What's new
The Shaving Cadre

Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun

Tallow Shaving Soaps Are Better Than Veg, Change My Mind.

Which Shaving Soap is Better?

  • Tallow Based

    Votes: 7 46.7%

  • Vegetable Based

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • Tallow and Vegetable are Equal

    Votes: 6 40.0%

  • I prefer oil shave oil

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    15
Luecke3262

Luecke3262

“I am the Grail Razor Hunter”
Hobbyist
1638981942195.png

THOUGHTS???

Personally I'm in the tallow club, because of the beautifully thick, slick, and protective lather it produces. Now, not all tallow soaps are the same, but I postulate that an average Tallow shaving soap is better than the average veg based shaving soap. Granted there are some outliers(Such as MDC), but in general this is my personal feeling(YMMV).

Tell me why you believe Veg based soaps are better/superior to tallow soaps or if you agree with my view.

Come at me, change my mind!
 
I have more tallow than veg - I can sometimes blind test tell - but with the exception of a few on the lower ends of the bell curve - I seem to get around the same performacne. Small caveat - if I don’t trust a soap but love the scent - I’ll use a pre shave which usually balances everything out
 
Tallow and veg can be equal but more often than not I find tallow to be more preferable for regular use.

There are some crappy budget tallow soaps out there but I feel like Veg is much harder for makers to do right.
 
Okay, sounds like tallow for the win! I though this would be a more contentious subject 😂

Where are the Veg soap lovers at?
 
I have to agree. Tallow is top. But some VEG can be just as good. But most Veg is not worth the cost of buying it IMO. MDC is amazing stuff! Klar Seifen and Castle Forbes are top-notch too. But... Tallow is the winner in my book.
 
For right or wrong...I will almost always pass over a soap that does not contain some kind of animal fat. There have been a few non-tallow soaps that I thought were really good...but they usually contain lanolin. Like anything, there are exceptions. But like I said. If a soap doesn't have tallow or another kind of animal fat...I probably won't even try it.
 
Southern Witchcrafts taught me that veggie soaps can perform just as well as some of the top tallow soaps. It’s my second favorite soap, right behind CBL.

Victory Shaving, Central Texas Soaps, Caties Bubbles, and Saponificio Varesino are a few other notable veggie soaps in my den.

I think in general, it’s easier to make a good soap using tallow. Making a good soap without it takes a more careful recipe and process.

If given two unknown new artisan soaps blind and had to choose one based on that factor alone, I’d side with one made with tallow, because experience has shown that it’s more likely to be better. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the veggie soap ended up being better. It all depends in how each were made.
 
I guess not to split hairs...but when we say Vegetable based...what if there is lanolin in it. A lot of veggie based soaps have lanolin and that is a wax that comes from wool producing animals. So is it fair to still call it a veggie soap? And while we are on the topic...why do we call it a veggie soap. Most of the non-tallow soaps use coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, etc. All of those are actually fruits. I don't think there are a ton of soaps made with carrot juice or celery juice.
 
innocent-smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top