Advice needed. Do soaps matter?

[Jack Goossen]

My tutors on this forum suggested I use the same razor and blade for 4 weeks to focus on my technique and develop from there. I've been doing this for over a week and it works out great.
However: I decided to work on my lathering technique with a soap that I didn't like earlier. This soap, was praised by some on the forum. Since I now use a bowl for lathering, I decided to give this soap (Razorock xXx) another chance. It lathered much better in the bowl, so I thought I would use it instead of my usual and excellent soap, the Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite.
And although the shaving result was good, my standard Muehle R41 and Gillette Platinum felt raw. Not gliding, but rasping. I had zero nick, nor irritation, but did not enjoy the shave as I usually do.
I am a bit confused now: does soap matter this much?
Your opinion is appreciated.

 

[ewk]

If a quality soap is well hydrated, I would generally say soap does not ultimately matter. It would be hard to generalize after this one experience. For myself, my soap experience is different day to day. Some days my lather game is on fire, other days it is a bubbly dissipating mess.

 

[Jack Goossen]

Thank you for the reply. The Razorock lather looked fine, no bubbles left, thick.

 

[Invicta]

And although the shaving result was good, my standard Muehle R41 and Gillette Platinum felt raw. Not gliding, but rasping. I had zero nick, nor irritation, but did not enjoy the shave as I usually do.

Consistency matters in a shave and sometimes the occasion shave does not come up to expectation. You need a few more shaves with this soap and resultant lather to come up to a meaningful conclusion; one result is too short a sample. If it is not gliding try a little more water to get better glide.

 

[JoWolf]

My tutors on this forum suggested I use the same razor and blade for 4 weeks to focus on my technique and develop from there. I've been doing this for over a week and it works out great.
However: I decided to work on my lathering technique with a soap that I didn't like earlier. This soap, was praised by some on the forum. Since I now use a bowl for lathering, I decided to give this soap (Razorock xXx) another chance. It lathered much better in the bowl, so I thought I would use it instead of my usual and excellent soap, the Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite.
And although the shaving result was good, my standard Muehle R41 and Gillette Platinum felt raw. Not gliding, but rasping. I had zero nick, nor irritation, but did not enjoy the shave as I usually do.
I am a bit confused now: does soap matter this much?
Your opinion is appreciated.

All equipment and product used in a shave matters. They are links in a chain.
You probably didn’t develop the soap properly before use. If using a soap for the first time and unsure of possible performance. A five minute hand lathering would probably help to understand a soap before use.

 

[Ace the Masta]

The difference between a good lather and bad lather is huge I've found. I have found that all the different soaps/creams seem to want different levels of water so my guess is if it isn't gliding well maybe you need more water.

I've had soap that seemed to irritate my skin but they still performed well during the shave, just an allergic reaction i presume.

 

[JPO]

My tutors on this forum suggested I use the same razor and blade for 4 weeks to focus on my technique and develop from there. I've been doing this for over a week and it works out great.
However: I decided to work on my lathering technique with a soap that I didn't like earlier. This soap, was praised by some on the forum. Since I now use a bowl for lathering, I decided to give this soap (Razorock xXx) another chance. It lathered much better in the bowl, so I thought I would use it instead of my usual and excellent soap, the Fine Accoutrements Snake Bite.
And although the shaving result was good, my standard Muehle R41 and Gillette Platinum felt raw. Not gliding, but rasping. I had zero nick, nor irritation, but did not enjoy the shave as I usually do.
I am a bit confused now: does soap matter this much?
Your opinion is appreciated.

I have the same experience with razorock dead sea. It is ok for de shaving, but not for SR shaving. Life is to short and soap is cheap. Even when this is well hydrated it does not come close to eg MDC or SV.

 

[esky15]

I would say ultimately no. If a soap didn’t do it’s job, then it wouldn’t be on the market.
However, not all soap is as easy to lather, is the same, so there may be minor tricks you need to learn for each of them.

