Using Soap Samples

[SteveChuckFrank]

This might be dumb question but....What's everyone's preferred method for using soap samples? I've only attempted to use one sample so far, a K Shave Worx. It came in a very small town so I scraped it all out with a knife and mashed it into the bottom of a mug.

Do you transfer the entire sample like this? Or, do you only take just a small amount out? Just enough needed for a single shave?

I can see needing a lot of separate containers if you don't plan on using one sample at time until it is entirely used up.

 

[clyde72]

Depends more on the size of the sample and container than anything. Some samples, like Stirling for one are so big that I just use them like a regular puck of soap. Soap commander samples work great if you use them like a shave stick. If the sample comes in one of those small about 1" diameter containers, then I usually just scoop a little out and smear in the the bottom of the scuttle.

 

[Spider]

Pulling out just enough for 1 shave is impossible. How do you know how much you’ll use? Each soap is different. I have a custom lather bowl that is pretty flat. I just smoosh a sample into that, and use it as if it were a puck. In order to load normally, you want a good surface area to move your brush across. I’ve had some really inferior shaves and bad impressions from good soaps because my sample was too small.

 

[GearNoir]

I find the typically quoted “almond sized” scoop to be more than enough for my normal 3 pass shaves. This is for creams/softer soaps of course. Harder soaps I like the idea of grating it up.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

Pulling out just enough for 1 shave is impossible. How do you know how much you’ll use?

I thought the same thing after I reread my post haha! But I guess the point I was trying to make was, do you like to transfer the whole sample or just a small portion of it?

I'll have to try to find some larger containers on the cheaper side. As if right now I only have my shaving mug to transfer into. So at the moment I can only use one sample at a time. This might be better for me though, considering my track record with changing things up too much!

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

Depends more on the size of the sample and container than anything. Some samples, like Stirling for one are so big that I just use them like a regular puck of soap. Soap commander samples work great if you use them like a shave stick. If the sample comes in one of those small about 1" diameter containers, then I usually just scoop a little out and smear in the the bottom of the scuttle.

All the samples I currently have are in small 1" containers except for one.

I find the typically quoted “almond sized” scoop to be more than enough for my normal 3 pass shaves. This is for creams/softer soaps of course. Harder soaps I like the idea of grating it up.

The K Shave Worx samples I have are on the harder side. I scraped all the soap out with a knife and mashed it into the bottom of a mug. Then I bloomed it with some hot water. After loading the brush once, it formed a nice even sized puck. Similar to a Stirling sample. And once it dried it attached itself to the bottom of the mug so it doesn't move at all.

 

[bobmsp]

I transfer a sample into a plastic cereal bowl and load my brush from there.

 

[Cvargo]

Well I have over 200 soaps so if I am using a sample. I take out a pretty good size amount press it into the bowl and lather away. What ever is left over soap wise and lather wise is GASP washed down the drain.

I have so much soap I am honestly kind of wasteful with it, I make too much lather, I clean off the puck after each use, and I wash it all down the drain. In the grand scheme of things soap is rather cheap.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

Well I have over 200 soaps so if I am using a sample. I take out a pretty good size amount press it into the bowl and lather away. What ever is left over soap wise and lather wise is GASP washed down the drain.

I have so much soap I am honestly kind of wasteful with it, I make too much lather, I clean off the puck after each use, and I wash it all down the drain. In the grand scheme of things soap is rather cheap.

200 soaps?!? Is there anything you don't have a sample of? Haha!

I'm not really concerned with wasting anything. Just curious of what other methods people employ to use their samples.

I'd like to keep more than one sample available for use at a time, so I just need to get some containers to keep them in.

 

[CBLindsay]

I feel your pain here. I have the worst time with samples because I rarely use them right. I find that the best way to deal with them is either to follow Spider's method or Cvargo's. To get a true feel for the soap you need to be able to load and lather in a way that is very close to how it will be used in the full tub. I have started smashing the entire sample into an empty 4 ounce tin then loading from there. I can leave the unused sample in the tin and use it again the next day or when ever. You really have to treat the sample like you want it all gone. Another thing i started doing was testing all samples using a damp synthetic brush rather than badger or boar. Synthetics tend be easier to use in general but they are also tolerant of small amounts of soap. After i have tested with a synthetic I'l try one of my other brushes.

