How to reconstitute hardened Trumpers shave cream

[GoodShave]

I received a handful of Trumper's shaving cream samples (rose, violet, coconut oil) in the small, U.S. quarter-size diameter plastic jars when I bought some skin food from a local shop. I tried one of the samples shortly after getting them and it was fine. The others, I put in a drawer and forgot about them. Today I pulled them out and all but the coconut oil sample had dried up. I was thinking of taking a sample and put it in a larger container with hot water and let it sit to reconstitute it.

Have any of you tried this or have any tips on reconstituting hardened Trumper's shave cream?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ackvil]

I would just put a little bit of warm water on the cream and let it sit for a minute or two. It will soften after you use it.

 

[Flintstone65]

A very good idea from @ackvil -- I tried transferring some of my GFT Limes Cream to a little sample container for more compact traveling; and the consistency definitely changed (not totally hard, but no longer cream either -- more of a croap). I did find that with a little water I was able to at least use my sample, but I'm not sure you ever get that creamy consistency totally back. Let us know how it works for you.

 

[garyg]

Some time ago I reconstituted some dried nos AoS Rose Cream, using distilled water and a mixing stick, as recommended somewhere on the forums, and it worked out fine.

 

[sarimento1]

had same issue with GFT samples. simply solved by adding a few tap water drops, screw lid on well and leave it for a few days. enjoy!

 

[Demolition]

I think the warm water trick can be used with almost any dried-out cream. I've got samples that dried to the consistency of styrofoam and most were perfectly useable after adding a bit of water and stirring them. Some looked exactly the same as new (such as the Baxter of California Super Close Shave Formula which was already lumpy and coarse to begin with).

Even cheap creams (like Nivea Sensitive) that I had transferred to travel containers and left sitting in my dopp kit came back to life by adding a bit of warm water.

 

[Demolition]

Not really topical, but I want to mention that adding water didn't work with foaming gel from a spray can. I know this probably sounds idiotic, but...

Many years (decades) ago, I took a can of Edge gel with me to a remote logging camp that I lived in for six months. The can lost pressure and, since getting out of the camp was impossible, I cut the top off to get at the rest of the gel. I figured it would be safe, but the tiniest bit of remaining pressure shot the gel everywhere. Still, there was a bunch left in the can, so I put it on the counter of our washcar for future use. Well, it eventually dried out and took on the consistency of jello.

That stuff would not foam up (I guess the act of shooting it out of the can causes it to foam?) and did not feel particularly slick. Adding water didn't work; it only made a lumpy slurry. Luckily, my company was already supplying us with various types of soap, so I could still shave. But, that was one of the things that pushed me to grow a beard.

Anyway, just a silly anecdote from my shaving past. Never again will I be desperate enough to try to save a defective can of crappy shave gel!

 

[ajkel64]

I think @ackvil is spot on. This should work a treat to bring it back to life.

 

[RayClem]

Shaving soaps come all the way from very soft creams all the way up to hard, triple-milled pucks. They all produce a lather when water is added. Just pretend the Trumper's is a soap and not a cream. Grab your brush, add some water and whip up a lather.

I have a tub of Trumper's Almond that is several years old now and it is now rather firm. It still works.

 

[geneaut]

I intentionally harden some creams by putting them in containers and leaving the tops off. I have some nice CO Bigelow pucks now that make great travel soaps.

 

[GoodShave]

I intentionally harden some creams by putting them in containers and leaving the tops off. I have some nice CO Bigelow pucks now that make great travel soaps.

What a great idea! Thanks!

 

[ShaverAZ]

Not really topical, but I want to mention that adding water didn't work with foaming gel from a spray can. I know this probably sounds idiotic, but...

Many years (decades) ago, I took a can of Edge gel with me to a remote logging camp that I lived in for six months. The can lost pressure and, since getting out of the camp was impossible, I cut the top off to get at the rest of the gel. I figured it would be safe, but the tiniest bit of remaining pressure shot the gel everywhere. Still, there was a bunch left in the can, so I put it on the counter of our washcar for future use. Well, it eventually dried out and took on the consistency of jello.

