How long will Tabac last average shaver?
- Thread starter Magicrat
- Start date
triple milled soap VS creams: there is no contest. Even if you build a thick lather on top of the puck (as I do) the soap will outlast creams very easily!
I build my lather on top of a Woolfat puck and the same puck is nearly half used after about 6 months of use (6 our of 7 days!)
I build my lather on top of a Woolfat puck and the same puck is nearly half used after about 6 months of use (6 our of 7 days!)
Tabac will last a couple of years at least!!!! Even if you use more than you should, you'll get plenty of life out of it... Much longer than any cream!
The scent should continually kill maggots for well over a year.
I received my puck of Tabac some time in November and there is barely a dent in it.
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I think you could definitely go a year on a bowl of tabac and one refill, if you used nothing but it. Not sure you'd need the refill either.
Then again, you could use Arko sticks and spend under five bucks a year
Then again, you could use Arko sticks and spend under five bucks a year
Then again, you could use Arko sticks and spend under five bucks a year
Arko sticks provide an impressive lather. I just dislike the pasty pre-brush consistency it leaves. But the end result is worth it.
No one here is an average shaver.
Tabac is the backbone of my rotation during colder weather, from about October through March, so that's about six months a year. I have a puck and ceramic bowl that has lasted me through two years, so that is 12 months of use, and its dented to about one inch below the top of the bowl. I could probably continue to use it for another three years before its even close to being used up.
I think it was described best by another member, who said "I've had marriages that didn't last as long as a puck of Tabac."
I think it was described best by another member, who said "I've had marriages that didn't last as long as a puck of Tabac."
The main difference between a puck of soap and a cream is its water content; the latter contains at most twice as much water as the soap. That means that you purchase at most twice as much soap in case of the puck, and that it lasts about twice as long at most.
All these indicators above are, to put it gently, MEANINGLESS without indicating how the products are used. Basically, it depends on how much you load (i.e., for how many passes), how big your brush is, and how often you shave. With a Rooney 3/1 brush, lathering for 3 to 4 passes, I get about 100 shaves out of a puck of Tabac, which equates to using 1,2 gram of soap per shave, and about 0,3 gram per pass. I'm not stingy though, and with better control over the amount I make could probably squeeze about 20 extra shaves out of the puck. Compare that to the MWF-shaver (about half a puck of MWF in 6 months, shaving 6 out of 7 days, averaging out to 0,4 gram per shave) or the Tabac-shaver (say about half a puck in 12 months, averaging out to 0,17 gram (!!) per shave).
I cannot imagine using so little product myself. I could just about shave half of my face with 0,17 gram of Tabac, but to make it last for the amount of passes I normally require needs serious magic. Either way, if you manage with so little soap, then a good thick cream should last about half that time (give or take, the formulation differs in an important aspect); if they don't, then there is something wonky going on.
All these indicators above are, to put it gently, MEANINGLESS without indicating how the products are used. Basically, it depends on how much you load (i.e., for how many passes), how big your brush is, and how often you shave. With a Rooney 3/1 brush, lathering for 3 to 4 passes, I get about 100 shaves out of a puck of Tabac, which equates to using 1,2 gram of soap per shave, and about 0,3 gram per pass. I'm not stingy though, and with better control over the amount I make could probably squeeze about 20 extra shaves out of the puck. Compare that to the MWF-shaver (about half a puck of MWF in 6 months, shaving 6 out of 7 days, averaging out to 0,4 gram per shave) or the Tabac-shaver (say about half a puck in 12 months, averaging out to 0,17 gram (!!) per shave).
I cannot imagine using so little product myself. I could just about shave half of my face with 0,17 gram of Tabac, but to make it last for the amount of passes I normally require needs serious magic. Either way, if you manage with so little soap, then a good thick cream should last about half that time (give or take, the formulation differs in an important aspect); if they don't, then there is something wonky going on.
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I'm in no way the average shaver...
But my father is.
He's been using Tabac soap for as long as I can remember.
He has a big boar brush & shaves 5 or 6 times a week with a DE.
I asked him a while ago just how many pucks he has used up over his 50+ years as a shaver.
He answered "a couple" he can't even remember when he bought the one he's using now & it's half full.
I've had mine for years & it's just starting to look used. But then I have a bunch of others in the rotation.
