Why soap? I'm sure I'm not the first to ask....

[vocalistbob]

I have tried a lot of soaps and a lot of creams (there are many I haven't tried, of course). I have also used silvertips and bests, 2 bands and three bands. The bottom line for me is that the best creams provide the best results - and take much less time to prepare. I can understand wanting to spend a few extra minutes on a Saturday or Sunday morning to further indulge my addiction but I haven't got the patience to spend an extra three minutes or so every morning to properly prep with soap, especially since there seems to be no benefit to doing so. A wet shave with cream takes me 10 - 12 minutes (from start to clean-up), which is a lot longer than the three minutes it used to take me with a cartridge razor.

If I could find some genuine payoff in terms of shave quality, then I could see myself using soaps on a regular basis (well, weekends, anyway), but so far, that payoff has eluded me. To date, I still haven't found any product that gives the results I get from Castle Forbes creams. I have tried six or seven major brands as well as artisan soaps (including Mystic Water).

 

[GreekGuy]

Loading the soap takes 30-60 seconds for me, far less time than chasing a snurdle of cream around a bowl

I find soaps better in general. Part of that is I think they are more good soaps than creams. There are very good creams, but I think soaps in general are better.

Soaps allow for more fine tuning than a cream does. It takes practice and experience to judge loading time and water, but I think it can give a better lather. Creams are certainly much easier. Scoop some into a bowl, and then add water until its the right consistency. I will admit, that is much easier.

Soaps tend to be more economical. I'm not even going to argue this point since in reality I'm never going to save any money with this hobby anyway

I think soaps are also more traditional. For me, wetshaving isn't about the end result, its about the experience and the journey. Shaving soaps is a big part of that for me

And lastly, there are many fantastic products that aren't available as a cream. MdC cream? Klar cream? Calani cream? The same can be said for creams, however. The Penhaligons creams for example are far superior to the soaps.

Of course, YMMV and all that

 

[StubbleShaver]

Three Words.

Arko, Tabac, Cella.

 

[Cheapogit]

Soaps allow for more fine tuning than a cream does. It takes practice and experience to judge loading time and water, but I think it can give a better lather. Creams are certainly much easier. Scoop some into a bowl, and then add water until its the right consistency. I will admit, that is much easier.

I think soaps are also more traditional. For me, wetshaving isn't about the end result, its about the experience and the journey. Shaving soaps is a big part of that for me

Definitely the Tradition and Journey/Experience of shaving are winners for me.

I would also agree that practice is needed with soaps, I still find it quite a task (not an unwelcome one, though) to get soap lathers right, and, oddly (depending on the soap) I tend to underestimate the amount of water required.

 

[Bejaar]

I'm not a huge fan of hard soaps for those reasons. However, I keep a few pucks around for practice and working on my technique.

 

[Mike_P]

I've got horribly hard water and a large bowl requiring that I add a bunch to hydrate my soap, but I still love bowl lathering. Simply because it's fun and I enjoy being able to build my lather to where I like it. It also helps me in seeing how much I've created so I know that I can complete the passes I have planned.

 

[Vickers]

I keep soap in a mug, and I put water on it about 5 minutes before I shave.

That adds about, oh, 3 seconds to my routine.

 

[merkur59]

Three Words.

Arko, Tabac, Cella.

You missed out the 4th - MWF

 

[musicman1951]

The choice depends partially on your skin type (creams generally provide more moisturizing) and on your brush - if you use a pig bristle brush you can help justify your purchase with a good, hard soap (sorry - love to tweak the boar guys).

Typically soaps offer a little more cushion and slickness, which many straight razor shavers prefer, while creams offer a little more protection, which is preferred those who use safety razors. Eventually you'll probably end up with way too much of both.

 

[OldGreyGuy]

Three Words.

Arko, Tabac, Cella.

You missed out the 4th - MWF

Agreed!

 

[TheChefs]

I've tried Castle Forbes and I've sold it on this forum. It didn't work for me, in general, creams don't work for me at all. Also I don't like to play around with shaving bowls and some special rituals. I just face lather since it's fast, there's no mess to clean up and I can feel the quality of lather on my face. I've not found a single cream that comes close to soaps when it comes to slickness and protecting my face from razors.

 

[BeeSeeDub]

I have tried six or seven major brands as well as artisan soaps (including Mystic Water).

Which ones have you tried?

 

[vocalistbob]

Okay, I'll spring for the Arko, Tabac and Cella. I already have a puck of MWF. Maybe I will try working with water from my Brita pitcher since the water here is very hard. I have a two band Rooney so that'll be my brush of choice. I appreciate the zen of building lathers with soap, but the frustration I have experienced in the past was very un-zen-like.

 

[vocalistbob]

By the way, I have tried Tabac, MWF (need to try them again, I guess), D R Harris Arlington, Penhaligon BB (big money wasted), Mystic Water, an artisan soap from Artifact Soapworks (great scents) and few others I don't recall. Well, if nothing else, it's a lot cheaper to try new soaps than new brushes or razors.

 

[Singapura]

I'm a cream believer myself. I use Tabac soap when I have the time but I have about 5 times more creams then soaps. Creams work for me every time, soaps do not.

 

[njpaddy]

I've gone from mostly creams to mostly soaps. I face lather and if a using hard soap adds more than 30 seconds to my shave, it's only because I'm enjoying it more and purposely taking my time.

 

[john parker]

Soaps are more fun!

 

[Watasha]

...I haven't got the patience to spend an extra three minutes or so every morning to properly prep with soap...

I don't see how it would take anyone anywhere near this much longer with soaps over creams. I actually find it interesting that you're shaving traditionally at all since it is more time consuming at its very core. Either way, a good soap with good technique should take you no longer than a cream, or at the very least the increase in time added should be negligible. There are so many great soaps out there, I hope you don't limit yourself to just creams...that would just be cruel.

 

[vocalistbob]

Watasha - There's nothing I don't like about wet shaving except when it becomes frustrating. For me, it's the highlight of my morning (well, after the coffee, of course). Maybe it's my technique and maybe it's the hard water - or both. The reason I posted this message was that it seemed I was missing out on something that I should be able to master, but haven't so far. My concern, in addition to the extra time involved, was that I hadn't obtained results as good with soap as with creams. And if I was missing something, I wanted to know about it.

 

[strop]

I'll preface this by saying I haven't yet tried CF or Pen's cream, but I'll not likely replace many of my creams as I use them up. Since I started using a straight razor I find that soaps just seem to give me a better shave. Call it slickness, or whatever, and maybe it's all in my head, but that's what gives me best results. Time is the same for both.

This morning I used Bigelow cream instead of soap. Everything else the same, including razor, brush, prep, etc.as a shave early in the week with Valobra, except I have a lot more irritation now than I've had in a long time, maybe since the last time I tried using a cream.