How Much Shaving Soap Do You Own?

[Feldgrun]

I find it's easier to buy soaps faster than it is to use them. There are so many choices. With my stockpile only a few months old I wonder how it compares to all of yours, especially those of you who have been at it for years.

For those of you who have been wet shaving for years & don't have a closet/shelf full of soap, did you decide on your favorite(s) early on, or thin out your stock over time? Do you have a large rotation of shaving soaps?

 

[ksblazer]

50,000-100,000 for me

I’m figure I’m set for a long time

 

[nav]

I have around 2.5kg of various commercial soaps, including my several puck stash of MWF.

I also make my own shave soap and tweaking the recipe leads me to have around an extra kilo hovering around.

Although I am now settled on a recipe so I don't think I'll have so much homemade soap at any given time going forward.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

I find it's easier to buy soaps faster than it is to use them. There are so many choices. With my stockpile only a few months old I wonder how it compares to all of yours, especially those of you who have been at it for years.

For this reason, I decided to store almost all my soap stock in the fridge, it will take me a few years to use it all. Lately, I take out one and use it all before starting another soap.

 

[NorthernSoul]

What's more useful to know is how many uses you expect to have, instead of grams. Most of my soaps are hard milled, with little water content. That means a shave might only use 0.5 gram. The soft cream soaps, you might need two or three times as much per shave.

I think you reach a point where you realize you've got way more than enough for the foreseeable future, so taper off buying more. I'm set for years really. Variety is nice and all, but if you are only going to get around to a soap once or twice a month, it will take forever to finish one.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I have about a dozen pucks/bowls of Yardley and Yardley Black Label, the same of Shulton Old Spice, five or six Cussons Imperial Leather, a few Goya Cedarwood and Corvette bowls, and some vintage Tabac bowls, Dubarry, and Roger & Gallet. Then there are the sticks - more Yardley, Cussons, vintage Erasmic, Tabac, Dubarry, Williams etc. I have enough to keep me going for what will hopefully be a long retirement - probably between 3kg and 5kg.

 

[Fred D]

About 3kg total.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I’ll be giving away my scented soaps when we get home. I only have a few unscented ones but I a few tubs of my favorites like Canada Shaving Soap.

 

[JCarr]

Too many. I'm in the phase where I'm now deciding, in a vast sea of soaps, creams and aftershaves, which ones I REALLY like the most. It's a fun place to be.

 

[blethenstrom]

I do not have that much soap at home. I make my own and the recipe I have makes a very decent soap so most likely I will transition over to that one. That does not mean I will not buy a soap here and there, but I will not keep loads of soap around. I do have a box of Arko sticks though, which I like a lot.

 

[musicman1951]

I'm not rotating anything at the moment. I'm using Canada Shave Soap every day in a longevity test. I do use La Toja sticks when I travel.

For the past few years I have been rotating 3 soaps, occasionally only 2. I'm on my second tub of MdC (I purchase them two at a time to save on shipping from France) and it's just sitting, so I probably won't finish that until early 2025.

I'm really enjoying the Canada Shave Soap so I'm considering purchasing another before the price goes up. It's too early to tell, but I'm not going to be surprised to find it's the best bang for the buck in terms of quality to money ratio.

I did have a pile of soaps at one point, but I am a "use the favorite" kind of shaver, so it didn't make much sense to have a bunch just sitting on my shelf. Not a question of right or wrong - if you like variety my method would be terribly dull.

 

[J-wall]

46 new sticks of Arko. One stick in the dispenser tube, and a puck that is at least 80%. Once you have found the best.... At least, that is what @Owen Bawn me to believe..

 

[timetofly]

My vote - less than 150 grams.
At one time I had much more, but the LOTH told me to "go pound salt", so now I use La Toja since it has mineral salts!

 

[shupey]

For me, the longer I have been wet shaving the less soap I buy. The first few years for most guys is really just a purchasing addiction (I mean look at some of the 'collections' posted here), wanting to try every hyped soap, not wanting to miss out on anything. Now, having been wet shaving for 12 years, I know that most quality soaps are more or less the same with a different smell and some cheaper soaps like Proraso and Arko work just fine. I am more about using up what I have and enjoying saving money now.

 

[Joetomlin01]

About 700 grams .

 

[Pedigree]

I have about 46 different soaps and creams with 44 of them being from TOBS, GFT, CRS, MWF, Vulfix and Simpson with the other two being a MdC Fougere and a Col Conk Lime which I will use as a preshave. Needless to say, I'm set for a good while.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

For me, the longer I have been wet shaving the less soap I buy. The first few years for most guys is really just a purchasing addiction (I mean look at some of the 'collections' posted here), wanting to try every hyped soap, not wanting to miss out on anything. Now, having been wet shaving for 12 years, I know that most quality soaps are more or less the same with a different smell and some cheaper soaps like Proraso and Arko work just fine. I am more about using up what I have and enjoying saving money now.

I hope you don't have a second peak as I did later in 2022. I got into wet shaving 10 years or so ago and bought a lot of stuff back then, then I slowed down and used cheap soap (Muhle, Proraso, etc.) for 5-6 years and in 2022 I started to "collect" soaps again. Now, I am not really interesting in buying new soaps anymore as I started to make my own. It's an interesting path though, I must say.

 

[Cino]

I thought that I had about 50 soaps and creams, and voted accordingly. Then I remembered that I have a spreadsheet for that. Apparently, I have more than twice that. Who knew? Had to change my vote.

There is too much math required for this poll. I just assumed 4oz per.

 

[Pedigree]

I also own 2 Thiers-Issard soaps so I guess that makes 48?

 

[SharpieB]

I honestly have no idea. I likely have 50-60 3-4oz tubs? Too many in any case!