Re-hydrating Shaving Cream

[Steve_in_CT]

I saw what looked to be a bargain on Ebay: $21 and free shipping for a tub of D.R. Harris Lavender shave cream. When I received it I discovered that it was very dried out. You can see around the edges of the tub where the lather had originally been:



It smells OK, but I was looking for a cream and this looks more like a soap now. I emailed the vendor and received a super-nice reply:

Thank you for your purchase. We are very sorry to hear that the D. R. Harris Lavender Shaving Cream Jar that you received was dried out. After receiving your message we inspected our remaining stock and it appears that there is a problem with the entire batch. We have removed the listing and provided a full credit via PayPal for your purchase. Please keep the jar in hopes that you may be able to get some use from it. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to doing business with you again in the future.

Best Wishes,
-dreamdistributors

So now I have a dried out tub of cream that I would like to re-hydrate. Any suggestions? Just add water and stir? Any tricks that have worked for you?

 

[ButtermilkJones]

Someone had success a few months ago with rehydrating some TOBS that had dried out. That thread is here, and includes a description of what he did.

 

[babydials]

I have a few dried out samples. I just put a blob a bit smaller than a hazelnut in my mug with at bit of water. When my brush is done soaking I just drain out most of the water in the mug and stir. Sometimes I just smear the blob against the bottom of the mug and drizzle a few drops over it, then I don't bother to drain.

 

[OtherMoe]

Unless you are set on a cream consistency, the other option is to use it and load it like a soap. I'm actually purposely drying out a Fitjar cream to be used like a soap.

 

[Mick]

Add some water and give it a stir. start with a small amount and use more if needed.

I've had to do this for a couple of creams I got that were a little on the shelf worn side.

Works perfectly. I use my plastic sample spoon (what I use to measure the cream out with) and just stir it up until I get the consistency I want.

 

[Latherdude]

My entry into the wet shaving world was an AOS Sandalwood full size kit in 2010 and I still have all the software from it. Last year I noticed the shaving cream was getting rather pasty, so I added a tiny bit of water and used a toothpick to stir it in there evenly until it felt a little smoother and looked less dry. I closed the lid and let it sit overnight and it's back to normal even to this day.

I also pumped a bunch of KMF lavender/shea shave cream into a small bowl and let it sit for several weeks to intentionally turn it into soap. It worked pretty well, too.

Flip a coin, I guess!

 

[njpaddy]

I never really liked a cream once rehydrated with water, but I suspect that I had stopped liking it long before which is why it dried out in the first place. At least the seller was honest and you get to experiment without losing money.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Well, I did find several suggested ways of rehydrating the cream (some here, some at other sites). It now fills the tub, so it is fully hydrated, but the consistency is a bit gummy. Nevertheless, it works great and smells pretty good (I think the fragrance is slightly off) - and since the vendor refunded the full purchase price, I have no complaints.