Has anyone ever tried grating soap (or using flakes) and mixing it into cream in large batches, for easy (but obviously lazy) superlather? Is this feasible, does it even work? I just discovered the wonders of superlather this morning, and I don't think I can ever, ever go back... but I'm lazy.
Superlather cheating - mixing cream and grated soap or flakes?
- Thread starter kennyj
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Here at the B&B guys love to experiment with soaps so Im sure you well get some input on your creation, and maybe even some ways to improve it.........keep up the good work.
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- #3
Heh, I haven't actually *tried* it yet. Was just curious if anyone else has been crazy enough to as of yet.
I have some cheap soap I can sacrifice for the cause, would only need to find some cheap cream. I'm not risking my DR Harris when there's a small puck of Van der Hagen that cost me $2.
I have some cheap soap I can sacrifice for the cause, would only need to find some cheap cream. I'm not risking my DR Harris when there's a small puck of Van der Hagen that cost me $2.
I've pulverized some Williams Mug Soap into a powder (to make a shaving powder) by using an old Magic Bullet we had sitting around. It worked very well. Just sprinkle a little bit of the shaving powder into the lather bowl, add a dollop of cream, and a little bit of water... Superlather!
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- #6
Bath & Body Works was doing (a usual?) buy-2-get-1 deal on Bigelow products. ~$12 later (with tax) I had three 1.7oz tubes. I had 2.4oz of soap left of my Van der Hagen.
I didn't want to do the whole (remaining) puck, and the whole tube. So, I broke out a Microplane Grater (ribbon) and in a few minutes, had one ounce of the soap grated. I got this into a plastic bag, added one ounce of cream, and squeezed all of the air out. 50/50 mix, by weight, sounded like a good starting point - though in the end it was maybe 1.1oz of cream (it's harder to weigh.)
Mixing it up in the bag took a little effort. I'm not sure how much it matters that I got the excess air out... either way, I quickly had it down to a few stubborn clumps, and it thickened a little. Since I had to do dishes anyway, I just dropped the bag into the bottom of the sink so the warm water would wash over it... after a few minutes of that, the warm soap melted readily into the cream, and I was able to quickly mix it together consistently. I'll probably start with that next time.
While still warm, I snipped off the corner of the bag and squeezed my 2oz or so of paste into a small tupperware container. Even while warm, it was like a very thick cream - it held its shape well, but was obviously still malleable (I had to smack the container against the counter to settle it to the bottom.) We'll see how it behaves tomorrow, after cooling and settling overnight.
Note: If you try this yourself, use a freeer bag, or some otherwise durable bag. It does take a good amount of mashing to do it my way. Not sure how well a pre-mix would work using a bullet, mixer, etc. but I'd be curious to find out if anyone tries.
ETA: After cooling, the texture seems, well... somewhere between a paste and a soft soap. I haven't used more than a handful of products, but it reminds me of what I imagine Tabula Rasa is like - a (very) soft soap that would probably be best delivered by a squeeze tube, and that might take a little work to load into a brush. We shall see.
I didn't want to do the whole (remaining) puck, and the whole tube. So, I broke out a Microplane Grater (ribbon) and in a few minutes, had one ounce of the soap grated. I got this into a plastic bag, added one ounce of cream, and squeezed all of the air out. 50/50 mix, by weight, sounded like a good starting point - though in the end it was maybe 1.1oz of cream (it's harder to weigh.)
Mixing it up in the bag took a little effort. I'm not sure how much it matters that I got the excess air out... either way, I quickly had it down to a few stubborn clumps, and it thickened a little. Since I had to do dishes anyway, I just dropped the bag into the bottom of the sink so the warm water would wash over it... after a few minutes of that, the warm soap melted readily into the cream, and I was able to quickly mix it together consistently. I'll probably start with that next time.
While still warm, I snipped off the corner of the bag and squeezed my 2oz or so of paste into a small tupperware container. Even while warm, it was like a very thick cream - it held its shape well, but was obviously still malleable (I had to smack the container against the counter to settle it to the bottom.) We'll see how it behaves tomorrow, after cooling and settling overnight.
Note: If you try this yourself, use a freeer bag, or some otherwise durable bag. It does take a good amount of mashing to do it my way. Not sure how well a pre-mix would work using a bullet, mixer, etc. but I'd be curious to find out if anyone tries.
ETA: After cooling, the texture seems, well... somewhere between a paste and a soft soap. I haven't used more than a handful of products, but it reminds me of what I imagine Tabula Rasa is like - a (very) soft soap that would probably be best delivered by a squeeze tube, and that might take a little work to load into a brush. We shall see.
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- #7
My initial impression was thrown off by an impatient wife. With her rushing me to get out the door, I used too much of the mix, added too much water on top of that, and was left with a thin lather (but which still worked a lot better than it had any right to.) I only did one pass on top of pre-shave oil, however, so it really wasn't a test at all.
