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

Originally Posted by rodb

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

I used that recipe back in September. It was an Ivory bar, Dove bar, some castor oil, and a bit of olive oil, all melted together. I used the soap the next day and it lathered well like a thick cream. After 2 weeks it began to harden like a soap, but the lather it gave started getting thin. After a month the lather was much thinner, and it reminded me of the lather I get from Williams. I stopped using it after that, and tossed it in the shower.

Originally Posted by henryconchile

I used that recipe back in September. It was an Ivory bar, Dove bar, some castor oil, and a bit of olive oil, all melted together. I used the soap the next day and it lathered well like a thick cream. After 2 weeks it began to harden like a soap, but the lather it gave started getting thin. After a month the lather was much thinner, and it reminded me of the lather I get from Williams. I stopped using it after that, and tossed it in the shower.

Soap makers will tell you that adding oil to your soap after it's made (saponified) will only hinder the performance of your soap. Oil is also bad for your brush.

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

Originally Posted by gssixgun

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

Glen, as you may remember I started a 'war' here at SRP a few years ago when I was a newbie and had simply posted how I had been finding that buying the Williams Shaving Soap that I'd been using for 30 years was getting harder to find! I'd simply posted how I'd found a local grocery store that made a deal with me to buy the Williams for about $0.70 and I'd bought A LOT!

I had no idea that there was such a 'Love/Hate' feeling!

I have other soaps, but to keep all 'tests' consistent, I still use the one that I've now used for about 35 years!

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.