Shaving with Bar Soap & Goat's Milk Soap!

So, last year I got a bar of goat's milk soap and I believe it has really helped keep my face from breaking out. When it ran out I decided to stock up the next opportunity I had.

So, during my most recent trip to visit the Amish I purchased several bars of Patchouli and Eucalyptus scented soap (along with way too much sweet foods). I even got some patchouli scented lotion to try out.

After seeing a video of an old razor grinder shaving with bar soap I thought I would give it a try.

Attachment 292195

Attachment 292196

Using my badger brush I worked up a lather on the bar. Lather was thick but not super fluffy like a lot of true shaving soap. It certainly seemed to work well. I was happy with the results and liked the lotion as well. I'll be using it in the future. Next time I may try putting a small piece in my mug to lather.
If I had any scratches or irritation I would probably stick with an AS or ASL that had an alcohol or astringent in it to kill bacteria. This is just skin lotion.

Please share any experience you guys have shaving with bar soaps.

I have a bar of Gilchrist & Soames bath soap that I got on a cruise. I brought it home, ground it up and put it in a shave mug with some added vitamin E oil. It works great.

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Originally Posted by bouschie

I have a bar of Gilchrist & Soames bath soap that I got on a cruise. I brought it home, ground it up and put it in a shave mug with some added vitamin E oil. It works great.

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Cheese grater?

Several years ago I tried using a bar of ivory soap. First and last time for that routine. Abysmal does not even come close to describing the experience. It just may be a different story with the right bar of bath soap though.

Bob

Yes a cheese grater. Sorry should have said that. Then pressed it into mug after mixing in vitamin E oil. Topped off with a little water and let it harden.

I tried the bar soap once. Don't remember what one but I think it was a glycerin soap. Made lather but it faded quickly and it wasn't very slick. I had high hopes for it, but it was a no-go for me.

And Yes, Cheese Grater works well for grinding up soaps so you can pack it into a jar or cup. Just be sure to wash it well and don't let SWMBO catch ya.

using cartridge razors I went from shaving with gillette foam about once a week so I could have a couple days without razor burn to jergens plain bar soap, did wonders for shave irritation, I could shave twice a week.
from there I went to williams shave soap and a shaving brush, another reduction in shave irritation, may have just been better lather with the brush though, I can shave at night and only have a bit of razor burn in the morning if I don't shave too close, most of the time.

2b

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Originally Posted by TwoBirds

using cartridge razors I went from shaving with gillette foam about once a week so I could have a couple days without razor burn to jergens plain bar soap, did wonders for shave irritation, I could shave twice a week.
from there I went to williams shave soap and a shaving brush, another reduction in shave irritation, may have just been better lather with the brush though, I can shave at night and only have a bit of razor burn in the morning if I don't shave too close, most of the time.

2b

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Unless you have extremely sensitive skin you should not be getting razor burn with the frequency of shaving you are doing. There must be a number of things that you could improve on to help alleviate the irritation problem. One of the biggest things is using pressure on the razor. You really only should be guiding the razor around your face and letting the weight of the razor alone do the work. Using a cartridge razor you don't even have to worry about maintain the right angle on the blade as the head pivots to take care of that. The other big thing would be to learn what constitutes a good lather and how to make it. Even if you get a good shave soap, there are many, it is entirely possible to get subpar performance from it till you get the hang of making a good lather from it.

I found this vid very helpful wrt making a lather.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zESTQWDuw

Bob

As Bob says. It sounds to me a preasure issue. That seems to be the biggest, of many, issues guys have causing irritation. Operator error as they say. Try just the weight of the blade and let it side over your skin. And with the spine just off your skin.

Maybe you do have sensitive skin. But only you will know this.

Interesting topic. I've often thought that lathering with a bar-style shaving soap might be good in the hand. Never gave thought to the possibility of lathering it on the sink counter, which would be more controlled. Have to clean the sink counter first, I suppose.

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

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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

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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. :p
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


https://vimeo.com/268814380

I can see a new tide pod challenge coming on :)

well, after all the helpful posts here I've managed to get 2 shaves with very little irritation, just one pass wtg using all the tricks in the lathering video and paying close attention to angle and pressure, tomorrow I'm going to try relathering and doing a second pass wtg and see how it goes, if that goes well i guess I'll be ready for wd 40 :)

2b

I happened to stop by a flea market in Lafayette, La yesterday and I picked up a bar of goat's milk soap from a lady who sells specialty soaps. It is amazing! Best shave ever. It is a wonderful creamy lather and the bar is corrugated for an even quicker lather. Attachment 293413

Glad to hear it worked out for you. Even if you didn't like shaving with it, it is still good soap. :)

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Originally Posted by JP5

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. :pl]

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I don’t think you lucked out at all. Moreover, I would argue you ARE discerning. A good bar soap that’s hand made and not detergent based like nearly all mass produced soaps, should work just fine for shaving, and leave your face feeling softer to boot.

The only difference between your bar soap vs a shaving soap is some added ingredients to increase viscosity and lather... but then, i’ve used bar soap with more glide than many of my shaving soaps. I just got few bubbles. But who cares?

Well I do. All those bubbles in a good shaving soap are there to soften your beard and loosen the follicle for a shave with less pull. If you’re a man with fine scruff, that might not matter.

Of course a good shave soap also focuses on viscosity so your blade will run smoothly over your face. This could be argued as being more important to a traditional straight razor shaver but I will not generalize. Lol. But again, I’ve had bar soaps with more viscosity than any shaving soap/cream.

Seriously, with the exception of lather, I could see many handmade “bar soaps” being a great shave. It’s whatever works. Your face will let you know.

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Originally Posted by earcutter

Seriously, with the exception of lather, I could see many handmade “bar soaps” being a great shave. It’s whatever works. Your face will let you know.

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I wonder whether that’s what Van Gogh (the guy on earcutter’s avatar) thought when he tried an unknown soap just before he sliced off his ear. :thinking:

Maybe it was just an accident with a cheap olive oil based handsoap from nearby Marseille that severely lacked in lubrication - and history had it wrong all along and Van Gogh just wanted to look nice and clean-shaven for Christmas 1888??


B.