Frankensoap - my first

[mikhou]

I'm kind of excited. I made my first Frankensoap yesterday. I combined 1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, and Dove Men+Care 3-in-1 Extra Fresh. I wasn't overly scientific and exact. I simply grated each on a cheese grater for about 20 strokes each, mixed all of the grated soap up, and pressed it into a bowl. After letting it dry, I made a test lather and it exploded and smelled lovely. Hopefully the performance will be as good as the lather and the scent. I'll report back tomorrow after the shave.

 

[ajkel64]

Looking forward to hearing how your Frankensoap experimentation turned out.

 

[Lane101]

I'm kind of excited. I made my first Frankensoap yesterday. I combined 1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, and Dove Men+Care 3-in-1 Extra Fresh. I wasn't overly scientific and exact. I simply grated each on a cheese grater for about 20 strokes each, mixed all of the grated soap up, and pressed it into a bowl. After letting it dry, I made a test lather and it exploded and smelled lovely. Hopefully the performance will be as good as the lather and the scent. I'll report back tomorrow after the shave.

Those soaps make a great combo. The Arko provides slickness while the Dove is a superlathering ingredient. Play with the rations to find out what works best for you. I also blend a lot. My latest and best blend includes:

• 2 pucks of Williams soap (3.5 oz) - Use more Arko in place of Williams if you don't have any inventory
• 1 stick Arko (Roughly 2.5oz)
• 2 Pucks of VDH Deluxe (5 oz) - ease of lathering & blend binder
• Dove Men+ Care (2 oz) -superlather
• Ivory (2 oz) - for slickness
• Proraso Red (1oz) - superlather

Similar to your blend I grate and mix most of the ingredients except for the Proraso and VDH. Next I add the Proraso, and then melt the VDH in a microwave. Mix in the VDH and then knead the blend until consistent. It acts as a binder that holds the blend together. Finally form into pucks.

Note the first shave will be mostly VDH as it coats the other ingredients. The full benefit of the blend is realized by the third shave. Really great core shaving performance (ease of lathering, slickness and lather texture/stability). Smells like soap. One of my best shaving soaps. Lots of details on my various blends in my earlier posts/threads.

Let us know how your blend shaves.

 

[mikhou]

I've got to say that this Frankensoap is as good or better than any other soap that I have used. Now, to be honest, I don't have a lot of experience with a lot of artisanal soaps, but I have tried a few. And this frankensoap provides super-easy lather, great slickness, and great cushion. I'm very pleased with it. I even used a razor today that I tend to get nicked up with it was smooth sailing. I'm not saying that it's all the soap, but I am saying that it helped.

 

[Roy]

Pampolive and proraso tube cream is as good as anything gets.

 

[mikhou]

Pampolive and proraso tube cream is as good as anything gets.

I like both of those as well. But I really think that I prefer this combo a smidge more. But YMMV. I'll still carry one of those 2 tubes when I travel. I really do like both.

 

[borwish]

I've been considering mixing that Dove Men and Arko. Arko has better lather but the Dove would hopefully help moisturize.