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.