Thread: Is there a truly unusable soap/cream?

That is what I am asking myself after trying 14 different soaps/creams. They range from Williams to MWF and none have provided a lather that hindered getting a close and comfortable shave. Some work better than others and I have my favourites but none have been abject failures. It's a puzzle alright.

Bob

Yes there is. It's called L'Occitane Cade Shaving Cream. Impossible to lather if you ask me!!

There are some people reporting (on other forums) that the new formulation of Trumper's soaps are no more useful than paperweights, but I've yet to get my hands on such a puck.

I think if you work it most soaps will work or even excel. I guess it depends on what you are expecting from each soap.

I owned a new formulation trumpers once and after a couple of months I gave up on trying to get a good lather and used it as a shower soap instead.

Wow, high end soaps more useless than Williams, hard to believe. Just had a BBS using a Williams stick for soap this morning.

Bob

Originally Posted by rum

There are some people reporting (on other forums) that the new formulation of Trumper's soaps are no more useful than paperweights, but I've yet to get my hands on such a puck.

I have struggled with Trumpers pucks forever. A few different pucks. I have also had difficulty with all of the triple milled soaps so I assume it is me and not them. Maybe a combination of the two. I've tried distilled water and watched videos ...... it is hit and miss. Even with MWF and Tabac.

Sometimes a decent lather but more often than not a PITA. I use these with a dash of cream to get something I can use. OTOH, most all glycerine based soaps lather up wonderfully for me.

Originally Posted by Mephisto

I think if you work it most soaps will work or even excel. I guess it depends on what you are expecting from each soap.

I expect that I can work up a lather that is suitable to provide a comfortable shave and so far so good. As the cost of the soap rises I expect the same but in spades but have not found that to always be so. Sometimes you don't get what you supposedly pay for and others supply proportionately more than what you would expect based on price or reputation.

Bob

When it comes down to it what must a soap do to provide a proper surface to shave from? Lube, moisture cushion? Water will do the same. It's just not as pleasant and luxurious and it doesn't smell nice. So when you go to soaps and spend more and more these are the qualities you are buying. Additionally, once you move to soaps then you have the issues of lather-ability, and staying power of the soap and quality of lather and scent which you don't have with water.

Marvy soaps (the company that puts out the great green rubber shaving mug) was really the only abject failure I've encountered. It smelled great, but all I could get was bubble bath-type bubbles and after a rough first pass, I switched to something else.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

When it comes down to it what must a soap do to provide a proper surface to shave from? Lube, moisture cushion? Water will do the same. It's just not as pleasant and luxurious and it doesn't smell nice. So when you go to soaps and spend more and more these are the qualities you are buying. Additionally, once you move to soaps then you have the issues of lather-ability, and staying power of the soap and quality of lather and scent which you don't have with water.

All 14 that I tried had no issues with lather-ablity for me with some having a little more lubricity than others. All generated enough lather with one loading for 3 passes. I don't really consider scent as there are 2 of the 14 that I do not care for in that regard but there is nothing wrong with they way they work. For me and the water we have I find it hard to believe that the majority of soaps/creams are not more than adequate. The only other thing I can think of that would make a soap unusable is having a reaction to some of the ingredients contained in it. Undoubtedly there are some unusable soaps out there but I'm gonna stop looking for that magic bullet soap wise.

Bob