Thread: Anyone else that likes low cushion

I used to fuss with trying many soaps and bowl or face lathering etc. End of the day if the edge you put on the razor is good then the shave will be good. For the heck of it once I shaved with Dial 2 for a buck hand soap from the dollar store and it was no big deal really. Whatever works is about the size of it.

I like it just thick enough it does not drip down my face. It’s part of what makes me a messy wet shaver. Too thick and it feels sticky under the blade.

Originally Posted by Bill31521

I used to fuss with trying many soaps and bowl or face lathering etc. End of the day if the edge you put on the razor is good then the shave will be good. For the heck of it once I shaved with Dial 2 for a buck hand soap from the dollar store and it was no big deal really. Whatever works is about the size of it.

Aloha!

I hear that.

I've posted this in other threads, but my Grandfather raised a family through the Great Depression, and never got over his penny pinching. He'd squeeze a penny so hard that Lincoln's head would pop. All his adult life, he shaved with his Solingen Straight Razor and ivory (hand bar) soap - the same stuff he bathed with and washed up with. He'd shave some off of the bathroom bar into his mug with his pocket knife, put in some hot water, and whip it up into a lather. That worked for him for 50 years. He'd never pull out his wallet for razor blades let alone a "Soap" or "Cream" made for shaving.

I can hear him now.... "I'm not spending good money on special soap for shaving when I have a perfectly good bar of Ivory soap in the bathroom!"

His set-up was the pinnacle of frugal simplicity. He'd shave at the kitchen table. Basin, Towel, Mug, Brush, Mirror, Straight Razor and Styptic Pencil. Done and done.

As a sidebar, I remember reading a thread on another shaving forum about an Ivory Soap challenge. Some wet shavers reported amazing results with Ivory soap as their shaving soap. I guess Ole Granddad was on to something. RIP.

Cushion is like that definition of Porno. You can't define it but you know it when you see it.

That's how cushion is. Few can explain it but when you use a soap that has little you know it real fast. A good example for me is the Italian Saffron Soap. I've used it many times with a straight and it's really slick stuff with "good Cushion" but one day I used it with an aggressive DE and though it was slick there was something definitely missing and that was cushion. I felt it as the razor dragged along my face. It was an unpleasant sensation.

I instantly knew what cushion is.

Originally Posted by ZipZop

Aloha!

As a sidebar, I remember reading a thread on another shaving forum about an Ivory Soap challenge. Some wet shavers reported amazing results with Ivory soap as their shaving soap. I guess Ole Granddad was on to something. RIP.

Before I started using DE and SR razors I used regular old bar soap for years with the multi blade disposables. I quit buying "goo in a can" long before switching over to traditional wet shaving. I would just hand/face lather (no brush) with the bar of soap. For me, this worked better than the canned stuff. This was not done out of frugality, I just never liked any of the canned shaving cream or gels. Now however I would never give up my brushes.

I will agree that almost any soap will work. But the quality of the feel in the shave goes down hill fast. Ive shaved with good soaps and bad soaps. And when you treat a bar soap the right way it will give a nice shave. The main thing is to make the lather the best for that soap.
I tried a few bar soaps just to say ive done it, but they dont compare to a good shave soap. There is a difference! This is what i found in my testing.

Yup, I have used Ivory soap to make a lather and shave with. It was no thrill even compared to Arko which I find excellent. It could also be that Ivory soap is not the same formula as it was many years ago.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Wish I could give an answer but I never understood what cushion was relating to lather.

Bob

Bob

To me, cushion is the buffer between blade and skin.
Bluesman touches on it in his OP when he says he likes less cushion so he can feel his honed edge more. I believe you can get away with a less than perfect edge when there is more cushion.
For want of a better analogy, I think of when two metal sheets are rubbed together grease would be cushion and oil would be sickness.

I guess I fit into this category as well.

As for bar soap, I tried a bar of goats milk soap sent by JP5, its a very good performer. Similar to vintage Williams mug. Its also made in Amish country, so it may be a multi use soap, also. Keep it off your feet, when showering..!!
Like snot on a glass door knob....

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Bob

To me, cushion is the buffer between blade and skin.
Bluesman touches on it in his OP when he says he likes less cushion so he can feel his honed edge more. I believe you can get away with a less than perfect edge when there is more cushion.
For want of a better analogy, I think of when two metal sheets are rubbed together grease would be cushion and oil would be sickness.

Well then, I think I prefer slickness to cushion.

Bob