Trumper Rose Soap

[gpjoe]

Lots of threads here (did a search ) about Trumpers soap. Should have done the search BEFORE buying the soap.

Most of the negative comments I have seen here is that the soap is "hard to lather". I found the opposite is true. Here is my method:

• Shave some soap off of the puck into my bowl, press shavings into bowl.
• Add a few drops of water and allow soap to soak, while my brush soaks. In this instance, at least 15 minutes.
• Pour water (cold) from mug used for soaking brush.
• Turn on hot tap and fill sink, at the same time re-wet brush with hot water while filling sink,
• Go to bowl with brush to lather soap, add hot water to lather as needed while sink fills

I've been using this method for a while with hard and semi-hard soaps (MdC, Stirling) very successfully, and got the same result with the Trumpers soap: a bowl full of creamy lather.

Things LOOKED great and I applied the lather as normal with some swirls and scrubs, finishing with some painting to even things up. So far, so good, then i took a couple of strokes with my razor....

...and was shocked by how much drag I felt. Thinking needed a bit more water, I dipped my brush and added some water to the lather on my face. I grabbed my razor and took another swipe but still the dragging. I felt the lather with my fingertips and it felt ok, but I couldn't believe the drag I was getting.

I grabbed a tube of Tabac, smeared a couple of blobs onto my mug and face lathered to finish the shave - which was marvelous, thanks to the Tabac.

Anyway, i rinsed the remaining Trumpers lather down the drain, and likely will never use it again. It has no (or very little) lubrication, and was the poorest performing soap I have ever used.

MdC rose, here I come.

 

[sarimento1]

Sir gpjoe, IIRC, I had a puck of GFT non-tallow rose some time ago. It worked fine, good slickness.
If you read the GFT soap threads, key is to load really heavily, little water.

 

[gpjoe]

Sir gpjoe, IIRC, I had a puck of GFT non-tallow rose some time ago. It worked fine, good slickness.
If you read the GFT soap threads, key is to load really heavily, little water.

View attachment 1551640

Ok, on your recommendation, I will try again, and use twice the amount of soap I would use for MdC or Stirling, but that's a LOT of soap. I had nearly a bowl full of lather with the amount of soap I did use, enough (fairly thick) lather for at least two shaves.

I don't load the brush directly from the puck, but shave the soap and press it into the center of my Captain's Choice copper bowl, wet the soap with several drops of water, and lather with a wet brush after the soap has soaked for a while.

...but, one more shot.

 

[Doc Dan]

This is a really slick soap, but your brush needs to be drier and you must load and load and load. I soak mine in the container with enough water to just cover the puck. I let it sit overnight. When I get ready to shave the next day I pour off any remaining water (and use it as a preshave). Then, I wet my brush (synthetic), shake it out, then lightly squeeze it out. Then, I load like crazy, for a long time, at least a minute and a half. Then I go to my bowl to build the lather. it will come up creamy. I start face painting and if it is too thick I dip the edge of the tips in water just a little and continue to paint. You will get all of the lather and slickness you desire.

 

[gpjoe]

This is a really slick soap, but your brush needs to be drier and you must load and load and load. I soak mine in the container with enough water to just cover the puck. I let it sit overnight. When I get ready to shave the next day I pour off any remaining water (and use it as a preshave). Then, I wet my brush (synthetic), shake it out, then lightly squeeze it out. Then, I load like crazy, for a long time, at least a minute and a half. Then I go to my bowl to build the lather. it will come up creamy. I start face painting and if it is too thick I dip the edge of the tips in water just a little and continue to paint. You will get all of the lather and slickness you desire.

I'm definitely going to try again. I try not to judge anything based on a single experience.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[gpjoe]

Round 2:

Soaked an Omega boar, and bloomed the soap for about an hour. Loaded the brush generously and went straight to face lathering.

The soap seemed much slicker, and the shave was much better...

...and no bowl to clean!

I still bought some MdC (and prefer it), but will continue both, one with a bowl, the other without.

 

[Pedigree]

Lots of threads here (did a search ) about Trumpers soap. Should have done the search BEFORE buying the soap.

Most of the negative comments I have seen here is that the soap is "hard to lather". I found the opposite is true. Here is my method:

• Shave some soap off of the puck into my bowl, press shavings into bowl.
• Add a few drops of water and allow soap to soak, while my brush soaks. In this instance, at least 15 minutes.
• Pour water (cold) from mug used for soaking brush.
• Turn on hot tap and fill sink, at the same time re-wet brush with hot water while filling sink,
• Go to bowl with brush to lather soap, add hot water to lather as needed while sink fills

I've been using this method for a while with hard and semi-hard soaps (MdC, Stirling) very successfully, and got the same result with the Trumpers soap: a bowl full of creamy lather.

Things LOOKED great and I applied the lather as normal with some swirls and scrubs, finishing with some painting to even things up. So far, so good, then i took a couple of strokes with my razor....

...and was shocked by how much drag I felt. Thinking needed a bit more water, I dipped my brush and added some water to the lather on my face. I grabbed my razor and took another swipe but still the dragging. I felt the lather with my fingertips and it felt ok, but I couldn't believe the drag I was getting.

I grabbed a tube of Tabac, smeared a couple of blobs onto my mug and face lathered to finish the shave - which was marvelous, thanks to the Tabac.

Anyway, i rinsed the remaining Trumpers lather down the drain, and likely will never use it again. It has no (or very little) lubrication, and was the poorest performing soap I have ever used.

MdC rose, here I come.

Sounds like you used too much water? It's not a thirsty soap, though a new puck would need a good soaking to soften the outer "skin" for initial loading which then (after repeated use) softens the soap for use. I load it while the brush is damp, with the tiny bit of blooming water drained off of the puck and I load for a good while till I get a paste like consistency (no bubbles) and then slowly add tiny bits of water. I actually get plenty of lubrication through this method.

Also, this soap works best with face lathering.