I need your advice

[HIT]

Hello my friends

Im very interested in moving into soaps too, apart from creams.

As I've seen there are many different sizes of soaps fitted in different sizes of bowls. However I would like to buy only soap refills for the following 2 reasons

1. I want to load my brush from a soap that is fitted in a mug, in order to avoid all the mess that is created from splitted lather when you load your brush from shallow soap bowls.

2. Refills are much cheaper and because I want to experiment with a wide variety, I can't pay each time the bowls too.

So my question is how do you fit different soaps into a mug? Any particular size or form of mug that I should look for? something else maybe?

Thank you in advance

 

[Frowzy]

Many of the refills will be of a standard size, and require a bit of trimming to fit down into a run of the mill mug. You might want to check out if you can buy glass hocking bowls locally: those work even better than mugs and can be sealed to keep the soap from losing its odor.

 

[SliceOfLife]

All the soaps I've used were in 3" wide pucks or smaller.

The "BarberShop" shaving mugs you see on eBay are really nice.

 

[Leche]

Melt and pour glycerin soaps can be melted via microwave or double boiler and poured into any container. Let cool and your done. If a non melt and pour doesn't fit, mill it with a cheese grater or something similar and put into container of choice.

 

[Pumpkin]

So my question is how do you fit different soaps into a mug? Any particular size or form of mug that I should look for? something else maybe?

Thank you in advance

There's an excellent tutorial from Jim here.

I've got a couple of soaps in small (200ml) Tupperware dishes and a couple I've milled into empty Old Spice mugs. The ones in the plastic dishes have lids and stack nicely so they don't take up much room.

 

[HIT]

There's an excellent tutorial from Jim here.

Maybe I can do something else (Jim's tutorial gave me an idea).

If a soap doesn't fit my mug (in case of course it is larger which is very possible to happen) then I can trim it at the side, fit it in and then

1. Place the trimmed parts inside the mug
2. Push them on the surface of the soap with a drinking glass
3. Wet the soap and trims on top the soap
4. Let it dry

 

[sproosemoose]

I recommend the soaps also, but I haven't tried cream.

See this in the pictures: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=133982

It's the mug I use and a VDH glycerin inside. I can generate pretty good lather now, on my hand. I would recommend that at first with a soap. I am still learning to lather on my face.

 

[Luc]

Maybe I can do something else (Jim's tutorial gave me an idea).

If a soap doesn't fit my mug (in case of course it is larger which is very possible to happen) then I can trim it at the side, fit it in and then

1. Place the trimmed parts inside the mug
2. Push them on the surface of the soap with a drinking glass
3. Wet the soap and trims on top the soap
4. Let it dry

That should work, I'm unsure about pushing the soap with a glass, but if it's a bit smaller, it shouldn't be a problem.

Glycerin soaps, you can melt.

Tallow soaps, you need to grate them!

 

[HIT]

That should work, I'm unsure about pushing the soap with a glass, but if it's a bit smaller, it shouldn't be a problem.

Glycerin soaps, you can melt.

Tallow soaps, you need to grate them!

Which soaps are easier to lather? tallow or glycerin? or both? any recommendations for a newbie?

Concerning the glass, I ment just a little pressure

thanks

 

[Luc]

Which soaps are easier to lather? tallow or glycerin? or both? any recommendations for a newbie?

Concerning the glass, I ment just a little pressure

thanks

I find Glycerin easier to lather but Tallow will give you a better lather...

Soaps to try:
-MWF
-Tabac
-Proraso

 

[HIT]

I find Glycerin easier to lather but Tallow will give you a better lather...

Soaps to try:
-MWF
-Tabac
-Proraso

perfect thanks!!!

 

[SliceOfLife]

I find Good Tallows to be slightly superior on all fronts to Good Glycerins. And Bad tallows to be miles ahead of bad Glycerins. (As other's have mentioned, many Glycerin "shave soaps" are made by someone who made scented bath soaps, got asked for a shave soap by a customer, and having never held a lather brush in their lives, dumped a little clay into their bath soap and sold it as "An excellent lathering and moisturizing shave soap".) I would not buy a glycerin soap that isn't well-regarded here personally. Unless it was cheap enough I would be happy using it as a body soap... because if it isn't tested and confirmed as a good shave soap, odds are it's gonna wind up being a body soap.

But really, isn't the proper distinction here Cold process Vs Melt and Pour? Since there are some very good Cold process soaps based on palm oil from what I hear. (I haven't used them personally though).

I have only a rudimentary understanding of the breakdown here but it seems to go like this

Cold Process vs melt and pour
|
V
Tallow vs veggie oils
|
V
Tallow first vs crappier soaps



Tallows I'd recommend:
Tabac, MWF/Kents, Almost anything Vintage

The only Glycerin I can recommend as of yet is QED, but there are several others that are well thought of here such as Mama Bears.

 

[HIT]

I find Good Tallows to be slightly superior on all fronts to Good Glycerins. And Bad tallows to be miles ahead of bad Glycerins. (As other's have mentioned, many Glycerin "shave soaps" are made by someone who made scented bath soaps, got asked for a shave soap by a customer, and having never held a lather brush in their lives, dumped a little clay into their bath soap and sold it as "An excellent lathering and moisturizing shave soap".) I would not buy a glycerin soap that isn't well-regarded here personally. Unless it was cheap enough I would be happy using it as a body soap... because if it isn't tested and confirmed as a good shave soap, odds are it's gonna wind up being a body soap.

But really, isn't the proper distinction here Cold process Vs Melt and Pour? Since there are some very good Cold process soaps based on palm oil from what I hear. (I haven't used them personally though).

I have only a rudimentary understanding of the breakdown here but it seems to go like this

Cold Process vs melt and pour
|
V
Tallow vs veggie oils
|
V
Tallow first vs crappier soaps



Tallows I'd recommend:
Tabac, MWF/Kents, Almost anything Vintage

The only Glycerin I can recommend as of yet is QED, but there are several others that are well thought of here such as Mama Bears.

Much appreciated

 

[40boy]

This what you seek:

http://www.sunburstbottle.com

This LPDW4, but any low profile 4 oz jar will work.
They have clear and blue jars as well.
They seal well and are stackable.

So far I have found that MWF, Tabac and DR Harris fit well with no trimming.
C&E and Trumpers needed slight trimming.

 

[cvac]

To clarify, just because a soap doesn't contain tallow, doesn't mean you can melt it. For example, Trumpers, Truefitt, Pre de Provence, and L'Occitane Cade are triple milled veggie based soaps that cannot be melted. If you're not sure if it can be melted or not, do not try it. You'll just ruin the soap and make a mess Only glycerin based soaps like Mama Bear, VDH, Col.Conk, etc. can be melted.

 

[cvac]

I think you mean Milled soaps v. Melt 'n Pour.

Cold process soaps are usually homemade and typically based on olive oil. Even if they're marketed for shaving, they usually don't generate a good lather at all.

Most of the triple milled veggie based soaps by the big names will make excellent lather.

But really, isn't the proper distinction here Cold process Vs Melt and Pour? Since there are some very good Cold process soaps based on palm oil from what I hear. (I haven't used them personally though).

 

[petr]

use a cheese grater to cut and reform - no big deal.

I like a wide bowl with a thumb handle.