Thread: Soap Inquiry

I recently tried a soap made by a newer type maker in PA. I used this soap on on a Wednesday and two days before I used Le Père Lucien. I thought there was a significant difference between the two soaps, but I am willing to work with the new soap some more just to make sure.
I am wondering, what factors might make one soap significantly better than another? I don't mean the subjective categories of glide, cushion, and such, but the actual chemistry.
I would guess that the ingredients for shaving soaps would be widely available, so that would rule out acquiring rare ingredients that might be prohibitively expensive for the small maker. I acknowledge decades of experience as a soap maker being a consideration. But soap making is not an exotic science, or is it?

Aside from the fact that the soap may not have been made right, one factor would be your local water. The brush you are using can be a factor too.

For me LPL does not work at all, can't make lather no matter what brush I use.
I have others that just do not make slick lather no matter what. I think it has to do with my water ,since others report great results with the soaps that do not work well for me.

I want to like MWF but I don't. For that pesky lather reason you mention.

Originally Posted by WW243

I want to like MWF but I don't. For that pesky lather reason you mention.

For me MWF lathers very well, soaps might be the most YMMV thing in the hobby.

While perhaps not "rocket science", the makings of a quality shaving soap or cream is somewhat involved.

Look at the three Ts in England, all the soaps/creams are made by Creighton these days, but each brand tweaks the formula to their own standards. That a soap is a soap is a soap is of course true, but a pinch of this and a pinch of that and all of a sudden it's what a group of people want, and another group of people don't want!

Scents, hard water capability, slickness and cushion (some add that pinch of clay, others don't), it's all tweaking.... And then of course, there is the reverse tweaking.... if we skip this pinch of ingredient, we'll save a bazillion dollars over the next 500 years according to the accountant who sports a full beard and couldn't care less....

I'm afraid there is no one true answer, it's a combination of things that culminate into a superior product for one persons situation, and at the same time becomes a disastrous product for someone else. At least we have a large variety of products to try, allowing each and every one to find what works best for them. I don't know if there is a single product that would please everyone out there....

Regards

Kaptain "Make mine Lavender or Rose scented, and add that pinch of clay" Zero

It may not be so much the ingredients that make one soap different from another, but rather the ratio of those ingredients that change. Soapmaking is chemistry, after all, and changes in the ratio of base ingredients can have substantial differences in the properties of the final soap.

By way of a similar example, take beer. Not counting beers with exotic ingredients, beer is made from water, grain, hops, and yeast. Changing the ratio of grain to hops, changing the type of grain, changing the treatment of the grain, and changing the type of hops all yield extremely different beers.

Indeed.

Regards

Kaptain "Hic.... don't forget the source of water.....hic..." Zero

RazoRock XXX, Mudder Focker. PAA- To many to name, Van Yulay are just a few that I'm addicted to.

Originally Posted by WW243

I want to like MWF but I don't. For that pesky lather reason you mention.

MWF lathers fine for me, it just frankly didn't jump out that much for me - for me, certainly didn't jump out as a Tier 1 type soap.

I believe it was RobinK who recommended a much better soap, very similar to MWF that is leagues above it, Scottish Shaving Soap - I have it and it is marvelous, all that is MWF but much fuller scent, and explodes with lather.

+1 on the Scottish fine shaving soap, I love the fragrance and should use that one more often than I do, great mention.