Storing soaps

[Darren72]

I'm new to shaving soaps - I've only used creams. I just bought a small container of Col. Conk and also have a bar of Williams.

Both of these come in disposable packages. I'd rather not store the soaps in the shaving bowl since I'll use the bowl for different creams/soaps each day.

So what do people use for storing multiple types of soaps?

I saw the tutorial on milling soaps into a container. That looks cool. Where do you get the glass containers? Any other (easier) storage ideas?

Thanks.

 

[beginish]

Welcome to B&B! You can pick up pyrex/glass bowls with lids at your local department store that will fit them, or use one of the semi-disposable plastic Glad or Ziplock bowls from the supermarket. After you use them, let them air dry, then put the lid on and you'll be good to go.

 

[Darren72]

Thanks!
I'm about 2500 posts and nearly five years in on a food-related chat forum. It feels strange to be the newbie again.

 

[Chevyguy]

Thanks!
I'm about 2500 posts and nearly five years in on a food-related chat forum. It feels strange to be the newbie again.

Welcome aboard Darren. I use the round plastic Ziploc containers. They come in a pack of six and they store my soaps really well, and their cheaply priced.

Clayton

 

[Darren72]

Just so I'm clear, you both mean this type of thing (in the appropriate size):

You leave the soap in the container all of the time and build the lather in your bowl or on your face.

I also see a few references on the boards to people melting their soap. Is the purpose of this to get the soap to fit nicely into a different sized container? How do you actually melt the soap? (I'm sure this is covered well in another post, I just can't seem to find it.)

Thanks.

 

[BWagner]

...or use one of the semi-disposable plastic glad or ziplock bowls from the supermarket. After you use them, let them air dry, then put the lid on and you'll be good to go.

+1.

 

[wolfmanxiii]

Hey Darren,

Great tips from the guys who posted earlier!

With you being pretty new to this, I would advise against melting any soaps just yet. I made a video and posted a thread a while back on how to mill soap into a container. This is the safer alternative and you don't risk losing your soap. Most people will melt soap by finding a microwave safe container to put it in and just nuking it for quick 10 second bursts until they get what they want. Some also use a double boiler to melt soap, but this takes a little more patience.

For your current soaps: DO NOT NUKE WILLIAMS...I've heard the horror stories that resulted from trying this. Conk soap is probably alright to nuke though.

Hope this helps...BTW add a puck of Van Der Hagen Deluxe to your den, you'll thank me later. Should be able to find it at Walgreens, CVS, or Wal Mart.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

There have been excellent suggestions in the other posts. I also you ziploc bags when the soap is completely dry to store them. Soaps will last longer than creams.

 

[Laney1566]

DON'T....I REPEAT DON"T try to melt Williams in a microwave....
Conk yes in 10 second shots in the microwave.

My Williams bar became unusable when I tried to melt it in the micro.
Actually it began to grow things and was scary looking

 

[Darren72]

DON'T....I REPEAT DON"T try to melt Williams in a microwave....
Conk yes in 10 second shots in the microwave.

My Williams bar became unusable when I tried to melt it in the micro.
Actually it began to grow things and was scary looking

Well, it might be worth buying another bar of Williams just to sacrifice!

 

[sas71]

Just so I'm clear, you both mean this type of thing (in the appropriate size):

You leave the soap in the container all of the time and build the lather in your bowl or on your face.

I also see a few references on the boards to people melting their soap. Is the purpose of this to get the soap to fit nicely into a different sized container? How do you actually melt the soap? (I'm sure this is covered well in another post, I just can't seem to find it.)

Thanks.

those are the same ones i use and they work great. only downside is they dont fit in my medicine cabinet.

 

[GFreg]

Thanks!
I'm about 2500 posts and nearly five years in on a food-related chat forum. It feels strange to be the newbie again.

Go back to where you came from, Newb! Haha, just kidding. Being the new guy again is weird, isn't it? Welcome to B&B! As other have suggested you can get the plastic or glass food containers with the lids. Something with a lid would be nice to avoid spills and make stacking easier. A lot of the shaving related shopping websites sell wooden bowls or you can buy soaps that come pre-packaged in these bowls. Basically anything works it just depends on how classy you want to get with it. Coming from a food-related website you may be familiar with ramikens(sp?) which are usually about the right size for a puck of soap. If you plan on storing a lot then you might want to consider a product that is easy to label so you know what's what. Again, welcome to B&B and enjoy your shave!

 

[Deltaboy]

I store my stock in ziplock bags to keep them fresh!

 

[beginish]

There have been excellent suggestions in the other posts. I also you ziploc bags when the soap is completely dry to store them. Soaps will last longer than creams.

I store my stock in ziplock bags to keep them fresh!

Agreed. I have some NOS Old Spice soap that still has its scent, and I keep them bagged in ziplocs to keep all of the scent in. Of course, I have enough soap to last me through 2015, so it will be a while before I get to them.

 

[noraajagger]

i melted one VDH and stuck a second in the middle, the IKEA GRUNDTAL tins are ok.

PICTURE

 

[Greg1911]

I have enough soap to last me through 2015, so it will be a while before I get to them.

Only 4 years worth of soaps???

I wish my soap AD was that controlled.

 

[tkto13]

I just melted my Col. C to tonight. I bought a medium-small glass food-storage container with a plastic lid.

I set up a large pot with a steamer basket and placed the glass bowl with the soap on top of the basket. It took about 8 minutes of gentle steaming. I stirred often and cut up the puck in the bowl when it became soft enough.

The entire process worked wonderfully and none of the scent was lost either.

 

[tkto13]

I used the Col. C. soap in the new dish this morning. It was significantly easier to load the brush. I had so much trouble with the small format soap. Now that I have a nice large surface area, loading the brush is not a chore.

 

[mollzo-dk]

i melted one VDH and stuck a second in the middle, the IKEA GRUNDTAL tins are ok.

That's what I'm getting!! Looks way better than little plastic containers...

Neat trick with the melting first, and then sticking another on top! Are soap-blocks really that small??

- Morten

 

[wolfmanxiii]

VDH is a smaller soap puck like many of the "drugstore" shave soaps...it is only 2.5 oz. Two of them together are just a little more in weight than one Tabac refill puck if that helps to give you an idea.