Thread: Soaps -- Straights vs DE

New guy here.

I've noticed on a DE forum that the straight shavers may have a bit different requirements for soaps and creams.

What qualities of my soaps for DE shaving do I reach for when straight shaving?

I use any soap or cream that gives a nice decently thick lather that is slick and holds a good amount of water. Residual slickness, slick feeling even after you shaved the lather off, is always welcome too. I make the same type of lather for straight razors or DEs/SEs regardless.

Bob

Aloha!

I shave with Straights, Shavettes and DE razors. I don't have razor specific soaps, and I've been at this for decades. Saying this, I realize that everyone is different, and some guys may think they need different soaps for different razors, and that's fine. Do what you like. Me? I probably have 20 or 30 soaps and 10 creams in my shave den, and I find that I use two soaps and two creams 80 percent of the time - regardless of what razor I'm using.

You have to experiment. You may prefer a Tallow based soap over Glycerin or VS VS. You may prefer a cream like Proraso over a soap like Stirling - or VS VS. As Bob said, any soap or cream that gives you a nice lather and is slick works for most gentlemen.

There are ranges in soaps and creams. I feel a big difference between a soap from Colonel Conk and a soap from Stirling or other artisan soaps. I feel a big difference between a cream from Cremo and a cream from Proraso. I like them both, but they are very different on my skin and perform differently when shaving.

Soaps and creams are fairly inexpensive, so you can get a few and enjoy experimenting. Have fun!

-Zip

Mr. ZipZop... You should run for office...

Originally Posted by FWiedner

Mr. ZipZop... You should run for office...

No sir. I run FROM office.

As I moved towards more aggressive safety razors, my soap selection has gravitated to the slicker soaps, esp. those with residual slickness. I imagine those will be what I use as I venture into straight shaving. Favorites include L&L Grooming, Haslinger, Mystic Water, Stirling and a few creams including Castle Forbes and Simpsons.

Originally Posted by ZipZop

I feel a big difference between a soap from Colonel Conk and a soap from Stirling or other artisan soaps.

Sadly, I don't. I've never understood the appeal of Stirling soaps. Maybe the newer stuff got better but the several that I've tried from years ago were not very good, to put it charitably.

Regarding the OP's question, I suspect that a quality soap will be equally interchangeable for both straights and DEs. I cannot say that definitively, as I only very rarely make use of a DE razor and certainly have not attempted to make such a comparison. However, it is an interesting question.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Sadly, I don't. I've never understood the appeal of Stirling soaps. Maybe the newer stuff got better but the several that I've tried from years ago were not very good, to put it charitably.

Your comments don't surprise me at all. As with so many things in shaving, soaps can be highly subjective. What works for one may not work for another, and that's what makes experimenting educational and fun.

Tallow in Stirling vs Glycerin in Conk is one big differentiator for me. Artisan quality is another - Conk being more mass produced. But to each their own. Some would prefer the Conk simply because it's glycerin based. I personally have to add a bit of glycerin to Conk to get it to perform up to the standards of a good artisan soap. I happen to prefer tallow so I lean toward a soap like Stirling, but I'm not a Vegan. A Vegan would shun Tallow soap like the plague. If you can get by with Conk or other lower cost soaps, then good for you. My grandfather shaved with Ivory bar soap. Probably saved him some money in his 60 years or so of straight razor shaving, and quite frankly, that was no doubt his goal. From his perspective, when you have a perfectly good hand soap already in the bathroom, why pay extra for a shaving soap? He'd probably flip his lid if he saw my soap collection. "Terrible waste of money" would be the first thing he'd say.

-Zip

45 years with a DE razor and many hundreds of soaps and creams, didn't have to change a hing when it came to straights. So no difference if it's a soap that meets your likes. Tc

Originally Posted by ZipZop

Your comments don't surprise me at all. As with so many things in shaving, soaps can be highly subjective. What works for one may not work for another, and that's what makes experimenting educational and fun.

Tallow in Stirling vs Glycerin in Conk is one big differentiator for me. Artisan quality is another - Conk being more mass produced. But to each their own. Some would prefer the Conk simply because it's glycerin based. I personally have to add a bit of glycerin to Conk to get it to perform up to the standards of a good artisan soap. I happen to prefer tallow so I lean toward a soap like Stirling, but I'm not a Vegan. A Vegan would shun Tallow soap like the plague. If you can get by with Conk or other lower cost soaps, then good for you. My grandfather shaved with Ivory bar soap. Probably saved him some money in his 60 years or so of straight razor shaving, and quite frankly, that was no doubt his goal. From his perspective, when you have a perfectly good hand soap already in the bathroom, why pay extra for a shaving soap? He'd probably flip his lid if he saw my soap collection. "Terrible waste of money" would be the first thing he'd say.

-Zip

Oh, I've got quite a few soaps that I'd rather my wife did not know their cost. I just did not find any of the older Stirling soaps to lather well at all. It's not a matter of taste, they just did not work any better than a bar of Ivory soap would.

I'm fairly certain that they have improved their soap, given the number of people praising it, but the stuff from a few years ago makes me wonder how they managed to stay in business long enough to improve. Good for them for working it out.