Thread: What, exactly, is wrong with VDH?

There is nothing wrong with VDH. It's a great utilitarian soap. It's just not exotic and/or sexy. It doesn't come with an expensive dish or upscale fragrance. Since it is readily available, it is often ignored despite the fact that nearly everyone has owned or used it. It will provide an excellent lather and for cheap. I don't think anyone will dispute this statement but most of us are hobbyists. So we own products that are superior in other aspects outside of performance. VDH is a fine soap and I'll always give it a thumbs up.

Yeeeaaaah...pretty much everything he said in a nutshell.

Granted I haven't tried very many products, but I like VDH. I use it to make an uberlather with Bigelow, and it works great for that or by itself. Great thread, I'm very interested to see what others have to say on this one.

I personally love the stuff ... I have another cake of a "big name" soap and VDH waaaaaay outperforms it ... nice scent and slicker'n pup sh*t
again YMMV
Mike

There is one thing that VDH does not deliver; the nice fragrance you get in "better" soaps. It really is quite simple, nice fragrances cost money, and VDH is so cheap there just is not much money left for it. For all other aspects, I too find VDH perfectly fine. For all "soap aspects" I find it to be brilliant for the money (lather, cushion, slickness, hydration etc).

I have tried much more expencive soaps that smelled much better, but fared far worse for lather, for instance.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

There is one thing that VDH does not deliver; the nice fragrance you get in "better" soaps. It really is quite simple, nice fragrances cost money, and VDH is so cheap there just is not much money left for it. For all other aspects, I too find VDH perfectly fine. For all "soap aspects" I find it to be brilliant for the money (lather, cushion, slickness, hydration etc).

I have tried much more expencive soaps that smelled much better, but fared far worse for lather, for instance.

Makes sense. As much as I love the VDH smell, I do so very love the TOBS scent whenever I shave with it.

It's like everything else. Some people love soaps like Williams and VDH and have no desire to go further and some have tried other high end soaps and prefer the VDH. It reminds me of my dad. He always drove a Studebaker. You could put him in a Buick and he'd prefer the Studebaker.

I found once I tried the English Soaps like Harris and Trumper and Castle Forbes and the French MDC and even Wool Fat they were far superior. The density of the suds and richness and cushioning and of course the scent. To me the differences were vast. That of course doesn't mean VDH or Williams are crummy soaps. Like I've said before they get the job done.

I bought some VDH soap while on a trip to the beach and found it works fine.

I like vdh and williams. For the price they get the job done. I also like arko, palmolive and spieck. Mama Bear scent are very pleasing and srd soaps lather and scent are second to none. The point is there are many soaps to be tried and each have their own benefits. Don't judge a soap by its price alone but how it works for you.