Newbie soap puck questions...

Hello,
I am new to wet shaving and have a couple of questions and concerns.

At first I would have my soap in my mug and fill it with hot water and put my brush in while I took a shower. I dumped out the water and whipped up a lather with the water that was left in the bottom and what was in the brush. I seemed to burn through the puck pretty quickly. I have since just soaked my brush in water and kept the soap dry untill I whipped it with the wet brush. So far this seems to do pretty good. So this gets me to my question, After I have shaved and and im cleaned up, Do I rinse and wash out my mug, or just leave the remaining lather in there unitll I shave again?
Thanks for the responses.



Greg

I would just leave the mug without rinsing it. The leftover lather will just convert back to the soap so you can use it when you shave next.

I am going to go way out on a limb here and say, "Personal preference."

Now, if you want to save soap money, try Williams mug soap. Rock hard puck and challenging to make lather with, but at $1.49 per puck it's difficult to waste. I like Williams - not hater. Rinse out the mug or leave the lather - whatever.

With the "good stuff" I wipe off the outside of the mug and forget about what's left inside until the next morning. I'm using the good stuff now and I want it to last forever. I am considering not even rinsing out my brush until it's all gone. :D

gmeyers, in answer to your question let me pose one in return. How many stars are there in the sky? Be prepared for about that many answers to your question. It always delights me to see all the variations people have for solving questions like this one.

Mt answer: Try it that way for a few days and see if the quality of the lather changes or stays the same, that is leave the lather in till next time and reactivate it. My mentor, I believe, face lathers and leaves the lather in his brush till next time. I like fresh each time and am addicted to building so called uberlather. My base is always MWF, a few drops of glycerin, a couple squirts of olive oil from an atomizer, a couple drops of Vit E oil (I like to think it helps heal the skin from irritation) and then a soap or cream from my over stocked collection all whipped together in a scuttle.

I hope this helps,

Razorfeld

Greg, this definitely comes down to personal preference. The beauty of all this wet shaving business is that there is so much variability at all stages.
I personally like to clean up fully behind me, so starting completely afresh the next morning. This I think particularly applies to anyone using a wide range of soaps in rotation, where any soap used would not be used again for some time after. If on the other hand the same soap is used on a daily basis, then such an approach could be considered excessive by many.
Bottom line is there is no right or wrong answer. Whatever suits you really

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Originally Posted by Skippy

I would just leave the mug without rinsing it. The leftover lather will just convert back to the soap so you can use it when you shave next.

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I'm with Skippy on this one. Just leave the mug as is and it will be fine. As far as the brush I give it a good rinse and use a brush holder that holds the bristles hanging down. A friend of mine just leaves his in the mug and his brush is pretty trashed in short time.

As mentioned by many, it is a matter or personal preference.

A few weeks ago I was contemplating the same thing for my clear shave soap bowls. I use clear glass sugar bowls for most of my soap bowls. I noticed that these bowls look better displayed on my shelf after they were rinsed with water post shaving, rather than left with the left-over lather in them. I figured that I could either leave the left-over lather and save soap, or rinse the bowl and have a nice looking bowl on display. Shave soap lasts me a long time. On the other hand, I like the pretty bowl display :o. So, I compromised by swirling my finger in the bowl to remove the left-over lather post shave; that way I don't remove much soap and still have the nice looking bowl.

Greg, I believe personal preference is the best. I agree with everyone about what they have suggested. This Leeds me to give you my preference now.
I am a little OCD so I always wash out my brush, wash out my mug or bowl. I don't leave my razor in the bathroom after it has been cleaned up either. I keep the razor in a clean dry place. Trying to prevent corrosion on the blade I have worked so hard to either make or restore!
I will say that my routine is to shower, run hot water into the sink, put brush in hot water, put small towel in hot water.
I then put a couple drops of glycerin on top of the puck especially if it is Williams soap or a hard puck that doesn't give me good lather.
Put hot wet towel on face and after a couple minutes pull brush out of water shake a bit and start to mix lather.
I do my shave then "aftershave" of coarse. But I even clean the puck of soap off and set it back into the cup on its side, not flat.
I do this every night before bed.
Like I said everyone has their routine and preference. Mine by no means is the norm!
So with that no warranties, impressed, expressed or implied!! LOL
But the glycerin does help if you let things dry out.
As far as my brush is concerned, washed well, shaken out vigorously, and always hung on a stand with knot down!
By what I have described it sounds like a 4 hr. routine. Naw, about 20 minutes, I just make it sound worse than it is.
Give everyone's routine a try and go with what works best for you.
Its better to have tried than to wish you had!!

Ray

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Originally Posted by gmeyers

Hello,
I am new to wet shaving and have a couple of questions and concerns.

At first I would have my soap in my mug and fill it with hot water and put my brush in while I took a shower. I dumped out the water and whipped up a lather with the water that was left in the bottom and what was in the brush. I seemed to burn through the puck pretty quickly. I have since just soaked my brush in water and kept the soap dry untill I whipped it with the wet brush. So far this seems to do pretty good. So this gets me to my question, After I have shaved and and im cleaned up, Do I rinse and wash out my mug, or just leave the remaining lather in there unitll I shave again?
Thanks for the responses.

Greg

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Greg,
I am a bit confused with your question. You have a soap mug with a puck of soap in it, correct? If that is the case, there are three schools of thought here. You can either create your lather in the mug and apply it to your face, load your brush in the mug and make lather on your face, or load your brush in the mug and make lather in a lather bowl. All three methods work. Take your pick. Either way, you need not rinse the soap mug. If you lather in a bowl, I suggest rinsing out the lather bowl after the shave. You may fill your soap mug with hot water and soak the brush in it while taking your shower, or you might soak your brush in a separate mug, give it a few gentle shakes after your shower and then use any of the three methods noted above you create lather.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 . As far as cleaning the soap puck and mug goes I think it doesn't really matter except for looks.

Bob