Thread: Sticky Castle Forbes

I'm not sure, I have a serious water softening installation and have no issues lathering with any soap or cream I have ever tried, some that are called notoriously hard to lather, no problems with 'em. I know how to lather any soap or cream and choose the right amount of water.
That said, my CF cream lathers really well for me, I just don't like how it performs. Bad batch? Maybe. For the price I'm not taking a second chance either, baume.be is my cream to judge all others by. I'd like to try another batch of CF, but I'm not in a hurry to do so.

In a way I had a similar experience as the OP mentioned.
Though my CF lather is fantastic and thick, it didn't shave nearly as good as I thought it would. Not a fan of how it performed.

I would lean towards the water not being added slowly and loosing the slick, or too much soap. I too feel CF is the top when it comes to a cream. Another thing that comes to mind is too low of a shave angle. This can cause the face of the blade to stick to the skin and cause a skipping. Sorry if this is way off base. It just came to mind.

I agree with the previous posts..
Castle Forbes is really good stuff! It offers a level of protection for my skin that others don't have.
I also had it get sticky. So I added water sometimes twice more.
My water was from a well. Don't know if that matters.
Try out some other soaps and creams, and compare them, I'm confident CF will be a regular for you.

Again...thanks for all the feedback. I have had zero issues lathering multiple soaps and creams to include Nuavia, Nera and Verde, art of shaving Sandalwood cream, Klar lemongrass, Mitchell’s wool fat, B&M Seville, B&M lemon, Martin de Candre, Tobac, and Fine menthol to name a few with no issues at all.

Had another go with the CF this morning and it lathered up great. Used plenty of water and took my time. I even made sure the the water in the scuttle was not too hot. I have seen that if the water is too hot it dries out the soap. By the third pass it was like I was shaving with Elmer’s glue.

I will keep at it but I might just throw in the towel and mail it off for someone else to give it a whack. Or just toss it.

That is an odd one. I'd hate to think that the saop is not made properly or something is wrong with it. I love CF creams and wouldn't go without it in my shave den.

Originally Posted by Blamo

. By the third pass it was like I was shaving with Elmer’s glue.

Did you add water as needed for the second pass? If not, I'm really thinking your soap was dried out a bit by the third pass.
I can't do more than one pass with my skin, and to me Castle Forbes is a go to soap for sure

Originally Posted by Blamo

Again...thanks for all the feedback. I have had zero issues lathering multiple soaps and creams to include Nuavia, Nera and Verde, art of shaving Sandalwood cream, Klar lemongrass, Mitchell’s wool fat, B&M Seville, B&M lemon, Martin de Candre, Tobac, and Fine menthol to name a few with no issues at all.

Had another go with the CF this morning and it lathered up great. Used plenty of water and took my time. I even made sure the the water in the scuttle was not too hot. I have seen that if the water is too hot it dries out the soap. By the third pass it was like I was shaving with Elmer’s glue.

I will keep at it but I might just throw in the towel and mail it off for someone else to give it a whack. Or just toss it.

Interestingly I have had a similar experience with the cream, not like glue, but not that slick either and indeed sticky-ish. Not what you would expect for a cream / soap with such reputation.

I think we got a bad batch, as we seem to be the only ones to experience this. A soap or cream should not be that difficult or peculiar to lather either. And it isn't because it lathers really well, it just doesn't perform up to standard.

Though, when I first got my cream it didn't look like like any other creams I have had, it looked rather dry and "clumpy"; might be something wrong with that batch, because no matter how I lather with it it fails to deliver.

Had another go with the CF this morning and it lathered up great...By the third pass it was like I was shaving with Elmer’s glue.

I feel like you have your answer, your CS lathered up great but stiffened up over time. So it's not the soap, it lathered great. Like several people mentioned just add some more water as you go and you'll be golden.

Well...again thanks for all the feedback but I think I am done. I am not really interested in a soap that I have to keep adding water and lather up before each pass. I would like to send it out to someone that has used CF and knows how it is supposed to perform.

If whoever gets it reports back and says that it performed just as good or the same as the CF they have, then I will know CF is just not for me. If they come back and report the same stickiness that I found, then I will at least know that maybe I got a bad tub and I could try CF again.

If you are interested, PM me an address and I will mail it out my next chance. CONUS only.

In honesty I have to add some nuance my previous posts


After a long hiatus, I finally gave the CF cream I had another shot.
I took off the clumpy dry cream on the top and used the fresher looking cream from the bottom of the tub.

I got a very good lather and a very good shave, it was remarkably better than my previous experiences (which was more than a couple years ago).
It was a very good shave, good lather and not sticky as I had once encountered. User error did seem to play a role a couple years back.

It's really good, but I found it lacking in certain departments to glorify it like other people do, slickness could be better and its moisture retention was a bit off.
(Although slickness with creams compared to soaps is always a thing, I've been using soaps lately so that might color my judgement here)
It did seem to dry out a bit quicker than other creams I've used and I needed to re-apply water more often. It's very protective and gave a very pleasant shave.

Is it good? yes, very good
Is it as godlike as some people make it out to be? Nah

Would I buy it again? Certainly