Lathering Straight Razor Designs shave soap?

[coryforsenate]

So, my sampler pack of their entire line showed up today and I must say they do smell lovely. I have a soap that smells like straight up tobacco. I pulled out a Naturals Spirits Black (high end cigarette without additives) and they smell pretty much the same.

Immediately upon inspection, I notice that these soaps are all clear. Some have color but are still see through. I've never come across a clear shave soap until now.
I also notice that they are rock hard.


I ask for tips and tried/true techniques for lathering these guys. I was planning to press them into a wide mouth mug but seeing how hard they are, I'm considering soaking them while I shower instead.

 

[Demaskee]

Just went to their website. Other than essential oils, they really don't go into great detail about what goes into their soaps. That's a little unusual to me, most smaller soap makers go to great lengths to sell you on their ingredients.

 

[Whiskey Badger]

You can melt them in the microwave and they will shape to whatever container you put them in. I used small Pyrex dishes. About 5 seconds should melt them down.

 

[coryforsenate]

You can melt them in the microwave and they will shape to whatever container you put them in. I used small Pyrex dishes. About 5 seconds should melt them down.

Thanks Whiskey Badger, I did just that. I'm not used to such hard soaps, so my lather was a bit airy. No problem building volume though.

I think I'll try a drier brush with a longer loading next time.

 

[brothers]

These are just glycerin soaps with top notch fragrances. There's really no need to put them in different bowls, unless it's just personal preference. Also, there's no reason to soak them. They lather like a dream, and they last a long time. Last December (2012) I started a new tub of the Opus X (Tobacco and I love it more than any other soap fragrance) lasted me through 53 shaves and I was loading my brush very heavily. It would have lasted longer if I'd only loaded the brush for about 20 seconds or so. This is an excellent product. I've still got two brand new SRD soaps to use, Lime and West Indies Bay.

 

[coryforsenate]

I got it working well. It just needed a longer loading time on the pressed sample I'm using. Not as much cushion as the tallow soaps I'm used to, but very slick and that's what counts.

 

[Whiskey Badger]

They are great soaps. Eventually I will end up getting full sizes of a few fragrances