Revisited Van Der Hagen Deluxe - Garbage!

[Toothpick]

A terrible soap. Pretty sure this is the first time I used it since 2012. Thin lather. Dissipates quickly. Zero cushion. Just a cheap garbage soap in my opinion. However, I do hear the Luxury is much better so I’m going to find that and compare the two.

 

[DEATHMgck]

Never had an issue. Both versions are great performers for me.

Sucks that it didnt didn out for you. But you definitely have options out there.

 

[Twelvefret]

A terrible soap. Pretty sure this is the first time I used it since 2012. Thin lather. Dissipates quickly. Zero cushion. Just a cheap garbage soap in my opinion. However, I do hear the Luxury is much better so I’m going to find that and compare the two.

Great example of YMMV.

 

[fast shaver]

VDH Deluxe was my first soap as well because it was available at Walmart. It appears you didn't load the brush enough to me. Those containers it comes in are difficult to get a good load so I zap mine into a bowl in the microwave. Now its very easy to load up. It is a slick soap with plenty of cushion & does not dissipate on me even with hard well water. The Deluxe is a harder soap than the Luxury & lasts a lot longer as well. The smell is a take on "Grey Flannel" & smells nice to my nose. You should have zapped it into a bowl before binning it & you would have seen a big difference.

 

[troy]

I love VDH Deluxe! It was my first soap and I still enjoy using it. It smells like Grey Flannel which to my nose smells like a fresh new stack of money from the bank. That was an awesome moustache, sorry to see it go. You sure change your look a lot!

 

[Toothpick]

VDH Deluxe was my first soap as well because it was available at Walmart. It appears you didn't load the brush enough to me. Those containers it comes in are difficult to get a good load so I zap mine into a bowl in the microwave. Now its very easy to load up. It is a slick soap with plenty of cushion & does not dissipate on me even with hard well water. The Deluxe is a harder soap than the Luxury & lasts a lot longer as well. The smell is a take on "Grey Flannel" & smells nice to my nose. You should have zapped it into a bowl before binning it & you would have seen a big difference.

Are you suggesting to microwave the soap to make it work better?

I’m of the opinion that I shouldn't have to do anything extra to make my soap work. Load the brush and build a lather. If I have to follow a 10 step routine to get a soap to lather I’ll find a better soap.

Getting a microwave involved....?? Yeah, no thanks.

But just out of curiosity I may try it just once.

 

[Twelvefret]

Are you suggesting to microwave the soap to make it work better?

I’m of the opinion that I shouldn't have to do anything extra to make my soap work. Load the brush and build a lather. If I have to follow a 10 step routine to get a soap to lather I’ll find a better soap.

Getting a microwave involved....?? Yeah, no thanks.

But just out of curiosity I may try it just once.

No, no, no. Depending on your water quality, either the Deluxe or Luxury can be loaded with minimal effort. Seems to me the water quality is the often overlooked factor.

I've been able to use a lot of high end soaps because of the generosity of a friend. This allows me to say without reservation that if VDH isn't working for you, it's the water because the ingredients are present for a good soap.

 

[BigJ]

Two suggestions:
#1. Use more product. ‘Load it like you hate it!’
#2. Try using distilled water.

If those suggestions don’t work, then it is time to move on.

 

[fast shaver]

Are you suggesting to microwave the soap to make it work better?

I’m of the opinion that I shouldn't have to do anything extra to make my soap work. Load the brush and build a lather. If I have to follow a 10 step routine to get a soap to lather I’ll find a better soap.

Getting a microwave involved....?? Yeah, no thanks.

But just out of curiosity I may try it just once.

You can just get it out of the container & load it while in your hand as the container is too small to get a real good load. I melt it in a microwave only to get it in a shave bowl for easy loading & since it is a hard puck blooming will also help.

 

[Toothpick]

No, no, no. Depending on your water quality, either the Deluxe or Luxury can be loaded with minimal effort. Seems to me the water quality is the often overlooked factor.

