Thread: Soap with best lather

I've been using SRD soap, and like how it's slicker than the Bigelow cream, but wish the lather was a little thicker and stayed wetter longer. Are the Tabac, Harris, Trumpers or MWF soaps any better than the SRD soaps in terms of their lather's cushion, glide, and "stays wet" times ? (ie: Is the extra cost versus the SRD soap because it's imported ?)

ps: Scent is not important to me, and I don't have hard water.

Experimentation is one of the fun parts of this hobby. I just got some samples of SRD soap a week ago. Try a pea sized drop of the Bigelow cream in with the SRD soap and see what happens. (Uberlather?)

The SRD soaps are very good IMO.
I would actually rate it higher than Tabac and on par with the others you mention.
Only a few soaps have performed better than the SRD soaps for me, Martin de Candre and Czech and Speak's 88 are two of them.

That said, there are lots of variables affecting the outcome though.
Water quality, hardness and temperature seems to change performance on most products I've used.

The suggestion Joe makes is a good one.
Überlather is fun to play around with

Good luck finding your own favorite soap

JohnG10: I dare say the soap with the "best lather" does not exist. With hundreds of soap brands produced worldwide how does one determine the one with the best lather? It's impossible. Not only that, but with millions of people using these soaps one can expect millions of different opinions.

The soaps you mention in your post are all quality soaps, each with its own characteristics and following among gentlemen shavers. Which has the "best lather" is, again, difficult to determine. Best lather for whom? Are Mitchell's Wool Fat, Tabac, Harris, Trumper better than the SRD soap? Some will say yes and some no — and we're back where we started.

A quality soap must have luxurious lather that is moist and that provides good cushion and glide. Yet, there is another requirement: How does that soap leave one's face after the shave? All these questions can be answered, but not completely, because faces are different, techniques are different, and individual requirements are different.

The proper way to determine which soap has the "best lather" — for you individually — is to try all. Stay well.

From best to fantastic for Me, YMMV. All are straight soap non Uber.
RazoRock Artisan
MDC
Castle Forbes
Cella
La Toja
tie(Col Conk and SRD)
These are the only soaps I have but I have multiple scents in CF and SRD. I did not rate Tabac as I hate it. Again YMMV but it is a thin weak lather for me and the scent is iffy. All the rest are Creams. That being said I have a ton of them. Geo F Trumper, TOBS, Acca Kappa, Truefitt &Hill.
All of these are fantastic performers. I have yet to try any others Except the Tabac(which I hate!!!). So that all being said, If I could only have one soap the rest of my life it would be ....... RAZOROCK ARTISAN!!!!!

Try adding a few drops of glycerin. I stopped using Col. Conk soap awhile back because it would dry out real fast. Last week, I decided to try to add some glycerin, 5-6 drops. It really helped out.

JohnG10,

+1 on Obies' observations.

For me, the best performing soaps are amongst the least expensive :

1) Cella
2) Palmolive - the tallow based shave stick made in Germany

For others, different soaps may work better for them.

The only way of knowing of a soap is good for you is to try it. A bear I know !

Adding a small dollop of 'personal lubricant' can add a lot of extra slickness to the lather, and will also thicken it slightly. I use 'KY' for this purpose.

Good luck in your Quest !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Originally Posted by PhatMan

JohnG10,

+1 on Obies' observations.

For me, the best performing soaps are amongst the least expensive :

1) Cella
2) Palmolive - the tallow based shave stick made in Germany

For others, different soaps may work better for them.

The only way of knowing of a soap is good for you is to try it. A bear I know !

Adding a small dollop of 'personal lubricant' can add a lot of extra slickness to the lather, and will also thicken it slightly. I use 'KY' for this purpose.

Good luck in your Quest !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I also find the Palmolive tallow based stick to be a bit of a miracle
I have (very) hard water, and it still produces an amazing amount of thick creamy lather.
It is also the princely sum of 34p(€0.39/$0.54/Aus$0.51)

The type of brush you use will also affect the performance of one soap/cream against another - that is to say soap A may be the best for you with a boar brush, and soap B the best if using a badger brush.

Well you are going to get 30 different answers if 30 people post on this. Fact is, with so many products out there and everyone having a personal preference there are just too many variables to give a good answer to this.

For me, a good soap has to be able to take a ton of water without the lather collapsing so that I can get a nice slick shave.

Top of the line for me are:
MdC
AOS (Valobra and C&S use the same formula and are excellent as well)
MWF

I could live on these 3 alone. For budget soaps nothing beats Palmolive tallow stick, speick stick, or cella. Excellent soaps as well. As with everything YMMV

This is a tough one because like everyone has said it's so individual.Every time I get a soap I think is the best Mr Soap Enabler (and you all know who that is) comes along and puts me back to square one.

I think once you get to brands like Harris, Trumpers, MDC, Castle Forbes and similar you reached that upper tier and the differences are small between them. Then it's the subtle qualities that make the difference.