Thread: Are shaving soap refills universal in size?

Hello,
Please forgive the novice question; are shaving soap refills universal? I am asking because I have a wooden bowl that came with Art of Shaving soap. I would like to get Trumper soap and wonder if I can get the refill or if I need to get the bowl/soap. Thanks!

I think they are pretty much universal at around 3" give or take 1/4" or so but I don't have experience with LOTS of brands.Some people have used a cheese grater to grate the soap into odd-sized bowls and then microwaved it to melt it down into a puck.

It depends on the soap in terms of reshaping. Glycerine soap can be microwaved (I do mine 5 seconds at a time and stir between until it is all liquid, then just pour), while other soaps need to be grated and pressed. It is kind of a dirty task (not really I guess, since it is with soap...), but it does quite a nice job.

BGAndrea - In brief answer to your question...No they are not. To my understanding shaving soap comes in two sizes--small for regular size mugs and bowls and large for lager diasmeter mugs and bowls. Usually internet retailers will provide the dimensions of soap refills to potential purchasers. Check to see if your preferred replacement soap refill--if different from Art of Shaving--is similar in size to what you already have.

aroliver59 is correct, however. You needn't worry about the size of the soap refill that much. You can put the soap refill in a paper cup, nuke it in your micrwave, and pour the sofetened/liquified soap into your existing shaving bowl. Use a knife to cut the soap refill in half if it doesnt fit. Or you can grate it, place the grated soap into your bowl and use your fingers to press it into your shave bowl.

There is a VERY soft Italian shaving soap named Valobra you can opt for. It is packaged and looks like a bar of soap, but is so soft that you can remove it from its packaging and literally press it into your shaving bowl with your fingers so that it conforms to the bowl's shape. It comes in two scents--almond and menthol.

I hope that these suggestions help.

Originally Posted by BGAndrea

Hello,
Please forgive the novice question; are shaving soap refills universal? I am asking because I have a wooden bowl that came with Art of Shaving soap. I would like to get Trumper soap and wonder if I can get the refill or if I need to get the bowl/soap. Thanks!

There are three sizes I know and as others noted glycerin soaps melt
to fit anything.
Large about 3"
Normal about 2.5"
Small (Scuttle) ??

Also there are thicknesses differences that mostly
are all just fine. Some are molded to fit the
vendors container a bit better.
Bottom rounded
Vertical side puck

AOS is slightly smaller than L´occitane CADE, so it will fit in CADE´s bowl, but not the other way around. Tabac hasn´t the same shape as AOS so it won´t fit the AOS bowl also.

Trumper, aos, l'occitane, DR Harris, all have rounded bottoms. Tabac and other molded soaps are squared.

Some wood bowls have the round bottoms to fit the former, and the l'occitane silver dish would work for most of those, too, but Tabac, MWF, etc will not.

I took a TGQ flat-bottomed wood bowl that was empty and threw a DR Harris (about the size of Trumper) in there upside-down. Fit like a glove.

Any used tub of TOBS will fit a puck of AOS tightly (that's how I'm using my AOS soap).

You can use following steps:

1) The soap is grated into flakes (soft soaps can be glued into the lid in one piece)
2) The soap flakes are pressed into the bowl/mug (do not add water!)
3) Then compress the soap flakes

Please see for more ex. and pictures ("how it works")

Schwarzweisskeramik

Originally Posted by BGAndrea

Hello,
Please forgive the novice question; are shaving soap refills universal? I am asking because I have a wooden bowl that came with Art of Shaving soap. I would like to get Trumper soap and wonder if I can get the refill or if I need to get the bowl/soap. Thanks!

Not all the same.

But you do not need the special bowl to try a soap.
Most kitchen and grocery stores have small resealing containers for
left overs. Since the special container can cost as much
as the shave soap it pays to try refills then when you
find one you love get the container+soap as a refill.

The AOS soap has a large diameter but shallow wood bowl.
It might just fit.

Two "massive" pucks of soap are Tabac and Mitchell's Wool Fat.