Should I deplete shaving creams before using shaving soaps

[honeybadger79]

Hello shaving enthusiasts,

I have many soaps and creams. Will the creams go bad with 10 years? I must like soaps better and the creams sit for long periods. Makes me think I should use them first since soaps last near a life-time.

Any thoughts you can share? Thanks!

 

[Atlantic59]

It's difficult to say how long products will last; it depends on the formulation and how it is stored. Some creams have preservatives in them, others might last only a couple of years. Some soaps will last practically forever, others will go rancid after some years.

If you like soaps, but want to use up your creams, you could use the "uberlather" technique. Load your brush with soap, then supercharge it with a dollop of shaving cream and build your lather with the combination. This usually results in a volcano of lather.

 

[Owen Bawn]

Most men, myself included, appear to underestimate how long a tub or a puck of soap or a tube of cream will last. I often wish I had burned through a few things before purchasing more but I didn't, and now despite not buying any soap or cream in over 2 years I still have a large box of unused soaps and creams in a closet in the cellar.

 

[Macduff]

Not speaking from experience since i tend to use what i have before i start a new soap/cream but i think your logic in using the creams first is solid. I’d assume anything liquid would go bad faster.

 

[MntnMan62]

I also have a lot of both soaps and creams. I often wonder the same thing you are wondering. I've been at this for almost 5 years. Have yet to see any of them go bad. I just try and use them all. I've stopped buying more until I use some up. I may die before that happens.

 

[kingfisher]

In a word, yes.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

In my experince creams tend to go off a bit sooner than soaps, but I don't think it's a hard and fast rule. One artisan soap I bought went off in less than a year, but some tubes of cream I have have lasted for several.

 

[Dovo1695]

Option 1: Use the creams to make super lather with you preferred soap as mentioned by @Owen Bawn. I've been doing that with a tube of Cremo recently and the lather has been phenomenal.

Option 2: If you prefer croaps to creams, you could always convert your creams to croaps. Squirt one in an empty tub, and leave it exposed to air with the lid off for a week or so. Now your cream is a croap.

 

[AnimalCatcher]

Another factor is whether the tube has been opened or is still factory sealed. I've used factory sealed tubes of shaving cream that were 75 years old and they were just fine, but I don't think that would have been the case had they been opened as it would have allowed bacteria and other foreign particles to affect the integrity of the product.

 

[BigJ]

If you really prefer soaps (which I do), then you might consider a PIF for your creams! Life is short, so why spend a ton of time using products you do not enjoy? Just my $0.02!

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

You can get run over by a bus, randomly get robbed and killed, or live to be 100, and almost anything else imaginable in between. If you want to try a new soap, just do it.

 

[thombrogan]

Get the soap and use the creams to break in your natural-fiber brushes. You do have a natural fiber brush addiction, don’t you?

 

[honeybadger79]

It's difficult to say how long products will last; it depends on the formulation and how it is stored. Some creams have preservatives in them, others might last only a couple of years. Some soaps will last practically forever, others will go rancid after some years.

If you like soaps, but want to use up your creams, you could use the "uberlather" technique. Load your brush with soap, then supercharge it with a dollop of shaving cream and build your lather with the combination. This usually results in a volcano of lather.

great idea!! Thanks

 

[honeybadger79]

Most men, myself included, appear to underestimate how long a tub or a puck of soap or a tube of cream will last. I often wish I had burned through a few things before purchasing more but I didn't, and now despite not buying any soap or cream in over 2 years I still have a large box of unused soaps and creams in a closet in the cellar.

yup, me too!

 

[honeybadger79]

Not speaking from experience since i tend to use what i have before i start a new soap/cream but i think your logic in using the creams first is solid. I’d assume anything liquid would go bad faster.

I think so too

 

[honeybadger79]

Option 1: Use the creams to make super lather with you preferred soap as mentioned by @Owen Bawn. I've been doing that with a tube of Cremo recently and the lather has been phenomenal.

Option 2: If you prefer croaps to creams, you could always convert your creams to croaps. Squirt one in an empty tub, and leave it exposed to air with the lid off for a week or so. Now your cream is a croap.

I love this idea!

 

[honeybadger79]

Get the soap and use the creams to break in your natural-fiber brushes. You do have a natural fiber brush addiction, don’t you?

Nope. I’ve not really blossomed into a brush-addict, lol. I have a boar, two synths, and a small badger

 

[Mitzie]

Just dry out your creams and let them harden in the sun. Then you have shaving soap!

 

[Dovo1695]

Just dry out your creams and let them harden in the sun. Then you have shaving soap!

My first jar of Proraso was as hard as a hockey puck when I opened it a few years after buying it. I thought all Proraso came that way.

 

[Ravenonrock]

In my eagerness to try things out I purchased too many soaps and creams starting out. I put the brakes on and thankfully they were quality purchases. I gravitate towards the soaps and try to sub in a cream now and then. Live and learn.