were all fine and I enjoy everyone of them to this day (almost two years later).
Aside from potentially losing some scent (although I have not expirienced this yet), I have not had a problem with older soaps.
Aside from potentially losing some scent (although I have not expirienced this yet), I have not had a problem with older soaps.
Really old hard soaps are fine by me. Most of them only lose some scent if not all of the scent but they still can work fine. Lather up and still be slick. Softer soaps can very well go off.
Members of B&B have used countless pucks of vintage Williams, Old Spice, Yardley and numerous others that are decades old without issue.
I've used several old Erasmic sticks with no I'll effects. Both from the 1970's and some mystery soaps included in shaving kits.
I am definitely with the consensus; SURE, give it a try!! 
Absolutely you can use old shaving Soaps!
Vintage Tallow soaps tend to be excellent performers and highly recommend trying one if you get the chance. Back In the day public bathrooms used to have bar soap and a rotating towel mechanism so no worries about hygienic issues aside from mental ( but let's not go there). Soap is self cleansing pretty much as long as it isn't a visable pietri dish or moldy. Have quite a few vintage soaps in the den.
Vintage Tallow soaps tend to be excellent performers and highly recommend trying one if you get the chance. Back In the day public bathrooms used to have bar soap and a rotating towel mechanism so no worries about hygienic issues aside from mental ( but let's not go there). Soap is self cleansing pretty much as long as it isn't a visable pietri dish or moldy. Have quite a few vintage soaps in the den.
As long as they don’t smell bad, use them & enjoy them!
If they still work then use them.
Hard soaps last a LONG time.
Hard soaps last a LONG time.
First, if you have soaps you've never even used yet, I would recommend not using them until you go through the ones you've already used once or twice. Store the untouched ones someplace where they can be identified as such.
Second, why haven't you used a soap in years after using it once or twice? Was it that bad or?
Second, why haven't you used a soap in years after using it once or twice? Was it that bad or?
My Tabac Original soap is over 2 years old and is as good as it was when I purchased it.
I have Vintage Colgate I'm using as well as a puck of Seaforth! in the original ceramic (not the milk glass) mug that was all dry and split. I just washed the Seaforth off, then did a few test lathers, and then used it. I thought maybe letting it sit in some water to rehydrate might be a good idea, but that didn't work out--it likes to dry out between uses. I used it this morning for a nice thick, slick, rich tallow SR shave. Sure, the scent is gone, but it's just soap--now for the newer artisan soaps, you'd have to evaluate on a case by case basis because as others have stated, there's a lot of different stuff in there...
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