Thread: no soap luck!

well i have been using van der hagen but ive also been using some glyserine soap with cinnimon oil i added to it. with the soap i made i dont get lather at all just suds. and with the van der hagen soap i get a lather but nothing great. is it me or is it the soap? and if the soap what are a couple you could suggest. i dont want to end up with a bow of unused soap i just wanna find one and use it up and try something new. just in case in might help my brush is a cheap boar brush. looking forward to what ya fellas come up with.

First off, Welcome to SRP!

VDH is good soap, I've used it with no complaints. Like any soap it takes some time experimenting to get the right amount of water. Try adding just a few more drops of water and mix well, you might get a surprise.

As far as other good soaps go there are plenty, depending on what you want to spend........

On the inexpensive side I recently tried Ray's of Colorado (Ray's of Colorado natural soaps, lotions and herbal cosmetics.) Sandlewood scent made with goats milk and am very happy with it. He carries several scents and offers single and multiple cake deals. Bald Frog is good and you can buy it by the cake or by the once. I got my samples from Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment but you can Google 'bald frog' to go straight to the maker and buy it. Col. Conk is another good, very slick soap that is decently priced.

On the more expensive side there is Mitchell's Wool Fat (very nice soap) & Taylor's Old Bond Street to mention a couple of excellent soaps that I have tried. Being retired and on a fixed income I don't get to try the more expensive soaps unless it is a gift.

Another member will have to chime in on more of the more expensive brands. Hope this helps.

If you add to much water try letting it sit for a min or so to dry out some and then try. Seems to work for me. I like the VDH soap. The smell isn't over powering and it seemed to lather up nicely. If you looking for a thick lather I find creams seem to lather alot creamer than soaps, but I really haven't tried alot of soaps and creams yet either and there are alot of them out there.

Hmmm glad I stumbled upon this thread! I just bought a puck of Vn Der Hagen soap form the PX and it was just under $1.50! If this is good soap and I like it (not that I would know any different yet) I can keep buying it for cheap! Unless it is normally cheap to begin with and not just military cheap.....

wvoifvet,

That is around the normal price of a puck of VDH. So, one can enjoy decent shaves on the cheap.

If you're just getting suds that makes me think theres too much water. Try loading your brush with more soap and adding a few drops of water as you go. Hope this helps

Try Prorasso. Relatively cheap, readily available and easy to lather.

+1 on the too much water / not enough soap. If the suds slide down the side of your mug instead of sticking it also indicates too much water.

soak your brush, then shake out /all/ the water.. load /lots/ of soap.. start lathering, add drops of water slowly.. this might help. too much water and too little soap makes big airy suds/bubbles.. adding water too quickly will do the same, i think.

Plenty of good advice here already, but I'm thinking you'd have better luck with some qualiy soap. Shaving soaps are specially formulated for latherability, glide and cushion, so not any regular ol' soap will do. VDH is reputable, but isn't much higher than Williams in the scheme of things. I recommend Tabac, which is tallow based, very user friendly and is an incredible soap all around. Your face will thank you for it, too.