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

I feel your pain here. I have the worst time with samples because I rarely use them right. I find that the best way to deal with them is either to follow Spider's method or Cvargo's. To get a true feel for the soap you need to be able to load and lather in a way that is very close to how it will be used in the full tub. I have started smashing the entire sample into an empty 4 ounce tin then loading from there. I can leave the unused sample in the tin and use it again the next day or when ever. You really have to treat the sample like you want it all gone. Another thing i started doing was testing all samples using a damp synthetic brush rather than badger or boar. Synthetics tend be easier to use in general but they are also tolerant of small amounts of soap. After i have tested with a synthetic I'l try one of my other brushes.

This is pretty much what I did with the K Shave. After I transferred it and mashed it into the bottom of my mug, it pretty much morphed to be the same size as a Stirling sample. Which is nice because it's really just a thinner version of the full size but the same diameter. So it basically loads the same way.

 

[Jaidmaster]

As a regular "scooper" I have a pretty good idea of how much soap I need for my shave, so I just scoop enough for 1 shave into my lather bowl for samples, just like I do for most of my soaps. If it's a really hard sample, I drop it into the bottom of the bowl and add a few drops of water to soften it up while I shower. I don't typically want to dedicate a mug or container to 1 sample, as I have a few, and storing the small sample containers is much easier than an entire mug or large container.
EDIT: And be sure to smear it around to get a good amount of surface area!
Enjoy your samples!

 

[SteveChuckFrank]

I didn't really want to dedicate one container either, but it is much easier to just transfer and go from there. I'll need to find some cheap containers so I can go back and forth between scents, instead of waiting to kill one off before changing to another.

 

[WildWest74]

Late to this one, but wanted to share my method, which I picked up during a soap passaround on "the other site".

I scoop about a fingertip-sized amount of soap from the container and smear it into my Panda Express plastic bowl, then start whipping it up with my slightly dampened synth brush. I then add drops of water until the lather is where I want it. this gives me a consistent control point when comparing different soaps.

I also use this method to lather my WWSC soaps, rather than try to load my brush from those small cans.

 

[NurseDave]

Late to this one, but wanted to share my method, which I picked up during a soap passaround on "the other site".

I scoop about a fingertip-sized amount of soap from the container and smear it into my OFFICIAL Panda Express plastic bowl, then start whipping it up with my slightly dampened synth brush. I then add drops of water until the lather is where I want it. this gives me a consistent control point when comparing different soaps.

I also use this method to lather my WWSC soaps, rather than try to load my brush from those small cans.

FIFY

 

[Dave in KY]

I'm a face latherer but have a Turkish Hammered Copper bowl I use for samples. I just scoop about an almond size and mash good into the corners/crevices of the bowl and have at it. No problems with this method for me except the little waste as mentioned by some but a small price to pay for the experiment in trying it.

 

[dangerousdon]

The key is if you pull anything from the sample, make sure you pull out MORE than enough. Or else you are doing yourself a disservice. It's frustrating to see a guy pull a nails head worth of soap out and then say the soap sucks. I will bull at least a third of the sample out and smoosh into the bottom of a bowl. If I think I need half the sample...I will go ahead and pull out half. Whatever is left at the end of my shave gets scraped out and put in the container to make my "Franken-Soap."

 

[celestino]

The key is if you pull anything from the sample, make sure you pull out MORE than enough. Or else you are doing yourself a disservice. It's frustrating to see a guy pull a nails head worth of soap out and then say the soap sucks. I will bull at least a third of the sample out and smoosh into the bottom of a bowl. If I think I need half the sample...I will go ahead and pull out half. Whatever is left at the end of my shave gets scraped out and put in the container to make my "Franken-Soap."

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