The texture would vary depending on the particular products used, and the proportions. This mix was way too thick to load directly onto the brush like one would with cream, but I figured it wouldn't be a great idea to add water considering how soft it is by soap standards. I used my fingers to pull out a roughly almond-sized portion, flicked it into the mug, and vigorously attacked it with the brush... it resisted loading into the bristles for a moment, but the heat and moisture quickly broke it up and I had it thoroughly loaded within 30 seconds or so. I think a more soap-heavy mix would probably be a lot like Tabula Rasa from what I know of the product, and also more like what a superlather typically is, but I don't know what proportions would normally be for that in practice. However, with my 50/50 by weight mix, it still loads very quickly - much faster than I can do even with hard soap alone. I need to figure out how to get it into a squeeze tube of some form.
I'll try again either tonight or in the morning, and let you know what the actual experience is like. Between the lacking single-pass shave yesterday morning and having not had time to shave today, I'm rocking quite the stubble right now. Should be a good test.
The texture would vary depending on the particular products used, and the proportions. This mix was way too thick to load directly onto the brush like one would with cream, but I figured it wouldn't be a great idea to add water considering how soft it is by soap standards. I used my fingers to pull out a roughly almond-sized portion, flicked it into the mug, and vigorously attacked it with the brush... it resisted loading into the bristles for a moment, but the heat and moisture quickly broke it up and I had it thoroughly loaded within 30 seconds or so. I think a more soap-heavy mix would probably be a lot like Tabula Rasa from what I know of the product, and also more like what a superlather typically is, but I don't know what proportions would normally be for that in practice. However, with my 50/50 by weight mix, it still loads very quickly - much faster than I can do even with hard soap alone. I need to figure out how to get it into a squeeze tube of some form.
I'll try again either tonight or in the morning, and let you know what the actual experience is like. Between the lacking single-pass shave yesterday morning and having not had time to shave today, I'm rocking quite the stubble right now. Should be a good test.
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- #8
Finally gave it a proper test. Almond-sized portion, reasonable amount of water this time. While loading it took longer than loading with straight cream, it didn't take anywhere near as long as loading the brush with soap. The lather formed about as quickly as lather can form with my hard water; took me maybe a full minute to go from a chunk of paste in my mug to a full lather.
The shave was quite good. Not quite as good as a DR Harris superlather - which is fair, considering the latter's premium cost - but still a little better than I would've had even with the DR harris soap by itself. Not a terrible accomplishment for a pair of inexpensive, locally-obtained products. I'm not sure how I feel about the Proraso cooling effect, but either way I think this concept is a winner.
The next step is finding a squeeze tube or something similar to dispense it with. I don't think I'm going to get any more VDH or mix the Proraso into anything else (I'm gonna save those small tubes for travelling) but I'm seriously contemplating just blending the DR Harris soap and cream that I have together. On one hand, I enjoy the experience of using them the more traditional way... but shaving a minute or two off of my morning routine certainly wouldn't hurt.
The shave was quite good. Not quite as good as a DR Harris superlather - which is fair, considering the latter's premium cost - but still a little better than I would've had even with the DR harris soap by itself. Not a terrible accomplishment for a pair of inexpensive, locally-obtained products. I'm not sure how I feel about the Proraso cooling effect, but either way I think this concept is a winner.
The next step is finding a squeeze tube or something similar to dispense it with. I don't think I'm going to get any more VDH or mix the Proraso into anything else (I'm gonna save those small tubes for travelling) but I'm seriously contemplating just blending the DR Harris soap and cream that I have together. On one hand, I enjoy the experience of using them the more traditional way... but shaving a minute or two off of my morning routine certainly wouldn't hurt.
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- #9
So, I've been using this mix for a while now. Even though the brush handle fills 3/4 of the volume of the container I put the mix into, I found that I can lather it much like you would a soft soap (from what I understand, having not tried any myself as of yet.) I see no reason why you couldn't just pack it into a soap container of any kind; it's even dry enough that I wouldn't worry about wood.
I'm looking forward to switching back to my DR Harris (which I'm probably going to mix together as with the VDH/Proraso) for the scent, lack of menthol, and overall performance, but I really can't say that the mix is a slouch. Not bad at all for what I paid to put it together.
I'm looking forward to switching back to my DR Harris (which I'm probably going to mix together as with the VDH/Proraso) for the scent, lack of menthol, and overall performance, but I really can't say that the mix is a slouch. Not bad at all for what I paid to put it together.
I know I've mentioned my mix-ups before, but since you asked, I'll repeat myself a little. In my experience, a pre-mixed superlather works great. I continue to experiment, by my current favorite is something like this:
2oz Dove
2.5oz VDH Deluxe
3 Tbsp KMF mint
2 Tbsp Headslick
I grate the two soaps, mix in the two creams, and pack the croap into the bottom of a mug or bowl. At times, I might add some peppermint oil or menthol crystals, maybe some eucalyptus oil (or substitute Prorasso for the Headslick), etc. I don't think I've done it exactly the same way twice -- always experimenting.
As we all know, YMMV, but it works for me!
2oz Dove
2.5oz VDH Deluxe
3 Tbsp KMF mint
2 Tbsp Headslick
I grate the two soaps, mix in the two creams, and pack the croap into the bottom of a mug or bowl. At times, I might add some peppermint oil or menthol crystals, maybe some eucalyptus oil (or substitute Prorasso for the Headslick), etc. I don't think I've done it exactly the same way twice -- always experimenting.
As we all know, YMMV, but it works for me!
