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Goodnight Soap: Beginners Question

Shave is finished, cleanup begins. Soap and its container are wet or damp. Now what?

I have done tons of reading here and elsewhere. This question is elementary, but I can't seem to find the answer. Now that I have some pricey soaps, I'd like to store them correctly after usage (while they and the tub are wet). Don't want to accidentally create tubs of liquified glop or dry them out unnecessarily.

The question applies to both tub-hugging soaps as well as loose pucks in tins.

As always, I deeply appreciate your kind mentoring!
 
Soap absorbs water. If you seal the container up right away after the soap gets wet, eventually it will affect the soap. There are two common techniques you can use.

You can just leave the containers open to the air for at least a few hours or overnight. You can turn them upside down on a wire shelf or something to keep the dust out.

The alternative is to scoop the soap you need out of the container so no water ever gets added to it. Then, you can seal the container up right away. Your soap remains more or less pristine.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
That's one of the main reasons I bowl lather. I scoop out that almond size (+- depending on the soap/cream) into the bowl.. The container/puck, etc stays dry. I just have to put the top back on... maybe wipe down the outside with one of two hand towels I have handy. It's so simple. Even if you like to face lather, you can start things off in the bowl.

Cleaning up any bowl is quick and easy. In addition, I clean my brush in the dish post shave. You splay it a bit as you run water into the bowl and are swishing the brush around. You know it's clean when you aren't seeing any more soap coming out of the knot.

A hint that I should have figured out on my own but didn't. I saw it on a YouTube video: smoosh the soap into a very thin layer at the bottom of the bowl... the thinner the better. It's easier to do with a cream, of course, but you can get soap thin as well... that way, your brush won't have clumps of soap in it... it will turn everything into a nice lather.

My two cents.
 
That's one of the main reasons I bowl lather. I scoop out that almond size (+- depending on the soap/cream) into the bowl.. The container/puck, etc stays dry. I just have to put the top back on... maybe wipe down the outside with one of two hand towels I have handy. It's so simple. Even if you like to face lather, you can start things off in the bowl.
Good point, there's no obligation to bowl lather if you scoop soap out. This is what's sometimes called the "loading bowl" technique. Just use a bowl to charge up the brush and then proceed to face lather. It works well and can be especially handy for shave soap samples.
 
I face lather and I have never found the soap damp enough after the shave to warrant anything other than wiping any residue off the threads and putting the lid back on or, in the case of the puck I use in an open ceramic holder, just putting it away.

I load with a brush that is only slightly damp, though. Onto a wet face and then, if I require more water, drip it directly onto the head of the brush, so wet soap is not a thing in my bathroom.
 
With creams and croaps I scoop out a Dollop and put it in my bowl, then close the container, and put it away.
Hard soaps that I load directly from the container with a wet brush are placed upside down on the edge of their lid, and left to dry for a few hours.
Some soaps I have are a few years old, and are still fine.
 
Thanks for sharing all the good advice.
I just started using sterling soap and have found it difficult to initially load the brush. I think I'll try the scoop into the bowl method now.
 

linty1

My wallet cries.
I usually lather right out of the container if the soap container is large enough, after finishing I just tip it and dump out any water, then just leave it out on the counter till it dries (a few hours or overnight if I forget) then just twist on the top and put it away. Its soap, the main thing is just to keep it dry when storing to avoid any mildew/mold/it going mushy.
 
Shave is finished, cleanup begins. Soap and its container are wet or damp. Now what?

I have done tons of reading here and elsewhere. This question is elementary, but I can't seem to find the answer. Now that I have some pricey soaps, I'd like to store them correctly after usage (while they and the tub are wet). Don't want to accidentally create tubs of liquified glop or dry them out unnecessarily.

The question applies to both tub-hugging soaps as well as loose pucks in tins.

As always, I deeply appreciate your kind mentoring!
Welcome to B&B,

This recent thread on the topic will help. Basically most of us let our soaps dry for up to a day after use and then cover them with the exception of those who just use one to three soaps (generally hard soaps) that are left uncovered in mugs/containers.

 
I have over 200 soaps in my collection. Some are 6-7 years old. I have never had a soap go bad. After my shave, I leave the top off for a minimum of 8 hours to allow any residual moisture to evaporate and then replace the lid. I then store the soap in a cool, dry place.

If you only have a couple of soaps in rotation such that you will consume them in a few months, allowing them to dry might not be necessary, but when you have enough soaps to last 20 years, you need to take care of them.
 
I enjoy evening shaves, so for me, it's easy. I face lather with my wet brush directly swirling on the open soap container, and do a three pass shave. When finished, I rinse the soap, shake it off, and leave it uncovered on the bathroom counter. It then gets the lid screwed back on in the morning, before my wife and I take our showers, and put back into the drawer.
 
I enjoy evening shaves, so for me, it's easy. I face lather with my wet brush directly swirling on the open soap container, and do a three pass shave. When finished, I rinse the soap, shake it off, and leave it uncovered on the bathroom counter. It then gets the lid screwed back on in the morning, before my wife and I take our showers, and put back into the drawer.

There is no need to rinse the soap. All you are doing is adding more water, wasting precious soap and putting additional organic chemicals into the sewer.

If I get lather on the outside of the bowl, I do turn the tub upside down and rinse off the outside of the bowl, but I take care not to let any water reach the inside of the bowl. Usually, all I need to do is wipe around the rim with a damp washcloth.
 
After i'm done loading i leave the cover off, shave, clean up, and the last thing i do is wipe the rim of the tub with a towel and put the cover back on. By that time, water water was in the tub has mostly evaporated. I never rinse the soap or introduce more water than is necessary to the tub. Wiping the rim of the tub removes a good amount of moisture from the soap since that's where most of it collects during the loading process. Also note that covers are not air tight so your soap is drying out even with the cover on. I think the worst thing you can do to artisan soaps is add water to them as i'm sure that will lessen their lifespan (if that even matters to some). Hard soaps like MWF, Williams, PdP, SV i wouldn't be afraid of adding water since they're so dry they could use it, but if you use them regularly there won't be a need to drown the puck in water.
 
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