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Soap Care

G'ville Ute

G'ville Ute

0
I have seen lots of videos on how to bloom and prepare soap for use, how to bowl lather or face lather.
What I haven't seen or been able to find is information on what people do to their soaps after the shave is done.

Do you store it uncovered or covered?
Do you store it upside down so any water will be pulled away from the soap?
Do you treat pucks differently than soft soaps?

Wanted to see what each of you do. I currently put the tub upside down in such a way that air can get in and dry the soap out. I have found that I load way more soap than I need if I don't dry it out from the previous shave.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I guess it depends on the kind of soap and whether its being used in rotation or daily. To start with, I don't bloom "soft" soaps. If I consider the soap soft enough that it might warrant special drying conditions I don't bloom it to begin with, that usually reduces or eliminates the need for special treatment.

If its a daily use situation will usually make some effort to allow it to dry between use. This might mean I leave the lid off all day then put it on when I return from work or it might be as simple as turning the tub over to let it drain while I shave. More often than not I just rinse the tub out and let it drain while I shave then cover when I clean up ...or do nothing special. I find that if I rinse off the lather that has accumulated while loading and turn the tub over to drain while I shave, most soaps will fair pretty well regardless of how soft or firm they are.

If it is a soap I am using in rotation and don't plan to use again for awhile I will usually leave the top off until I come home from work then cover it and put it away. I do this out of habit more than anything because most of my early collection was pretty soft stuff and I thought it was necessary (no basis in fact, just a judgement call).

I think most of the newer artisan soaps would benefit from being allowed to dry out a bit between uses, especially the ones with heavy doses of glycerin. Many of the softer soaps contain a lot of glycerin, which has a tendency to absorb water from the environment. The glycerine makes for a wonderful wet lather but when it absorbs water while it's still in the soap it makes a soupy mess.
Maybe @Dragonsbeard can tell us if there are other things that a soap might have in it that would make it a candidate for being dried out between uses, I am not familiar with how milks or other skin foods react to being put away wet OR being left exposed to air...
 
CBLindsay said:
I guess it depends on the kind of soap and whether its being used in rotation or daily. To start with, I don't bloom "soft" soaps. If I consider the soap soft enough that it might warrant special drying conditions I don't bloom it to begin with, that usually reduces or eliminates the need for special treatment.

If its a daily use situation will usually make some effort to allow it to dry between use. This might mean I leave the lid off all day then put it on when I return from work or it might be as simple as turning the tub over to let it drain while I shave. More often than not I just rinse the tub out and let it drain while I shave then cover when I clean up ...or do nothing special. I find that if I rinse off the lather that has accumulated while loading and turn the tub over to drain while I shave, most soaps will fair pretty well regardless of how soft or firm they are.

If it is a soap I am using in rotation and don't plan to use again for awhile I will usually leave the top off until I come home from work then cover it and put it away. I do this out of habit more than anything because most of my early collection was pretty soft stuff and I thought it was necessary (no basis in fact, just a judgement call).

I think most of the newer artisan soaps would benefit from being allowed to dry out a bit between uses, especially the ones with heavy doses of glycerin. Many of the softer soaps contain a lot of glycerin, which has a tendency to absorb water from the environment. The glycerine makes for a wonderful wet lather but when it absorbs water while it's still in the soap it makes a soupy mess.
Maybe @Dragonsbeard can tell us if there are other things that a soap might have in it that would make it a candidate for being dried out between uses, I am not familiar with how milks or other skin foods react to being put away wet OR being left exposed to air...
Click to expand...

I think most of us will be doing the same thing in regards to what they do with their soap after they use it.
I was just curious to see what other things people do. I have found that rotating through soap (unless you are in a 3019 type situation) that I can replicate my lather more easily. If it is wet from the day before I get way too much soap in the brush.

@CBLindsay, love the grape soda!!! Banana is good as well. Thank you!
 
