Detubing Shaving Cream

[Frank Shaves]

I normally squeeze shaving cream in a tube onto my index finger, apply the cream to a wet brush and face lather. I find the whole process to be a pain and an impediment to using cream in a tube.

I have had mixed results detubing cream into a container with a top. Sometimes the soap dries out and I need to add water.

Any tips for detubing?

 

[Brutus]

There was a time when I squeezed the shaving cream onto my finger and than rubbed it across the facial area that I was going to shave.

Nowadays, I squeeze a small dollop of shaving cream into the crown of the wet shaving brush, which is what I have seen all barbers do that I ever visited.

Either way, the cream strays in the tube until I am ready to lather.



B.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Something to be said for doing what barbers do.

 

[Odysseus]

What is "detubing"?

Do you mean squeezing all of the cream out at once into another container?

 

[Frank Shaves]

What is "detubing"?

Do you mean squeezing all of the cream out at once into another container?

Yes but not necessarily all of the cream in the container.

 

[Odysseus]

Well if you did something like that I suppose you could take an old plastic cream tub, say from TOBS or Salter, Fine you have it, and seal it up in there.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I tried that once. Didn’t like it. And then it took forever to get the cream back in the tube.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I had a Yardley cream that had solidified in the tube due to age. I cut the tube open and transferred the hardened cream to an MWF tub. Over the next few days the cream went even harder, almost triple milled hard. The cream then performed superbly as a regular hard soap.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Sounds like there's only one way to know and that is to try it - with a small amount of cream.

 

[Lane101]

I normally squeeze shaving cream in a tube onto my index finger, apply the cream to a wet brush and face lather. I find the whole process to be a pain and an impediment to using cream in a tube.

I have had mixed results detubing cream into a container with a top. Sometimes the soap dries out and I need to add water.

Any tips for detubing?

Depending on how the cream is sold I either squeeze it from the tube onto my finger or use an expresso spoon to scoop some from its tub and then spread the cream onto my wet face prior to face lathering. I use LEA cream in tubes and Cyril R. Salter that comes in a tub.

Suspect that creams are meant to be kept in an air tight container to prevent hardening. The Cyril R. Salter tubs are double walled with two lids. A clear plastic inner container, with snap on lid, is inside the outer blue tub that has a screw on lid. Recommendation would be to buy a tub based cream like Cyril R. Salter and see if you can get the result you want by reusing the container.

Also, if you are using an air tight container you want to avoid introducing extra moisture, bacteria or mold into the cream so the recommendation would be to use something clean to scoop out what you need for each shave. This is not an issue for soaps as they are typically allowed to dry out between uses.

If your goal is to use your cream as a croap and load your brush on it directly the suggestion above regarding squeezing a dollop directly into your brush may make the most sense.

 

[Lane101]

I had a Yardley cream that had solidified in the tube due to age. I cut the tube open and transferred the hardened cream to an MWF tub. Over the next few days the cream went even harder, almost triple milled hard. The cream then performed superbly as a regular hard soap.

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Makes sense as shaving cream ingredients appear to be fairly similar to shaving soaps. just diluted a bit more often with water as the leading ingredient. Based on my shaving cream experiences to-date with LEA and Cyril R. Salter products the biggest difference, once the optimal lathering technique for the creams is dialed in, is that the creams are more convenient being easier to lather.

 

[Steve56]

Makes sense as shaving cream ingredients appear to be fairly similar to shaving soaps

True, but creams usually have preservatives, and stabilizers (non-separation ingredients) that many soaps do not, because creams contain more water. That’s not a bad thing, I am actually all on board for preservatives in shaving products. Maybe because I’m closer to 70 than 60, and no cosmetic additives or fast food is going to kill me before the years do.