I have cream, also, but. I actually enjoy bowling the lather and whipping things up. Cutting a sliver of hard soap out of the puck did not work. The sliver of soap just swirled around in the mixing bowl, along with the brush, doing absolutely nothing, however. The disrupted surface contour of the cut puck worked great. My brush loaded up very quickly and I whipped up a super thick lather in no time at all! Great fun, satisfying and a good pass time. I once viewed shaving as a chore. Since switching to straight razors I now have only one regret, that being the fact that my whiskers don't grow fast enough!