Thread: Newbie soap puck questions...

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I am a believer in cleaning your tools after any job. After-all, we clean the razor and the brush and keep the strop clean as well as our hones and our towels and even our faces so what's different about the mug or scuttle? I clean my scuttle after every shave. The container the soap resides in is rinsed briefly which is where I load the brush.

Same here...all of my soaps are in little pyrex dishes. I give them a quick shot under the tap and dry the dish just to keep things tidy. My lather bowl is of course rinsed out.

As someone said, how many stars are there in the sky? The one thing I would emphasize (unless you Own a brush factory) is rinsing your brush well and shaking it out well after each use. It will last much longer that way.

You could always squeeze the lather out of the brush back onto the soap, rinse the brush out give it a couple of shakes and hang it up. Should save you some soap.

Yes, I have a puck of soap that I keep in my mug. I usually lather up in the mug itself, then apply to face. After I have finished shaving, i have been rinsing and cleaning out the lather that is still in the mug. I like to keep things clean and tidy, but I feel that when I rinse the mug it "melts" away a bit of my soap.

Just to add another option. I keep a disposable plastic tea spoon i use to skim out an almond sized piece of soap and then just leave that to soak with maybe 5ml of water in my lather bowl. With Proraso i tend to use a little more, with Col Conk a little less. Gives me full control of how much soap and water i put in which helped immensely learning to lather. Also saves a ton of soap IMO. Only problem is that its going to be a year or 2 before i can buy more fancy soaps with justification!

When I first started using a brush, I wouldn't rinse it out. It started stinking. After that I rinse it out. No more stink.

Rinse/clean your brush and squeeze/flick it dry, this will increase its longevity. As for the soap, was it a glycerine type soap puck such as Col. Conk? I've found that soaking glycerine soaps makes them "wear" much faster. If you are using this type of pick just dribble some water from your fingers on it to soften it up before lathering don't immerse it in water. Of its not a glycerine puck I would still just dribble water on it to soften it up. Immersion in hot water will dissolve soap faster in any case making its lifespan shorter. As for cleaning the puck/mug after lathering that's up to you. I don't think the lather that's left will add any significant longevity to the puck, but leaving it in there isn't going to harm it either, it's your call.

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

You could always squeeze the lather out of the brush back onto the soap, rinse the brush out give it a couple of shakes and hang it up. Should save you some soap.

Exactly what I do.
I always use the same soap which resides in my bowl, I always make uberlather, and I always squeeze the excess back into my bowl. The next day I add a bit more cream, glycerin and a capful or two of water, then mix up my next lather in the bowl.
I do wipe down the outside of the bowl when it looks manky but that is it.

Sorry, should have said, I do rinse out my brush and give it a shake off then store on a hanger/ stand thingo.

Good vid on brush cleaning Cleaning A Shaving Brush - YouTube