I haven't used a whole lot of cream in tubes, but with two of them I've used, they have cracked or split on me, causing minor but annoying leaks/mess. I have seen online shops that sell metal pins that you can use to roll the tube down with, so I'm assuming most metal tubes are meant to be able to roll, and tightly at that. Did I just have a little bad luck? Or am I doing something wrong? I figured I should try to roll the tubes up the way one does with toothpaste. Don't think I was being too aggressive with them, so not sure what the issue was. Any advice?
tube problems
- Thread starter Jan Sobieski
- Start date
I’ve had 5 tubes total, so not a ton of experience with them, but I’ve had no problems thus far. I do use one of those metal rollers with them and it works well. Perhaps you got some bum tubes, or maybe I’ve been lucky 
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
A word of caution. I tried the metal clip / roller thing on a tube and all was ok for a short while until the thing rusted like crazy. I threw it away and abandoned the idea. I haven’t had any trouble with the proraso tubes in terms of splitting or anything. I’ve read where people had issues with the cap in the past. I had the cella green sort of dry out but the cap and tube seem intact.
I ended up using the device below to extract all of the cream without rolling it up. It is sold in grocery stores and Wal-Mart.
I do roll. I can stand them upright next to each other and use them up completely.
The problem with tubes is they can crack from repeated bending. I use tube keys which helps prevent that. Metal tubes work better if you double over the end of the tube before putting the key on. That gives the key a more secure grip on the tube. Too much pressure on a tube can cause a blow-out.
Unbelievable how some people like to over-complicate the most simple things in life. I shaved using mostly creams in tubes for decades and every time I squeezed the very last atom of cream out. I didn't need tube rollers, keys, mini steam-rollers, mini rolling mills or other stupid things. I just used my head, then at each use I squeezed the tube from the end. Each and every time I squeezed the tube until it become, in the end, a flat surface, like a ribbon. This works best with metallic (aluminum) tubes, but it works also with plastic tubes (toothpaste). Why would I need a key to squeeze the tube when I can do this much simpler, in a natural way, and much better?
This post reminded me another "problem" encountered here: "the aftershave bottle has a too large opening, so I always end pouring too much, over the sink and over myself. Help, please! What can I do? Where I can buy some flow restrictors?".
Hah! If the opening is too big (it can be), then put the tip of your index finger on the opening, turn the bottle upside down and, slowly retracting your finger, let the desired number of aftershave drops to...drop in your other palm. Voila! No need to search on Amazon, on Ebay or in China for "flow restrictors". You have what you need for a precise dosage of aftershave - a finger. I used this method for decades too, way before the advent of the Internet. Nobody told me to do so, not even my father. Some things are so simple you can figure it yourself.
My post may seem harsh, and probably is. Where I come from we're not used to sugarcoat everything we say, just to appear civilized and polite. My apologies if I offended anyone.
This post reminded me another "problem" encountered here: "the aftershave bottle has a too large opening, so I always end pouring too much, over the sink and over myself. Help, please! What can I do? Where I can buy some flow restrictors?".
Hah! If the opening is too big (it can be), then put the tip of your index finger on the opening, turn the bottle upside down and, slowly retracting your finger, let the desired number of aftershave drops to...drop in your other palm. Voila! No need to search on Amazon, on Ebay or in China for "flow restrictors". You have what you need for a precise dosage of aftershave - a finger. I used this method for decades too, way before the advent of the Internet. Nobody told me to do so, not even my father. Some things are so simple you can figure it yourself.
My post may seem harsh, and probably is. Where I come from we're not used to sugarcoat everything we say, just to appear civilized and polite. My apologies if I offended anyone.
Whatever works for you.
My current rotation is 3 soaps and 3 creams. To save space the soaps are stacked and the creams are standing in a neat row. I can easily grab them and especially with the plastic tubes I can see how much is left.
I also use these "tube squeezer" things. They do a great job of getting all the paste/cream without crimping or bending aluminum tubes. I got mine at the dollar store (4-pack for $1.25).