Cost per shave can't be many cents for sure.
But my father is.
He's been using Tabac soap for as long as I can remember.
He has a big boar brush & shaves 5 or 6 times a week with a DE.
I asked him a while ago just how many pucks he has used up over his 50+ years as a shaver.
He answered "a couple" he can't even remember when he bought the one he's using now & it's half full.
I've had mine for years & it's just starting to look used. But then I have a bunch of others in the rotation.
Cost per shave can't be many cents for sure.
I am still using my first puck of Tabac, it's almosy three years old, and I'm not stingy on loading it up.
It is not my sole use soap, but regardless, it will last you a long time.
Long live the king!
It is not my sole use soap, but regardless, it will last you a long time.
Long live the king!
I know Tabac will last me at LEAST three times longer than a tube of Proraso (which I like) shaving cream. Hard, triple milled soaps such as Tabac will always last longer than soft creams or soaps. It is difficult to give an exact estimate but I am certain in the long run Tabac will be a better investment for the pocket and the face.
FYI: Tabac has a great scent and it washes off easily after shaving. Enter Tabac Aftershave splash.
FYI: Tabac has a great scent and it washes off easily after shaving. Enter Tabac Aftershave splash.
The only soap about which I can speak objectively is MWF. I used it in the 2009 month-long soap journey, and used (by weight--yep, I measured 
) almost exactly 1/4 of the puck to the gram during that month, or very nearly 1 gram / shave. Of course, many variables are in play in how long soap lasts. For example, the kind of soap (triple-milled or not, etc). I have very hard water, although I don't know its effect (more product required?). I like lots of thick, rich lather, so I probably load my brushes more than some gents. The point of my rambling about an off-topic soap, is that I'm pretty sure I've tripped across gents saying they got much longer use out of an MWF puck than 4 months; so, I appear to be on the lower end of the life-span range. Still, the ultimate answer, to how long soaps last, even with a lot of "V" in the YMMV, has got to be "a long time".
Back on topic, my Tabac puck, which I haven't used deliberately, and for which I don't have the equivalent gram/shave usage statistic, has certainly been around a couple of years; so, I'd guess easily 60+ uses. It appears to have well over 1/2 the puck left in it...
) almost exactly 1/4 of the puck to the gram during that month, or very nearly 1 gram / shave. Of course, many variables are in play in how long soap lasts. For example, the kind of soap (triple-milled or not, etc). I have very hard water, although I don't know its effect (more product required?). I like lots of thick, rich lather, so I probably load my brushes more than some gents. The point of my rambling about an off-topic soap, is that I'm pretty sure I've tripped across gents saying they got much longer use out of an MWF puck than 4 months; so, I appear to be on the lower end of the life-span range. Still, the ultimate answer, to how long soaps last, even with a lot of "V" in the YMMV, has got to be "a long time". Back on topic, my Tabac puck, which I haven't used deliberately, and for which I don't have the equivalent gram/shave usage statistic, has certainly been around a couple of years; so, I'd guess easily 60+ uses. It appears to have well over 1/2 the puck left in it...
Not entirely.i.e. YMMV.
The point was that although some use more and some use less (to the point where I believe they don't shave with soap at all, but that's another story) it is the ratio of soap versus cream use that matters. If a user finds he goes through a tub of, say, TOBS in a matter of months, but spends several years on a puck of Tabac, then that is seriously at odds with each other (assuming the shaving frequency and amount of passes are equal of course).
Other than that, these discussions always turn into a sort of very polite pissing contest who can make his puck last the longest, and will confuse the n00b to the point where he thinks people are supposed to make pucks last as long as reported, and to only swirl the brush on a puck a few times at most. It leads to a twisted sense of economising: I've seen several threads where the n00b OP reported lousy shaves precisely because of this issue. If you can manage with very little soap then great, but even if you're a big consumer like me you'd still be looking at an investment of ~ €17 per year (for Tabac). But you can only tell after you've experimented and hit upon the product's sweet spot. One uses what one uses; experiment with what suits your needs best; and enjoy. (And if money truly is an issue, go look at Italian soft soap bricks or J.M. Fraser.)
I lather on the puck ~ wasteful? Probably. But rich and smooth...
Still get at least a year out of one!
Still get at least a year out of one!
