Thread: a quality but inexpensive soap for a beginner?

You know Louis there is another thread on here that another senior member (NiftyShaving/Tom) and I were discussing the problems that people have with lathering...

We both piped up with the same conclusion at almost the same time...

If you can lather and shave well with Williams then everything else you ever use will be smooth sailing... So then in our infinite wisdom we both decided that every Newb should be issued a puck of Williams to learn with and have to use it until it's gone
It is a hard milled soap, it is not as easy to lather as many others, but learn it and I swear everything else you touch will be easy... I still keep a puck in my Pops old shaving scuttle that I use from time to time just to make sure I still can...

For a good price, with my hard well water I recommend any of the SRD soaps, they are some of the very few that lather very well alone, for me..

Honestly, I never had to learn lathering. I just got started with Art of Shaving cream and it lathered the first time I followed the many instructions I'd read online.

Wet your brush till it's throughly wet. Shake water out so it's not dripping. Take anywhere from a black bean sized amount to an almond sized amount of cream and whip it up a lot. Add drops of water until it looks like shiny whipped cream. Somewhere between sour cream and whipped cream. After you get better, you can add more water at a time instead of going so slowly. That's it.
The difference with soaps is that you shake the brush a little more, load on the soap for about 30-60 seconds, wipe the "pre-lather" off the soap once your brush is loaded and put it into your bowl (or on your face for face lathering). Whip up your lather the same as with the cream, adding water slowly until you get the desired feel.

If Williams is hard, don't torture yourself. There are so many good soaps and creams that are easy to lather that it's not worth wasting your time IMO.

Examples:

Proraso (if you like menthol)
Castle Forbes (expensive)
DR Harris soaps
Kiss My Face creams
Tabac or Irisch Moos

And my recommendation would probably be Speick's shave stick or shave cream or both for a cheap first soap/cream. And get a little vegetable glycerin. A few drops really improves the lather in my experience.

Originally Posted by Louis

I'm new to straight razor shaving, and I'm currently using williams as it is the only shaving soap that krogers offers here in Cincinnati. I have looked at so many options on the internet, and I thought it would be better to ask for advice instead of just blindly picking a soap. Any suggestions?


Thanks.
Louis

Cincinnati is a big enough town to have hidden prizes.
I have found that shave soap gets almost no shelf space
so you have to look or ask.

When trying soaps consider just the refill puck. The
wood or special ceramic containers can double the price.
When you find the right one get the special container.
Short term, swipe an empty plastic tub from the kitchen
to keep the puck in for now. A cottage cheese container
is exactly the right size for some pucks.

On another forum I may have found the type of info you are looking for.

Brick and Mortar Stores in Cincinnati/Columbus, OH? - The Shave Den

Williams and VDH can build a fine lather with a bit of practice
and experimenting. Do not sell them short...

+1 on the use williams idea..

it was my first shave soap and i used it solidly for several years before ever moving on to anything else.. it truly did teach me to lather properly.. i can make anything lather.. within reason.. but i rarely run into a soap i cannot lather well.. and i owe it all to my years of training with williams.

I would recomend an Arko shave stick, great thick easy lather. Some find the scent offputting, but I like it, I saw it recently on Amazon for 63 cents.

Louis,

For me, the Tallow based Palmolive shave sticks are a superb low cost soap. Their aroma is more fresh & soapy than anything else !

I don't know if they are easily available in the USA ?

Even in the rip-off UK, they can be found for ca 0.50 GBP (ca 0.75 USD), which is a bargain

It looks like the tallow based Palmolive sticks are made in Germany (or at least packaged in Germany!).


Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Easy to lather and quality for a good price I would recommend Col Conk shaving soap, Van Der Hagen would be second. If you dont mind spending a pretty penny I would recommend Mitchells Wool Fat shave soap or D.R. Harris. Beyond that I can't say

Originally Posted by PhatMan

Louis,

For me, the Tallow based Palmolive shave sticks are a superb low cost soap. Their aroma is more fresh & soapy than anything else !

I don't know if they are easily available in the USA ?

Even in the rip-off UK, they can be found for ca 0.50 GBP (ca 0.75 USD), which is a bargain

It looks like the tallow based Palmolive sticks are made in Germany (or at least packaged in Germany!).


Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

+1 on the tallow palmolive. Great soap and can be had from eBay for like $3 delivered.

Tabac is one the easiest soaps to lather I have used.

The speick shave sticks work really well too and sell for around $5.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Tabac is one the easiest soaps to lather I have used.

The speick shave sticks work really well too and sell for around $5.

Yes...what the hitchhiker guy said!