Thread: Bowl O' Soap?

Originally Posted by Drubbing

I'd suggest it take longer than 3-5 seconds to load a brush up, having about 6 soaps in regular use myself. Even Tabac, which is very easy to load and lather takes more than a few swirls, and new soap users can never have too much product on the brush to begin with.

Once proficient with loading and lathering, you can probably cut down the amount of soap you load on the brush, and experience with your own soap and brush will tell you how much is enough.

But to begin with, not getting enough soap on the brush is the most common cause of poor lather for soap newbs. And poor lather = poor shave, irrespective of razor experience and technique.

The easiest way to load up without starting too watery, is fully soak and then squeeze the brush, so it's damp, not wet.

A big +1 on that
I read some post and they say a few seconds is enough, but I love to have a nice comfortable layer of soap and it take for me 10 secs or more.
2nd I like to have the brush a little dry vs too wet, lather should not form while you are swirling the brush.

crom

Hey Derek,

You're in good hands with these guys definitely take their advice, but don't be scared to experiment and find out what works for you. Look through the wiki and watch plenty of videos, then practice and it shouldn't take long after that to get it right. One member mentioned earlier that the pucks themselves are cheaper than buying them in the bowl...that is very true in most cases. Refer to the following thread for some cheap ideas for the containers to use. http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...ap-dishes.html

I use the Wal Mart/Anchor Hocking sugar bowls mentioned in the thread; they are usually between $2 and $3 a pop, look great, and are what most of my soaps are in now. What you can do is buy the soap, then use a cheese grater to grate it into the bowl and press it down to form to the inside of the bowl. I took video of the process last week and plan on uploading it sometime soon. I'll post it when I get the chance too (hopefully within the next day or so). You could also melt them in the bowl, but this is really easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing especially with the harder soaps, so my preferred method is grating.

While its not the prettiest solution, I use two pyrex measuring cups. I like them because they have a handle, a wide mouth that allows you room for a good mixing motion, the thick glass also retains heat.

I fill one with water and microwave it for a couple of minutes while I'm taking my shower. After I get out I pour the water into the other one, leaving me with a hot mug to make the lather in. After I've made my lather I can set it into the other cup with the hot water, which serves as a scuttle, keeping the lather warm.

Originally Posted by wolfmanXIII

You could also melt them in the bowl, but this is really easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing especially with the harder soaps, so my preferred method is grating.

Don't attempt to melt or microwave hard/milled or tallow soaps - you will bake them and they will die. And stink. He's talking about glycerine soaps here, like Col. Conk. If in doubt, just grate.

I use the pyrex 1 cups, which are probably the same as Anchor hocking. I hate to spoil a puck, so I shave a ring off around the edge and most fit snugly in. But T&H was a particularly hard soap that was a real bugger to load up, so I grated that, and it 'loosens' it up for the brush. Grating may help if you're still trying to get enough on the brush.

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Don't attempt to melt or microwave hard/milled or tallow soaps - you will bake them and they will die. And stink. He's talking about glycerine soaps here, like Col. Conk. If in doubt, just grate. I use the pyrex 1 cups, which are probably the same as Anchor hocking.

Thanks for elaborating on this for me. I stand by that same opinion, but didn't want to start anything since there are many out there that say you can and apparently do melt hard soaps using a double boiler. IMHO the triple milling is to make sure that the ingredients are all evenly distributed for consistency and make for a harder longer lasting soap. If you melt them you risk screwing that up due to ingredient separation when in liquid form (if that makes any sense to anyone), but if you grate them you don't really risk that. Another thing to keep in mind is the "flash point" of most EO's/FO's, this is why your soap may stink if you melt it, the EO/FO will burn off and you will have no scent left other than the ingredients used to make the soap or the EO/FO can become rancid rather than burning off it all depends upon how hot and how fast you try to melt them. I personally don't even melt "glycerine soaps" just to be on the safe side. Yes, the pyrex are pretty similar, but I think they have a plastic lid where the Anchor Hocking is a little more decorative looking with a glass lid. If you tend to be clumsy or have the extra money pyrex is the way to go. The Anchor Hocking bowls are pretty easy to break as the quality isn't the greatest, although they look nice you drop em once and kiss em goodbye.

Here's the video I made...I hope it helps!

YouTube - Shave Soap Grating Method