Soaps vs Creams lifetime

[czbeme]

I had many soaps and creams prior to the pandemic shutdown.
Then my shaving was dramatically reduced, as I mostly use a electric stubble shaver.
I might have preformed a blade shave once a couple of weeks, maybe.
So now that the shutdown is over (don't give up you mask), I've been shaving again.
I have found the all my creams (a few tubes open and sealed) had seperated and
while they still could be used didn't provide a quality shaving experience,
All my hard soaps however are perfectly useful and although may have lost some scent...
they performed as great as before the pandemic!!!!

My take away is: creams are great for conveniences if you can use them up but...
If you want long term reliably go with triple milled soaps. I now shave 1 -2 times a week.
I've got 5 triple milled soap pucks that should be a lifetime supply for me.

My bottom line is creams don't last, hard pucks do!

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I agree that soaps generally last longer than creams. I used TOBS creams when I first started traditional shaving and some dried up and firmed up in their tubs and in my opinion improved as a result. I have several tubes of Yardley cream which are 30+ years old and the open ones had completely solidified in the tubes. I cut the tubes open and pressed the content into a mug and the result was a superb hard soap. I think if a cream simply dries up then it is fine, if it separates then it is not.

Resurrection of a vintage Yardley shaving cream

I just acquired two tubes of vintage Yardley shaving cream, one NOS and the other part used. The part used cream was very hard in the tube and it was almost impossible to squeeze any out. The little I could use was very dry, needed water adding and did not lather well. The tube is shown below...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[silverlifter]

I've had a tube of Weleda cream for at least 15 years. I only use it when I travel, because I loathe the menthol burn. But every time I open it up, it lathers perfectly. Creams in tubes should last well past the apolcalypse...

 

[rbscebu]

ARKO has a use-by date of 7 years from date of manufacture.

 

[czbeme]

YMMV but.....
triple milled hard soaps seem to be bullet proof.
So if you want to leave a shave kit in the fishing cabin or your backpack
for years at a time, stash a hard soap.

 

[edw]

I have some TOBS from 2012 and 2013 that are just as good as when they came.

 

[Edinburgh]

My oldest cream (a tub of TOBS Avocado) was purchased 11 years ago. I have never had a problem lathering and using any cream regardless of its age.

 

[BigJ]

I had many soaps and creams prior to the pandemic shutdown.
Then my shaving was dramatically reduced, as I mostly use a electric stubble shaver.
I might have preformed a blade shave once a couple of weeks, maybe.
So now that the shutdown is over (don't give up you mask), I've been shaving again.
I have found the all my creams (a few tubes open and sealed) had seperated and
while they still could be used didn't provide a quality shaving experience,
All my hard soaps however are perfectly useful and although may have lost some scent...
they performed as great as before the pandemic!!!!

My take away is: creams are great for conveniences if you can use them up but...
If you want long term reliably go with triple milled soaps. I now shave 1 -2 times a week.
I've got 5 triple milled soap pucks that should be a lifetime supply for me.

My bottom line is creams don't last, hard pucks do!

+1! ’…creams don’t last, hard pucks do!’ That summarizes my experience also!

 

[Chandu]

I think the order of "lastitude" is as follows:
1. Hard soaps
2. Commercial Croaps
3. Commercial Creams
4. European artisan soap maker offerings (that are NOT hard soaps) - they have to prove their soap doesn't grow bacteria.
5. American artisan soap offerings (that are NOT hard soaps)

 

[stoof2010]

I've got 7-8 year old TOBS creams and many others from that time too. Almost none have gone bad or anything and smell still there. Their inner caps on the tubs may help with that. I have some TOBS shaving shop scent that I was sad to hear they stopped making that's still perfect. My experience is hard pucks last indefinitely but croaps and creams probbaly do have a viability period. Torage is most important I would say.

 

[kikovich]

dry old cream = new soap

 

[stoof2010]

dry old cream = new soap

All are still perfect color but yes closer to a croap now. Like proraso "soap" or even razorock.