Roughly my process on soap care:
- Soft soaps (I.e. - TOBS/AOS cream, CBL premium, Proraso, Stirling, etc) I don’t bloom but may leave open, generally, up to a few hours to even a full 8 after the shave.

- Hard soaps (I.e. - CBL tonsorial, DR Harris, Tabac, SV, Williams, etc.) I’ll bloom by putting 5-10 drops of warm water on top of the puck while I take a few minutes for my shave prep. After the shave, I’ll leave it out a couple hours, to keep it in a slightly softened state but not back to its original hardness.

There have been days where I accidentally leave a soap out 8, or slightly more, hours, putting it away before bed too, and it might harden the soap up a bit, but it’s always none the worse for the wear next use.

I try to put my soaps away when they are still in a slightly malleable state, neither super hardened or croapy. I generally leave out my soft soaps a bit longer to harden them up some.
 
One puck resides in an open Old Spice mug for daily face lathering, currently a CBL Tonsorial Beta. Perfect fit BTW! Tabac with it's loose fitting cover for face lathering too as it has it's own mug.

Anything else is scooped and bowl lathered. Don't have to let anything dry out, wet brush never touches the soap hopefully preserving soap and scent a bit longer, maybe? I don't know just a guess.
 
We recently had a similar discussion:

Soap Tub Open or Closed ?

I have always wondered - do I keep the soap tub's top open or closed between shaves ? The scent may dissipate when the tub is open all the time by my bar of soap in the shower stays exposed and still works fine. Will my soap evaporate quicker if exposed ? Isn't my shave puck the same as a bar of...
theshavingcadre.com
 
While I bloom a soap on occasion...for the most part...I just put the lid on a soap and move on to the next one. Maybe I should check my soaps.
 
eeyore said:
One puck resides in an open Old Spice mug for daily face lathering, currently a CBL Tonsorial Beta. Perfect fit BTW! Tabac with it's loose fitting cover for face lathering too as it has it's own mug.

Anything else is scooped and bowl lathered. Don't have to let anything dry out, wet brush never touches the soap hopefully preserving soap and scent a bit longer, maybe? I don't know just a guess.
Click to expand...
Pretty much my process regarding the scooping.

I have one soap that I lather in the tub, RR WTP. It dries before I can even get the brush to my face. No issues closing that one immediately.
 
@CBLindsay all I can say is as you know the reason for curing soap is to remove as much moisture as possible aka MDC who cures their soap of 6 months and recommends once getting the soap in your home just take the aluminum lid off the soap and leaving it off for good! Moisture can and has been responsible for micro bacterial activity which many times shows up as either what’s called rust or orange spots of a soap going rancid. To offer my opinion on the one topic you brought up regarding certain ingredients needing special care I’m going to say that if you look at the environment of what most of us are putting our soaps in ( plastic jars) which right there is an issue especially if your using a lot of natural ingredients and scents. A full spectrum preservative is very important when using these types of ingredients and with some of the modern soaps I’m. seeing extremely long lists of ingredients being used in Shave soaps. I see no need for blooming a soap and if you look at a bar of bath soap that is usually left in the shower or bath tub wet the rapid waste that occurs can happen to shave soaps as well.

To me yes scooping out a bit of lather and bowl lathering is the optimum way to maintain the integrity of the soap but we all know a lot of people will lather up from the jar. One thing I do is start out with a damp brush not a dripping wet brush. I load the brush by turning the opening side of the jar completely upside down so the soap is facing the floor. I then load my brush and add waters few drops of a time if I needed with the little squeeze bottle I keep next to my sink. After I’m done with the shave if any soap is on the outside of the jar I once again turn the jar upside down under the running water to clean off the jar. Then wipe it dry and then I leave the soap to dry out at least 6 to sometime almost 24 hrs before putting the lid back on. Moisture can also degrade the scent. Water in my soap dilute the benefits of both the Sheep and Camels milk with continuous wet brush loading out of the jar if the jars is face up.

Sorry for the long response! This is what happens when your over tired! Lol
 
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