I've been able to use a lot of high end soaps because of the generosity of a friend. This allows me to say without reservation that if VDH isn't working for you, it's the water because the ingredients are present for a good soap.

I doubt it’s my water. I could lather Williams way easier. I too have also lathered many quality soaps.
But to appease the masses I’ll try the suggestions listed here.

Two suggestions:
#1. Use more product. ‘Load it like you hate it!’
#2. Try using distilled water.

If those suggestions don’t work, then it is time to move on.

Pretty sure I loaded the crap out of it. I’m also not going to buy distilled water just to lather a soap.

You can just get it out of the container & load it while in your hand as the container is too small to get a real good load. I melt it in a microwave only to get it in a shave bowl for easy loading & since it is a hard puck blooming will also help.

Ahh, we are on the same page now. So I’ll try that next time.

 

[Twelvefret]

Hard to figure out what your problem might be. It is hard for me not to like a $2 soap.

 

[pdieten]

I watched part of your video and your experience confuses the hell out of me. I've been through a few pucks of VDH Deluxe and never once had trouble making a nice big slick cushiony lather with it. In fact I was so confused that just now I went to get my one recently purchased but unopened puck out of the drawer (hey, it was on sale) and did what you did - loaded it into my daily driver badger brush right out of the soap container, lathered my face up, and ran the first razor I found at hand over my chin and jawline. And I got a perfectly good lather with it, as always. It's a melt and pour; with that ingredients list it should be very easy to lather.

 

[Ad Astra]

There are few truly bad products out there, but they exist.

VDH is widely used, though.

AA

 

[Toothpick]

I’m happy to try some of the suggestions here. But we don’t all have to like the same soaps. What works for someone else might be crap for me. Without each of us using the exact same tools, exact same water, exact same technique, exact same beard, exact same EVERYTHING we will never be able to say for certain why soaps don’t perform consistently for each individual. It’s just not possible.

More water, less water, load it more, load it less, distilled water, hard water, soft water, badger, boar, specific ingredients, beard length, and on and on and on. It’s impossible to narrow down why a soap doesn’t work well for someone because we are not that someone. All the tips and tricks are all simply conjecture. It’s trial and error for the individual that makes a soap work or not work. Some folks are willing to do more trial is all.

 

[Twelvefret]

I don't think anyone is trying to tell you what soap brand to use.

 

[pdieten]

I’m happy to try some of the suggestions here. But we don’t all have to like the same soaps. What works for someone else might be crap for me. Without each of us using the exact same tools, exact same water, exact same technique, exact same beard, exact same EVERYTHING we will never be able to say for certain why soaps don’t perform consistently for each individual. It’s just not possible.

More water, less water, load it more, load it less, distilled water, hard water, soft water, badger, boar, specific ingredients, beard length, and on and on and on. It’s impossible to narrow down why a soap doesn’t work well for someone because we are not that someone. All the tips and tricks are all simply conjecture. It’s trial and error for the individual that makes a soap work or not work. Some folks are willing to do more trial is all.

The problem is that you made me stop believing in my own experience with the stuff and I had to go back and use it once just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I mean, if it didn't work for you personally, that's fine, but it's been widely sold and happily used by a lot of people for more than a decade. So for one person to come along now after all this time and call it garbage, we just want to make sure we understand where the problem actually is.

 

[RayClem]

I would not quite call it garbage, but of about 130 soaps in my den, there are only three that rate lower according to my evaluation criteria.

 

[Toothpick]

It’s garbage for me. I’ll buy another puck and try some of the suggestions here. I also want to compare it to the Luxury. I shouldn’t have been so quick to toss it. But it’s only a couple bucks so that’s a plus. But as of now...in my opinion, it’s trash.

 

[Twelvefret]

Hoepfully other members will ignore your appraisal.

 

[Toothpick]

Hoepfully other members will ignore your appraisal.

I hope so too because I form my own opinions of things by trying them myself. Which makes the most sense to me.