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Hello gents,
Being very new to all of this, I was curious to know if soaps typically have a shelf life? Potentially due to drying out or any other reasons I'm not aware of...
The only reason I ask is because I have a couple jars of Taylor of old bond street now sitting in my cabinet that I don't want to go to potential waste. Any input would be much appreciated.
Cheers
In my experience, as long as they are keep in a dry cool place, they should last for quite some time. I know the EU requires some type of expiration date on their containers so you will notice some will say 12M/24M etc. I ignore those, I have some CF going on two years that still perfect in every way.
I have some Williams, VDH, Col. Conk and MWF that have been in my medicine cabinet, some uncovered or open, for 7-8 years and still perform just fine.
I think if their solid state has not changed they will be ok.
Perfect! Thanks for the input guys! I'll just make sure to keep everything nice and dry.
Seeing how people use soaps from companies that went out of business years and years and years ago I have the feeling that they don't really have a true expiration date. But that's just my thought no real fact
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Got some vintage Old Spice that's 50 years old that still works. Tc
I have a Taylor of Old Bond Street (TOBS) Lavender cream tub that I bought in 2012. It was unopened for its first 2 years, then used less than once a week for the next 2 years. I can feel the texture drying a bit, but it still lathers very well; I just have to add a bit more water during my lather process.
Same here. One of my soaps is a vintage Colgate and it still works well.Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrideshd
I'm someone who really only has to shave once every few days, if that, so I know my soaps will be around for a long time...
As long as you keep them sealed and dry they will last forever (well almost). They may lose some of the scent though over time.
I've known people to use over 100 year old soap.
How did they come across a hundred year old soap? That's nuts! But good to know!Quote:
Originally Posted by benhunt
As I recall it was soap given him 25 years ago by an old woman whose father had used to make it. Or something of the sort.Quote:
Originally Posted by Foximus
This is good to know, I was wondering the same thing myself. I always want to try so many soaps and creams but don't want a massive stock pile just in case they deteriorate over time. No worries there then.
I guess if the apocalypse comes we will still be clean shaven, unlike the cartridge boys out there. I'm just popping out to buy 100 years worth of soap!!
+1 on the Cool and Dry.
The only thing I've noticed is that sometimes the soap puck cracks when not used for a while, (eg. MWF). It still works fine though, you just have to resaturate the puck.
Ok, here's the actual thread (I was close on the details): https://www.reddit.com/r/Wetshaving/...ipants/d4a15tpQuote:
Originally Posted by Porl
Thankfully there have been some advancements in the soap making industry since then....hahahaQuote:
Originally Posted by benhunt
You know the other day I went to use some of my Cella. When I opened the container to grab a gob to throw into my scuttle, I noticed what looked like bubbles... or almost soap herpes!
Upon further inspection I have little tiny dried out beads/balls all in my soap. It was only about half used... was stored in its plastic tub thingy.
Do you think this is an example of a soap going bad? Or was it a bad batch that I didn't get to until around half way through? When I go to lather the soap, it lathers but those little beads do not... they stay hard and dry... I bought a new jar because I really like Cella but still... strange eh?
I started using a tub of Cella, that was opened maybe 5-6 years ago, found it in the back of my soap cabinet, and thought it was a new tub.
I flooded with water and let it set over night, poured the water off in the morning and been using it for a couple weeks now, just fine. I do the same with MWF.
The color of the soap, is a little more yellow than I remember, but it smells and lathers just fine. I had forgotten what a good soap it is.
Same here; started using a tub of Cella again that was occasionally used at first and then left untouched for a more than 6 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Euclid440
The almond scent had faded somewhat, the original pearly white colour had turned into a buttery yellow, but the soap still performed well.
There are some isolated reports of Cella turning rancid on the Internet, but in the last ten years neither my Cella bricks nor my Cella tubs have so far shown any such tendency.
B.
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I have a couple of soap cakes that belonged to my grandad and date back to the 40s, and they are still good to go!
I agree with all the gents above: soaps do keep very well. One point though: the scent, that seems to change or go away after a number of years.