Thread: Ivory bar soap

I saw a bunch of soft Ivory Soap in a soap disk. I said to self, "Self, you should try it". I removed the bar and used the soap-film that was all over the soap dish. It lathered up really quickly. It seemed to work about as good as anything I have tried.

All I have used for the most part is: Van Der something delux, Barbasol (foam in a can), and the Ivory bar soap.

My shaving mug, that I usually use, has a concoction in it. It seems that ever since I put a squirt of Barbasol in it, there has been some liquid in the bottom that does not dry up (maybe that is a coincidence). It was not really working for me (Van der something delux) until I did that & put a small chunk of home-made bath soap that my wife had lying around for years.

Anyhow - I do not recall anyone mentioning Ivory bar soap for shaving.

So I thought I would mention this and see if any comments ensue.

Jody //edit - corrected the spelling of Barbasol.

There's a recipe online for combining Ivory, Dove and a few other ingredients to make a shaving soap. It does work pretty well

My Grandfather used a bar of Ivory hand soap (or pretty much any hand soap) for decades, probably still does. I remember watching him shave when I was a kid, and he would just lather it in his hands, scrub it on his face and then shave. He always thought using anything else was a waste of money. The irony is that his Grandson has over 20 soaps and creams at his disposal

Ivory wouldn't work well for my face and skin but there's no reason why it wouldn't work for someone else. That being said there are much better options out there, literally lightyears ahead in performance. I would recommend reading through some of the threads in the Soaps & Creams forum to get some ideas.

Yea, playing around with using ivory soap and other things as shave soap can be fun and interesting. Fortunately there are a ton of actual shave soaps in the $5 to $15 range that will run circles around most home brewed concoctions. Using a decent soap specifically made for shaving also eliminates one of the variables in attempting to get a good close and comfortable shave.

Bob

In the Bargain Bin I doubt anything beats Williams at .98 per puck in fact Williams and learning to lather with Williams should almost be a "Right of Passage" for any new Wet Shaver

Ivory doesn't have the Glide that actual shave soaps have JMHO

I have a friend that loves the translucent liquid hand soap and a boar brush. I presume the liquid soap is glycerin based but just guessing.

Some bar soaps actually do work like glecerin based pears.
Have always wanted to try Lava on the pretense that I could hone whilst shaving.

I am a beginner, and I do not put too much stock into the following statement (still learning the techniques):

I had the closest straight shave this morning with the Ivory bar soap.
(It was not that great of a shave, had trouble with the chin & mustache).

It is also true that I put the razor on my hone for 4 or 10 strokes last night - so maybe that is what did it.

Jody

There's all kinds of stuff that will work as a "shave soap". That doesn't mean folks would want to use them but in a pinch or not they will work.

I once knew this guy who swore by bubble bath soap he pinched from his wife. He said it made so much bubbles his entire face was covered which of course meant he couldn't see too well when he shaved and the bubbles were flying all over the place. He said he used to like to shave while watching the lawrence Welk Show on T.V.

A wona and a twoa...

Shaving soaps are formulated for a certain task and as such, soap makers use certain ingredients to give the soap specific properties...most predominantly lubrication and lather volume for protection.

Hand/bath soaps have a different purpose...cleaning.

Because of this, I personally would not use any lather from a hand soap to shave with when using a straight razor.