That stuff would not foam up (I guess the act of shooting it out of the can causes it to foam?) and did not feel particularly slick. Adding water didn't work; it only made a lumpy slurry. Luckily, my company was already supplying us with various types of soap, so I could still shave. But, that was one of the things that pushed me to grow a beard.

Anyway, just a silly anecdote from my shaving past. Never again will I be desperate enough to try to save a defective can of crappy shave gel!

On occasion, I'll squirt a dab of some ancient gel into my bowl & whip it up with a brush - it makes a really slick lather & shaves cleaner & better than just the gel straight from the can. I was considering squirting the partial can into a smaller jar in order to take up less countertop space ... BUT ... if it hardens up & doesn't work after it dries out, I'll just leave it in the can.

 

[Demolition]

I was considering squirting the partial can into a smaller jar in order to take up less countertop space ... BUT ... if it hardens up & doesn't work after it dries out, I'll just leave it in the can.

I don't know about other gels, but I found that Edge canned gel won't lather after it has dried out. It takes on a strange rubbery texture that doesn't reconstitute if you add water. I rubbed it on my face, but it didn't feel soapy at all. It literally felt like rubbing jello on my skin.

Needless to say, I did not try to shave with it.

 

[GoodShave]

I tried reviving a Trumper's Rose shaving cream sample (in the small, U.S. quarter-size diameter plastic jar) by adding a few drops of water, closing the container, and waiting overnight before using it. That softened up the surface of the sample but not enough to be useful as the rest of the sample was hard and not stir-able. I then scraped up the entire sample so it was not stuck to the the bottom of the container (to expose more surface area to the water) and filled the small container with water. I thought I would get back to using it in a few hours and drain off the excess water, but I forgot about it and the next morning, the cream/water solution was the consistency of paint. So I have left the container open and will see if the 'paint' will thicken up once the water starts to evaporate. Otherwise, I will pitch the sample.

I think the next sample I try to revive, I will add a few drops of water at a time each day until the water is absorbed and the cream is back to being cream (and not a mount of hard soap). Maybe I will just stick it in a lather bowl and lather it as a soap and forget about using it as a cream. Will see how much patience I have.

 

[GoodShave]

The sample hardened and became like a croap (I probably left the sample out too long). I put the sample into a plastic guacamole bowl I picked up from the grocery store years ago (as a cheap travel bowl) and used that to load the croap then used my Sterling collapsible shave bowl (which has raised points) to whip up a lather. The lather was too thin, so I kept loading the brush more. The resulting lather was not slick enough nor had enough cushion for my taste, so I tossed the sample.

I have one sample left (also hardened). I may convert it to a paint consistency and see how it lathers in that state.

 

[GoodShave]

I thought I would let you know how the story ended with these dried up shaving cream samples.

Based on my attempts to revive other dried samples, I decided against soaking the last dried up sample (Trumper's Violet shaving cream) in hopes of getting back to a cream state. I decided to put the dried up contents into my plastic guacamole lather bowl and used my Semogue 620 brush with it. The lather was very thin (I probably had too much water for that tiny amount of shaving 'croap'). I am sure that if I played with the water to product ratio, I probably could have pulled off a decent lather, but I had enough experimenting with these dead samples (and a few nicks to boot), so I tossed the sample.

I appreciate everyone's insights to reviving dried up shaving cream! I will keep these tips in mind the next time I buy shaving cream.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Add just a few drops of boiling water and let it stand for a few minutes. Then load your damp brush. It will initially soften up only enough dried soap to load for one shave, but after successive uses, should soften up more.

 

[boilerphan]

I just scoop it out and press it into a container or bowl, just like soap and lather it with a wet/damp brush as normal. I had this happen to some TOBS samples and all was fine.