However, if I do get a tube that cracks or splits, then I patch it with aluminum foil HVAC tape. A 30-ft. roll costs as little as $2. It's sticky as heck, so it won't peel off, even if it gets wet.
- Thread starter
- #11
So - to clarify, the concise version of your reply, insofar as it relates to my question, that is - which was about tubes cracking and splitting when attempting to roll the empty part up by hand - would be: just press the tubes flat as one expels the contents; don't attempt to roll them up at the end as one might do with toothpaste tubes.
Thanks.
I'm a cream guy and I use creams in tubes exclusively.
Never EVER roll metal tubes. It will crack and tear. If that happens your only hope is to squeeze all the content into a tupperware container. In fact, my palmolive cracked and tore up without me even rolling that time so I had to tape it up.
Only roll plastic tubes.
Never EVER roll metal tubes. It will crack and tear. If that happens your only hope is to squeeze all the content into a tupperware container. In fact, my palmolive cracked and tore up without me even rolling that time so I had to tape it up.
Only roll plastic tubes.
Never had a tube metal or otherwise split on me. So far this includes the Prorasos, Palmolive, La Toja, Musgo Real and Lavanda. I use metal and plastic keys to roll them up. YMMV
Good golly we need clean up on isle 9.
- Plastic tubes do age and split open. I've not had it happen with shaving soap as I use it fairly quickly but I've had several pain relief ointments in plastic tubes split open.
- Personally I tend to use my fingers to squeeze things to the opening in tubes . . .Zenex uses his head.
. Come on. How complicated is a tube key? I actually see a version in this thread I'll try. - Never ever roll metal tubes? Come on Man. Don't tell your grandma how to suck eggs. People have been rolling tubes for ever. Johnson & Johnson was putting product in metal tubes since 1889
- I suspect Zenex is talking about the large hole in Aqua Velva bottles . . . yeah if you like the stuff . . . as I do . . . you go easy. That being said it would have been better if they just kept with an average orifice. On the other hand I wish the hot sauce I use had a larger one . . . maybe I can swap them. I think the large hole feels like abusive marketing to many of us. I posted a thread in another forum about the scoop that comes with Oxyclean . . . check it out. . . . same idea.
I've never thought of using my head to get get the last bid of shaving cream out of a tube.
Is that a old punk rock method?
I just use my hands for shaving cream tubes. I have thought of a tube roller but never actually got one.
Hey I even use a shaving brush when my hands would also do just fine. A scuttle as well.
So why not a tube roller? Maybe I will now.
Is it overcomplicating it? No more than using a knife and fork for a eating steak, when just picking it up with your hand works just fine.
Full disclosure, I've eaten a steak both ways.......don't judge me.
Is that a old punk rock method?
I just use my hands for shaving cream tubes. I have thought of a tube roller but never actually got one.
Hey I even use a shaving brush when my hands would also do just fine. A scuttle as well.
So why not a tube roller? Maybe I will now.
Is it overcomplicating it? No more than using a knife and fork for a eating steak, when just picking it up with your hand works just fine.
Full disclosure, I've eaten a steak both ways.......don't judge me.
Yeah.....I just push the product out from the back of the tube with my fingers. Seems to be working ok, no cracks yet and the cream seems to come out the cap end. So far so good.
- Thread starter
- #18
And to think - what a world! All this drama, when all I was asking is: if I want to squeeze all the cream out that I possibly can from a tube without any cracking or splitting problems, should I roll them up (with my fingers), or just press the tubes flat (again, with my fingers)? It seemed a simple question at the time...
I think if guys use pins to roll their tubes up - great! If not, that's also great. If they park a 1954 DeSoto on top of the tube, that works, too.
I think if guys use pins to roll their tubes up - great! If not, that's also great. If they park a 1954 DeSoto on top of the tube, that works, too.
Before all the drama, I suggested a tube key. They cost maybe $1.50 and are as simple as can be. Rolling a metal tube in too tight a radius can lead to cracking of the metal, that's one reason to use a key. A second reason is it just looks neater. For $1.50, why not? These things can be re-used over and over again. I probably have half-a-dozen of them.
That's a no muss no fuss solution. Just keeping it tidy works for me.
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