Thread: Shaving with Bar Soap & Goat's Milk Soap!

I left it on the plastic it came in. I'm sure any soap dish or pad would do the job.

Bob, I wondered how well IVORY would work. That makes sense though since it is a moisturizer bar and the lather it creates is really thin.


Twobirds, I agree about the pressure issue. Even pretty recently I discovered I was getting better shaves by reducing pressure even more than I already had! I used to not like how my Gillette SLIM DE shaved. Now I crank it up to 9 and use basically just the weight of the razor. I like using it noe when I'm not using a shave.

Years back, I found a bar of Valobra soap wrapped in cellophane that was not otherwise marked.
I tried shaving with it, but the results were sub-optimal.
I wrote an email to Valobra, who responded quickly and told me that it was not a shaving soap, but that some people were using it as such.

The requirements (e.g. lubrication) for shaving soaps obviously differ and a soap formulated for bath and shower will not produce optimum results when used as a shaving soap.
It can be used in a pinch, but can’t hold a candle to a good shaving soap.

Who knows, after wetting the beard thoroghly one might even be able to use diswashing gel if nothing else is available...


B.

I thought about hand lotion if i had too. A touch of water and i bet it would be slick. Wouldnt use my brush though.

Anyone remember where the thread is with the video of the old Sheffield razor maker working that does a shaving demo at the end of the video?.

Sounds like most bar soaps don't do a great job.

Tried my bar again last night with my DE a and was very happy with the results. Maybe because it is a more natural soap that hasn't been altered.

Thanks everybody, I never thought about pressure, I'm pretty careful, but I could be more careful on both pressure and angle.

most of my problem is that my skin is pretty sensitive to chemicals, I can't use anything with stearic acid and the lube strips on cartridge razors are pretty bad as well so I have to peel them off.

I just got to wondering if stretching might make a big difference, something I've never done, probably why DE razors didn't work for me.

I'm also going to try different kinds of soap and see if that helps. Also, I've never used an alum block or after shave which might help quite a bit as well.

I've found a couple of recipes for witch hazel based aftershaves that might be just the ticket, alcohol based aftershaves haven't worked out well so I've never used them more than once.

2b

Originally Posted by TwoBirds

Thanks everybody, I never thought about pressure, I'm pretty careful, but I could be more careful on both pressure and angle.

most of my problem is that my skin is pretty sensitive to chemicals, I can't use anything with stearic acid and the lube strips on cartridge razors are pretty bad as well so I have to peel them off.

I just got to wondering if stretching might make a big difference, something I've never done, probably why DE razors didn't work for me.

I'm also going to try different kinds of soap and see if that helps. Also, I've never used an alum block or after shave which might help quite a bit as well.

I've found a couple of recipes for witch hazel based aftershaves that might be just the ticket, alcohol based aftershaves haven't worked out well so I've never used them more than once.

2b

Seems you do have really sensitive skin. I guess you will just have to experiment with different soaps till you get one that works. I'd stay away from the alum block if you do normally get irritation because the alum will really sting your face in that case.

Bob

Howdy TwoBirds,
I also don't like the alcohol based aftershaves. Would rather the aftershave work more toward soothing, healing, balancing skin.. I've also scraped the lube strips off the cartridge multi blade razors mostly because I can't stand the goopy sticky stuff on my skin.
My skin is fairly tough, but I like to put more natural, healing, balancing products on it.
One of my friends was having some issues with aftershave. I let him use the toner that I was using as an aftershave, called Answers From Nature Balancing Toner. His problem went away.
Mind you that it may simply have been that he was no longer using that gnarly aftershave anymore.. you know, the kind of aftershave that doubles as bug repellent.. hehehe

You can shave with WD -40 but why? I'll stick to my good shave soaps, cause it's the pleasure of the routine that I like, otherwiae it's just removing hair. And most soaps don't have the clay in them like shaving soaps. Tc

Although I love shaving with a good shaving soap, sometimes I will try shaving with a bar soap.

Ivory soap was invented by the JB Williams company who sold the product to P&G when they decided to focus on shaving soaps like Williams mug soap. Thus, Williams did not consider Ivory suitable for shaving, and neither do I.

A couple of bar soaps that I have found to be suitable for shaving if no shaving soaps are available are: Yardley of London Shea Buttermilk and Irish Spring Men's Signature. If you compare the listing of ingredients of these bar soaps to many good shaving soaps, you will find many of the same ingredients. Both bar soaps are very slick, but they do not possess the same degree of cushion as the top shaving soaps. They are likely to be suitable for shaving with a cartridge, SE, or DE razor, but perhaps less desirable for a straight razor shave where more cushion is needed to protect the skin from a naked edge.

Dishwashing gel and WD40 seems like a bit of a leap from bar soap. Either I lucked out with this soap, or I'm just not that discerning.
Next time I mail anything to a member I may cut a piece off a new bar and get them to try it.

Found that video of Sheffield grinder Billy Hulkin making and shaving with a straight. Shaving demonis about 10 minutes in.




https://vimeo.com/268814380