Frankensoap...it's alive!

[Lane101]

I made my first Frankensoap Tuesday. It’s a simple mix of melted Van Der Hagen that I dropped in 5 or 6 slivers of Arco that I cut off the puck. Used it Tuesday night and am really happy with. Lathered well and nice and slick with no pulling

Hi Tker32, Welcome to B&B, I see that you recently joined. Glad to hear you are enjoying your Van Der Arko blend.

Van Der (fill in blank) soap blends work really well as I noted above. Next time try grating the Arko and see if you the blend works better/is more consistent.

I started out blending Van Der Hagen and Williams (Van Der Williams) and over time added other items ranging from small amounts (10-15% of blend by weight) of Ivory soap (more slickness) and Dove Men+Care (super lathering ingredient) to the Van Der Williams blend. My latest includes all of the above with the addition of some Arko in place of some of the Williams (Williams was discontinued a year ago) and is excellent. Basically grate the ingredients other than Van Der Hagen (VDH) and then, as you did, melt and pour in the VDH. I then mix and knead the blend for consistency and form into pucks. With Williams discontinued Arko is likely the best available low cost tallow based shaving soap option for blends in the U.S.

While I've added other commercial shaving soaps and creams to my rotation my custom blends still deliver top quality core shaving performance.

Find what works best for you by experimenting with the soap ratios and addition of other ingredients.

 

[Lane101]

It can be enjoyable when tinkering with soaps, I bowl lather and sometimes there is remnants of previous soap in the bowl and use to scrap and throw out. Then a couple of years ago I just pressed in new soap beside the old soap remnants and usually results where excellent. One that works real well recently is MWF, press in some MWF into bowl with a small dollop of any cream and the results are impressive with MWF dominating usually as main soap and mild scent.
Some soaps I will just leave as is because every thing is the way I like it and others no problem to tinker a little.
Ogallala soaps are reasonable and I have not tinkered to much with them yet but will have to down the road now. Ogallala Bayrum is one of my favorite scents( not a sweet scent mostly with a touch of clove but more herbal sour sort of but I like it for a nice change up.) I have lots of sweet scented aftershaves and like Ogallala products, Bayrum & sandalwood cologne is my favorite and soap is great also.

Hi Ron, Since I recently acquired some shaving creams last fall I've also found that a small dollop added to my shaving brush provides an excellent occasional super lathering boost to some of my hard soaps. Fun to experiment for variety.

 

[JCarr]

My latest and last effort on the Frankensoap front...before this becomes another rabbit hole. So...I bought another puck of Ogallala Bay Rum and also...a refill puck of Stirling Bay Rum. I already had a small puck of the new formula Colonel Conk Bay Rum. I melted the puck of Ogallala and grated in a good amount of Stirling and Colonel Conk. Colonel Conk is a harder soap, but the Stirling is a much softer croap. When I grated the Stirling Bay Rum, it made cheesy strings instead of small shaving bits. Nevertheless, I grated it in. This is going to smell fantastic...but how it'll perform... well...I'll find out on Monday morning.

Happy Shaves, Everyone!

 

[KW Driver]

a puck of Williams and a couple samplers of Sterling Mutton was a last ditch attempt to put up with the Williams and it's a great combo. that's now got some Mike's left overs mixed in as well. I've got another puck of Williams that will eventually get mixed into some tallows eventually.

 

[ChriWilson]

I do it intentionally for my shave sticks - hard soaps mix with Stirling Sheep, softer ones like Cella mix with MWF....

Pre De Provence x Stirling (PdeP 63 or Beramot & Thyme)
Arko x MWF
Cella x MWF
SV Dolomiti x Stirling
Electric Sheep x MWF

ARKO and Glacial Electric Sheep should be something really special.

I have so much ARKO in puck, that I try using that as a regular FrankenBase to my Tallow-Free MWF. They work really really nice together, with the former muting the latter to some extent. Occasionally I'll add in some VDH or La Toja to spice it up a bit. PAA Scentsless is another one to consider with blending. It was a lifesaver for me with a bum MWF puck.

a puck of Williams and a couple samplers of Sterling Mutton was a last ditch attempt to put up with the Williams and it's a great combo. that's now got some Mike's left overs mixed in as well. I've got another puck of Williams that will eventually get mixed into some tallows eventually.

Great idea using the Stirling Samples. I have quite a few of Varen and Faskally that I could also mix in with the Tallow-Free MWF. Actually, I've got a bit (1/4) of an older Kent puck which could make for a brilliant pairing.

 

[Guido75]

Arko and Tabac go very well together too. When si am done with all my soaps I might use the combo as my forever soap - well maybe one or two on the side for variation. But I think Tabarko is really great. I need to experiment with non tallow Tabac so see if it’s the same.

 

[ChriWilson]

Arko and Tabac go very well together too. When si am done with all my soaps I might use the combo as my forever soap - well maybe one or two on the side for variation. But I think Tabarko is really great. I need to experiment with non tallow Tabac so see if it’s the same.

Initially - your suggestion blew my mind Guido.
Individually, these soaps are known to have polarizing scents. I actually spun around and took in their combined aromas, using an ARKO puck and stick of VeggieBac (VeggieBarko ?) and much to my chagrin - the aggregation smells quite nice.

Earlier was going through my stash of available soaps to find the next player in my SOTMC rotation and came across a tub of Mike's Orange-Cedarwood-Black Pepper with a cracked-lid; my most likely candidate. This also has high matching merits...

