Thread: Any experience with these soaps?

While I admire your intentions, I think $2 might be a bit low to be able to shoot for if you don't have huge manufacturing capabilities to take advantage of economy of scale. If you intend on selling them for that price I suspect you'll pretty much be working for free. The ideal thing (IMO) would be to barter, make soap and trade it to people for things they make in return. That's one of the things I do with the beer I make.

I think the $5 to $6 price range is eminently affordable for someone even on a low income, especially considering you'd pay a lot more than that for an equivalent amount of spray foam. The mamabear and arizona goat milk soaps come in around that price and although I've not tried them (yet, although I will) I hear they both give superb shaves.

You don't *have* to go out and spend $15 on a round of soap, there's good alternatives for a third of that, even without choosing williams et al. However, I'm fascinated by the soap making process and, like you, will probably be experimenting with making some batches just for the heck of it to see if I can do it althought I don't think I'll stop buying it either. I hope you'll share your successes (and failures) with us so we can learn from your experiences.

-- Gary F.

I know all about coming from a poor background. At times we had to get by on $5 a month (while Serbia was under UN sanctions) and that was a university professor's salary. However, I don't consider $8.50 every 6 months a real bank-breaker even for a really low income person by North American standards and even current Serbian standards (about $200-300 a month). That's how much a cake of Nomad costs in CDN dollars. Probably $7.50US.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

However, I don't consider $8.50 every 6 months a real bank-breaker

I'm glad you can feel this way. Some of us can't.

I just checked and the arizona goat milk shaving soap is $2.50, not in the $5 range like I though so it's not like you can't get really good stuff on the cheap.

-- Gary F.

I managed to swap out this weekend and try both soaps.

Van Der Hagen -
Lathered up really nicely, took a while to get a good lather built up in the scuttle cup. the bubbles were really nice, smaller than the other soaps I've used. I use HOT water so it tends to start out with larger bubbles that shrink as it loses some of the heat. It retained the heat from the scuttle nicely over all though. This soap kept the moisture through most of the pass. I shave very slowly and carefully. When shaving at the sink I regularly have to relather after shaving the cheeks and part of the neck, regardless of the soap. With this soap I got both cheeks and the neck completely done and only had to touch up the moustache/goatee area. I really liked this. The generic smell is unpleasing to me I've found this smell in every soap I've bought from every beauty supply store I've bought soaps from, usually in the economic high glycerin soaps it seems. Van Der Hagen had nice slippage and my face felt very smooth and soft afterwards. I'd have to give it an A+ for the conditioning effect it had on my skin.

Williams Mug shaving soap -
This soap lathered up quickly with very little moisture on the brush, whipped right up into a frenzy. The bubbles started out slightly larger than the Van Der Hagen. Unfortunately they remained on the large side in the scuttle cup. I also had to slap the brush more fervently against my face, instead of circular massaging, in order to get the consistency I like. The lubricity was not as nice as the Van Der Hagen. It dried out rather fast. I found after shaving just the first cheek I had to relather, and again after the 2nd, and after half the neck, and after the other half and after the half of the moustache/goatee area. This was really annoying. The lubricity was ok/nice, much better than bath bar soaps but not as nice as other soaps I've tried.

All in all I'd have to say that Van Der Hagen should be the general bench mark for economical soaps, minus the scent. I've got some bulk moisturizers on the way. I think I'm going to experiment with lavender, bay rum, and sandalwood first.

Going with a cheap soap is like going with a cheap pakistani razor, it will work also if your wiling to continually work with it and if you don't know the difference. Its ok (cheap soap) I guess but do your self a favor and try a cake of quality English Soap and I guarantee you'll never look at Williams or any other of the cheap soaps again.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

but do your self a favor and try a cake of quality English Soap and I guarantee you'll never look at Williams or any other of the cheap soaps again.

I don't think quality soaps should be expensive. I don't think the straight razor experience should be just for people with deep pockets and I don't think owning a quality bike should be relegated to just the well off or rich. A poor working class person has just as much right to enjoy things as those who have money. I don't resent anyone who's done well for themselves and can afford to pamper themselves but I do resent the mentality that poo poos a poor man finding quality in things or poo poos those who try to offer it. I'll likely never be able to afford fancy soaps. I pour my money into my family, and when I get a little extra I experiment with making products that will rival the expensive ones but be affordable to the poor.

Too many people seem to think that All of America is able to afford expensive hobbies and habits. Many who do realize that not everyone can seem to hold the mentality that if you can't afford a high dollar on something you shouldn't be pursuing it. If you're able to afford expensive soaps then good for you. If not, then I hope to come up with a product that will still give you a good shave.

Anyone who thinks I'm stupid or wasting my time is entitled to an opinion. Like the saying goes " . . . . everybody has one". I'll stick to my goals though,

I think Van Der Hagen provided a nice shave for the money and I think I'll be able to provide a soap that does even better for close to what I paid for the Van Der Hagen.

As far as cheap razors, I think my $4.50 boker was a good find, plus the $11.00 Clauss I got, not to mention the Clauss Joe sent me that got me started on big razors. I didn't have to go pakistani to find economics.

I don't see anything wrong with using inexpensive creams and soaps. My favorite "cheap" soap is Arko. At $1.25 a stick (about the size of a roll on deodorant), you get a soap that has a clean, fresh smell, provides great lubrication and an enjoyable shave. It's not quite as moisturizing as the Van Der Haven soaps, but definitely several steps above Williams. How much do I like it? I bought a box of 12!

RT

Yeah, the ARKO is great value for money... I can find it localy for about 0.65$, but shipping would make it even. You can also try superfatting the bar of wiliams soap, which involves some olive oil, almond oil or something like that. The recipe is in the old Yahoo group files, or try searching in the help files here... But in my opinion, buying oneself nice quality soap is not that expencive, considering it lasts for a year or so...

Nenad

Nenad's correct, the price of a good English soap is not in the realm of a rich man's diversion. We're talking about a few bucks more and if you spread it out over the months it lasts its like a fraction of a penny a day. But you realize any soap is unnecessary. You could shave with just water or even regular handsoap and water and get just as good a shave as with the best soaps or creams. If you don't believe me try it for yourself.

As far as razors go quality and price are mutually exclusive. You can certainly buy a high quality razor for a song on Eboy and if your willing to do some restoration you can get one for a steal. When I said cheap razor I was referring to quality as in a Pakistani not price.