Thread: Farmer's market soap?

Have you ever used soap from your local farmer's market for shaving?

Today being Saturday, me and my girl were down at the Bloomington Farmer's Market and I noticed that the people from whom we usually buy our honey (Hoosier Honey) are selling soap. This might be a new thing, or I may simply not have noticed before. Either way, I began to wonder if their soap would be any good for shaving.

Hoosier Honey carries a number of different flavors, such as lavender, chamomile, green tea, and lemongrass, but all contain honey, goat's milk, coconut oil, and glycerin with the only other ingredients being the flavorings. Some of the flavors, such as tea, actually have little bits of tea, etc. in them, which I figured wouldn't be good for the old shaving brush. I bought chamomile, brought it home, and popped it in my empty shaving mug.

Long story short: it worked really well. It lathered like a dream, was smooth on the skin, and the scent was present, but pleasantly mild. Top that off with the fact that it was produced locally by hardworking Americans in my own community and I am pretty happy.

I know there are some here who are gravitated to straight razor shaving (and wet shaving in general) because it is not as chemically-dependent as cartridge shaving.

I'm curious, has anyone else tried shaving with local products? What were your experiences?

Not I...

The reality is that buying soaps for shaving can be a dicey affair. Many of the artisan soapmakers have never used a DE let alone a straight razor and quite frankly don't know how to build a soap with the qualities that make a good shave. It's nice to know that an artisan out there 'gets it' and is making a shaving soap to our standards. Next time you see them, might want to mention that you wrote up a review here and get their website and/or contact info and they have more orders coming through the front door.

One of my long term favourites is a farmers' market soap. Admittedly this'll be utterly useless to most of you, but it's the soap on this page:
Made Specially for Men; Gentlemens Relish, Bath & Shower Gel, Body Lotion, Shaving Bar, Shaving Balm
That website is a new development: until very recently it was a case of mail order or being at the right farmers' market at the right time. I sent a few samples out to other people and I know some of them have been sufficiently impressed to stock up, gratifyingly enough. I've been using it for a few years now, and still rate it as a decent performer, and the best smelling shaving soap I've used. Ever.

Originally Posted by red96ta

Next time you see them, might want to mention that you wrote up a review here and get their website and/or contact info and they have more orders coming through the front door.

That's a good idea, but I think they do not do mail order.

The soap was not sold as shave soap, I just took a chance based on the ingredients. Even with soaps labeled as "shaving soap," one does not always have luck and just has to test the soaps for oneself. I just want to suggest that as people sample different soaps for shaving that they give their local soap makers a try, too.

It's very unlikely that any soap that is not created exclusively for shaving will have the thick, creamy, cushiony, stable lather required for a good shaving soap.

It requires special ingredients/methods that aren't necessary for a bath soap. It would be highly unusual for someone to put the extra time and money into a soap that wasn't specifically intended to be used for shaving.

But hey, I suppose it is possible.

Originally Posted by ehammers

Have you ever used soap from your local farmer's market for shaving?

Today being Saturday, me and my girl were down at the Bloomington Farmer's Market and I noticed that the people from whom we usually buy our honey (Hoosier Honey) are selling soap. This might be a new thing, or I may simply not have noticed before. Either way, I began to wonder if their soap would be any good for shaving.

Hoosier Honey carries a number of different flavors, such as lavender, chamomile, green tea, and lemongrass, but all contain honey, goat's milk, coconut oil, and glycerin with the only other ingredients being the flavorings. Some of the flavors, such as tea, actually have little bits of tea, etc. in them, which I figured wouldn't be good for the old shaving brush. I bought chamomile, brought it home, and popped it in my empty shaving mug.

Long story short: it worked really well. It lathered like a dream, was smooth on the skin, and the scent was present, but pleasantly mild. Top that off with the fact that it was produced locally by hardworking Americans in my own community and I am pretty happy.

I know there are some here who are gravitated to straight razor shaving (and wet shaving in general) because it is not as chemically-dependent as cartridge shaving.

I'm curious, has anyone else tried shaving with local products? What were your experiences?

It is all about your experience.

It works for you... and your local water that is all you need to know.

Local soap makers fall into two classes. Glycerin soaps and
classic hard soaps (fat and lye). Making a good hard shaving soap
is harder to do than glycerin soaps. Glycerin soaps
melt in a double boiler.

It is always worth a try when you find a local maker. One
hint is that grating a soap can let you pack it into a shave
soap dish with a spritz of water. At the same time you can
add a little extra to make it into your perfect shave soap.

I can do quite well with a simple soap of olive oil, lye and salt. I prefer it actually. Locally made and I suppose as simple as can be made. I suffer no ill effect from its use.

Originally Posted by kevint

I can do quite well with a simple soap of olive oil, lye and salt. I prefer it actually. Locally made and I suppose as simple as can be made. I suffer no ill effect from its use.

I would like to add this however, in a comparison between lye soap and MWF i would have to admit 10 out of 10 shavers would choose mwf

Just from comments I've seen from artisan shaving soap makers, and there are several that belong to the various shaving forums, getting everything right is no small feat. Most have experimented extensively using volunteer tester feedback to refine and perfect their product. I think it doubtful that hand, body, and face soap would be anywhere near a good specialty shaving soap.

Not sure if this, strictly speaking, qualifies but when I bought a puck of this on a visit to the village I didn't really expect it to become one of my favourite soaps, it did, very quickly. Anyone tempted to take the plunge should probably note that the bowl they sell is larger in width than the puck by about 5mm.