 

[FarmerTan]

It's a stinky one for some, but the original Tabac puck is really hard to beat. Arko is great, GREAT! but dries out some folks, especially in Winter.

Just my two cents, and probably werth both pennies my friend!

 

[wyze0ne]

It does matter when comparing RazoRock soaps to almost anything else. They just don't stack up performance-wise in my experience.

 

[FarmerTan]

It does matter when comparing RazoRock soaps to almost anything else. They just don't stack up performance-wise in my experience.

Never tried any, but I can say that a fairly inexpensive one that I love is Stirling. Lol, of course, mine were really cheap. As in "Piffed" me, by @Lightcs1776 !

I must say "Christmas Eve" will have you buyin' presents in the Summertime if you use it then!

 

[JCarr]

I used to think it didn't matter, but now I do. A soap with superior slickness makes a difference in the quality of the shave in my opinion. I just posted to a thread earlier today and listed a number of soaps I've found to have superior slickness and post-shave face feel.

Stirling Mutton Tallow soaps
Captain's Choice soaps
Mike's Natural soaps
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements soaps (both regular CK formula and CK-6 formula)
Tabac (tallow base)
Mitchell's Wool Fat

a small list...many more could be included.

 

[Jack Goossen]

Consistency matters in a shave and sometimes the occasion shave does not come up to expectation. You need a few more shaves with this soap and resultant lather to come up to a meaningful conclusion; one result is too short a sample. If it is not gliding try a little more water to get better glide.

Will do. Do you consider Razorock soap excellent?

 

[Jack Goossen]

I used to think it didn't matter, but now I do. A soap with superior slickness makes a difference in the quality of the shave in my opinion. I just posted to a thread earlier today and listed a number of soaps I've found to have superior slickness and post-shave face feel.

Stirling Mutton Tallow soaps
Captain's Choice soaps
Mike's Natural soaps
Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements soaps (both regular CK formula and CK-6 formula)
Tabac (tallow base)
Mitchell's Wool Fat

a small list...many more could be included.

I ordered some Stirling soaps and am still in my exploration stage.
Have some Dutch soaps, haven't used them yet.
Same goes for two Haslinger soaps.

Your comment sounds logical to me, but not everybody seems to agree.
I will give the Razorock a third chance, though.

 

[Jack Goossen]

Consistency matters in a shave and sometimes the occasion shave does not come up to expectation. You need a few more shaves with this soap and resultant lather to come up to a meaningful conclusion; one result is too short a sample. If it is not gliding try a little more water to get better glide.

I am absolutely willing to give the Razorock a third chance, because many praise that soap.

 

[Jack Goossen]

All equipment and product used in a shave matters. They are links in a chain.
You probably didn’t develop the soap properly before use. If using a soap for the first time and unsure of possible performance. A five minute hand lathering would probably help to understand a soap before use.

Five minutes it is

 

[McBlade]

For good lubrication mix your lather as wet as you can. It should start to look shiny when it's well saturated. Just keep adding more water until you ruin it. Now you know the limit for the particular soap you're using.

Some soaps get saturated quickly. Some will take quite a lot of water.

 

[Jack Goossen]

The difference between a good lather and bad lather is huge I've found. I have found that all the different soaps/creams seem to want different levels of water so my guess is if it isn't gliding well maybe you need more water.

I've had soap that seemed to irritate my skin but they still performed well during the shave, just an allergic reaction i presume.

More water it is

 

[Jack Goossen]

I have the same experience with razorock dead sea. It is ok for de shaving, but not for SR shaving. Life is to short and soap is cheap. Even when this is well hydrated it does not come close to eg MDC or SV.

Thank God, my wife ordered the MdC wooden bowl for my birthday.

 

[Jack Goossen]

For good lubrication mix your lather as wet as you can. It should start to look shiny when it's well saturated. Just keep adding more water until you ruin it. Now you know the limit for the particular soap you're using.

Some soaps get saturated quickly. Some will take quite a lot of water.

Wiil it glide as smooth as my Fine soap?