Thread: How to waste as much soap as possible

Soaking the soap seems to help me make a better lather with the hard pucks.

I put warm water in the mug with the puck, add my brush to the same mug and shower. When I'm ready to shave, I dump out the excess water, shake off the brush and begin to lather. Usually, I don't have to add any more water while lathering. Works nicely for me.

Of course YMMV so, whatever you do to acheive a fine lather, so that you can have the best shaving experience possible; do it.

Using MWF, I get cracking and shrinking from the mug walls if I soak the puck. I get a lot less cracking and shrinkage if I soak only the brush while I shower. I get the least soap use per shave if I run a dry brush under the faucet then lather on the puck. My observations seem to be supported when I observe the amount of soap being rinsed from the brush after my shave. Most soaps are not costly and last a long time.

I started this thread just to point out what I considered to be a wasteful method. Again, for anyone who has no problem with pouring soap down the drain, go ahead and have at it. The soap vendors love you for it.

I do however, disagree with the idea that it represents only a small amount of loss. That's just not true and you can see that for yourself when you see how cloudy the water is. You can also see it by how rapidly your soap is used up in comparison to mine that last for years. I do soak most, but not all, of my soaps. However, I only put on enough to moisten the top surface of the puck, as that is all that is needed, and when I am ready to make my lather, I pour that soapy water into the lathering bowl. I never pour that soapy water down the drain. For many soaps, that soapy water is sufficient by itself to make more than enough lather for the day, so it is not a trivial amount of soap that leaches into the water.

I hate to waste anything, be it food , electricity, water etc but with any cosmetic items they have a self life. All of my shaving soaps/creams have a shelf life of 12 months except MWF which is 36 months. I know that once opened certain ingredients start to oxidise and deteriate, add the use of water in humid bathrooms the chances of bacteria growing on creams/soaps is quite high. Giving the fact everyone has had at least a weeper I wouldn't be surprised of someone getting an infection, although a nice splash of alcohol based aftershave would help... Just my thoughts... Anyway, I have quite a few soaps/creams (the wife has banned me from buying more until I've used them up) and I can't see me using them completely by the use by date, so I'm not entirely fussed in wasting some product in the name of a great lather...

Soap is a combination of several fatty acid salts. The most water soluble of these help the soap build lather easier. I would speculate that soaking your soap and then discarding the water would disproportionately wash out the easiest lathering components of the soap. But you are free to do whatever you like.

Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree all right.

I chuckle wondering why make the lather thicker than your hair is long. And then the blade only cuts the hair at the base.