My initial impression is using ARKO with anything tallow laden is going to produce an awesome experience. It's whether the aromas pair nicely and don't clash. ARKO brings new life to great soaps which have been reformulated - My lingering question to find out, is whether there is enough slickness with these combinations for SR use...

ARKO, DERBY, MWF and VeggieBac are not ones I reach for stand-alone when using a straight, which may very well be where VdH and Dove 3-in-1 lend their strengths - @Lane101

 

[Guido75]

Initially - your suggestion blew my mind Guido.

I know, borderline blasphemy.

Individually, these soaps are known to have polarizing scents.

Indeed and that’s where my thoughts were coming from (although I did not invent the combination - I read about it in some old thread) - my LOTH dislikes Tabac very much and I had a near new puck from a Tabactober in my hands. She found Arko rather fresh on the other hand, so I thought what would happen if I put them together.

the aggregation smells quite nice.

I cannot remember exactly if I first did a small sample or just the complete picks in one go - but indeed the combination I find very nice. And so does the LOTH!

 

[The Blackadder]

Any recipes to improve Proraso? I can’t get a decent lather from it and I’ve tried all types of methods. What should I mix it with?

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Any recipes to improve Proraso? I can’t get a decent lather from it and I’ve tried all types of methods. What should I mix it with?

Stirling Sheep (mutton tallow).

 

[ChriWilson]

I know, borderline blasphemy.

I concur

Indeed and that’s where my thoughts were coming from (although I did not invent the combination - I read about it in some old thread) - my LOTH dislikes Tabac very much and I had a near new puck from a Tabactober in my hands. She found Arko rather fresh on the other hand, so I thought what would happen if I put them together.

SWMBO much prefers a classic, gentlemanly fragrance of my shaving software. ARKO is well received as "Fresh and Clean".
Tabac was an immediate migraine for her - perhaps the splash was too much -

Since all my ARKOs are puck form, I usually whip up the Frankencoction in a bowl to avoid cross-pollinating the fragrances, then take the PARKO directly to my face. VeggieBac is in stick form for me which may make things interesting.

Any recipes to improve Proraso? I can’t get a decent lather from it and I’ve tried all types of methods. What should I mix it with?

Stirling Sheep (mutton tallow).

Excellent choice, though I could also suggest Cella Bio or PAA Scentsless if keeping it veggie was of any importance.
Their CK6 base is pretty incredible

 

[Guido75]

Tabac was an immediate migraine for her

+1 and almost no kidding. Same reason I cannot seek out to try anything Cella or in that scent direction. She explained the scent of almonds can literally trigger headaches for her.

 

[ChriWilson]

+1 and almost no kidding. Same reason I cannot seek out to try anything Cella or in that scent direction. She explained the scent of almonds can literally trigger headaches for her.

Cella smells like a bowl of spumoni ice cream. Cella Bio smells clean

Any recipes to improve Proraso? I can’t get a decent lather from it and I’ve tried all types of methods. What should I mix it with?

For the tube cream, I usually squeeze a healthy amount INTO the center of the brush knot. If I’m using the croap, I’ve found that a boar or synth (gasp) works best.

 

[86-foxtrot]

I melted two glycerin soaps the other day: VDH Luxury and Mama Bear's Awakening. Great combination. Menthol + VDH scent

 

[KW Driver]

Initially - your suggestion blew my mind Guido.
Individually, these soaps are known to have polarizing scents. I actually spun around and took in their combined aromas, using an ARKO puck and stick of VeggieBac (VeggieBarko ?) and much to my chagrin - the aggregation smells quite nice.

Earlier was going through my stash of available soaps to find the next player in my SOTMC rotation and came across a tub of Mike's Orange-Cedarwood-Black Pepper with a cracked-lid; my most likely candidate. This also has high matching merits...

My initial impression is using ARKO with anything tallow laden is going to produce an awesome experience. It's whether the aromas pair nicely and don't clash. ARKO brings new life to great soaps which have been reformulated - My lingering question to find out, is whether there is enough slickness with these combinations for SR use...

ARKO, DERBY, MWF and VeggieBac are not ones I reach for stand-alone when using a straight, which may very well be where VdH and Dove 3-in-1 lend their strengths - @Lane101

Tallow MWF or the new veggie? I’ve never had a problem with straights using tallowed fat, haven’t bought veggie fat. Keeping it hydrated (and lidded) makes it dead simple to get the best lather from it for me

 

[ChriWilson]

Tallow MWF or the new veggie? I’ve never had a problem with straights using tallowed fat, haven’t bought veggie fat. Keeping it hydrated (and lidded) makes it dead simple to get the best lather from it for me

My previous experiences with MWF haven't been the keenest. My initial puck was relegated due to its instability to hold structure using a variety of loading techniques. I could have attributed it to the enigmatic batch, but I long disposed of the box to be sure.

Fast forward to my current puck of Kent and it's an entirely different animal. While I probably wouldn't have issue using this puck with an SR, the confidence isn't there experientially - and I have so many artisan's to blow through to put it through its paces.

Tallow-Free MWF gives zero issue when it comes to lathering, but like I've experienced with most of the reformulations; it tends to dry faster. My thought is by combining the Veggie MWF with soap(s) that handle water less temperamentally, can make for a richer and slicker overall, in contrast to the individual application.

I was intending on using my wonderful puck of Kent for next SOTM, until finding that cracked lidded artisan soap.