My Guess... 3017

[brucered]

Don't forget, the amount of soap in RR containers is measured in ml, not g. I am not sure how close the soap is to 1g/ml, but it is worth thinking about.

I did the measurement on the SMdF and posted about it in that thread, but it does differ by quite a bit.

250ml of SMdF relates to about 180g, so about 70% of the weight.

My others have been similar...120ml to 90g etc.

 

[Parjay]

I did the measurement on the SMdF and posted about it in that thread, but it does differ by quite a bit.

250ml of SMdF relates to about 180g, so about 70% of the weight.

My others have been similar...120ml to 90g etc.

Thanks, Bruce. That is great to know moving forward, one more knock on the relative cost of soft soap.

 

[Jarick]

Oh wow, I didn't know that. It will be interesting to see what the final container weight is, then.

 

[OccamsBadger]

And the Czech and Speake Oxford and Cambridge soap is no more. I did a head shave and a four-pass face shave today and used up the last of it.

I have about six or seven samples lying around that were generously pif'ed to me. I have a couple of Queen Charlotte creams and some Maggards and some Through the Fires as well. I am going to use these up over the next two weeks before I choose my next full puck victim.

The journey so far:

Czech & Speake - Oxford & Cambridge: 5/6/2015 – 7/1/2015
Klar Kabinett (1/2 bar): 4/2/2015 – 5/5/2015 (only used half – not working for me)
Petal Pushers Coconut: 3/9/2015 – 4/2/2015
I Coloniali: 2/13/2015 – 3/9/2015
Scottish Fine Soap: 1/13/2015 – 2/12/2015 (61 days total)
Razorock Artisan – Christmas in Tuscany (last half box): 12/24/2014 – 01/12/2015
Scottish Fine Soap: 11/23/2014 – 12/23/2014 (interrupted for CIT)
Tabac: 10/15/2014 – 11/23/2014
Strop Shoppe Special Edition with Tallow – Lemon Eucalyptus: 9/17/2014 – 10/14/2014 (36 days total)
Queen Charlotte Soaps - Cubano Breeze: 8/16/2014 – 9/16/2014
Strop Shoppe Special Edition with Tallow – Lemon Eucalyptus: 8/6/2014 - 8/15/2014 (interrupted for special QCS puck PIF’ed to me.)
Razorock Artisan – ABCBA (1/2 box): 6/29/2014 – 8/6/2014
Stirling Soap - Lime (Sample): 6/20/2014 – 6/28/2014
Mike’s Natural – Lily of the Valley: 5/12/2014 – 6/19/2014
Pannacrema – Namaste (Lemongrass and Oak Moss): 4/21/2014 – 5/11/2014
Pannacrema – San Francesco (Sandalwood, Incense, and Spices): 4/4/2014 – 4/20/2014
Stirling Soap - Scots Pine Sheep Soap (2 pucks): 2/18/2014 -4/3/2014
Mystic Water - Marrakesh: 1/16/2014 – 2/17/2014
Razorock – Christmas in Tuscany (First half of box): 12/28/2013 – 1/15/2014
Pannacrema – Nostalgia (Orange and Clove): 12/8/2013 – 12/22/2013
Stirling Soap – Coniferous: 11/10/2013 – 12/7/2013
Mike’s Natural – Orange, Cedarwood and Black Pepper: 10/19/2013 – 11/9/2013
Mystic Water - Lavender Lime: 9/22/2013 – 10/18/2013
Queen Charlotte – Vostok: 8/30/2013 – 9/21/2013
D.R. Harris – Arlington: 6/18/2013 – 8/29/2013
Stirling Soap Barbershop: 5/23/2013 - 6/17/2013 (second puck – not grated)
Stirling Soap Barbershop: 5/7/2013 - 5/22/2013 (first puck – grated into large container)
Cella (48g left): 4/27/2013 - 5/6/2013
Pannacrema – Fumo di Londra : 4/15/2013 – 4/26/2013
Mike’s Natural – Bay Rum: 3/31/2013 – 4/14/2013
Queen Charlotte – Rose Otto: 3/15/2013 – 3/30/2013
Mystic Water - Adirondack Jack: 2/21/2013 – 3/14/2013

 

[Jarick]

Kent, how did you like C&S? Worth the cash? How do you compare it to say DR Harris in terms of quality?

 

[OccamsBadger]

Kent, how did you like C&S? Worth the cash? How do you compare it to say DR Harris in terms of quality?

It lasted as long for me as the DR Harris Arlington did. I liked them both with a nod to the C&S as better quality - I'd take either as a desert island soap without a hint of complaint, though. I go through soaps really fast - I head shave so I have more territory to cover - so think double my two months for a normal person's usage. At that rate, the cost isn't that bad on a per diem basis.

 

[Heron]

It's time for weigh-in #1. Each brush has been used five times. Since there's a prize on the line for the correct guess, I'm not going to say which is which. I will say that the grams per shave averages are 2.6, 2.34, 1.78, and 1.4. These numbers are using the same loading and lathering method for all four brushes for each rotation. This works out to an average of 2.03g per shave between the four brushes.

 

[fightingillini22]

Had a rough shave this morning with Stirling MITA. Not sure why, as everything I'm using has been the same for the past 3 weeks here in Japan. Must just be one of those days.

 

[strop]

I finished the jar of MdC on Jun 30 and started on a partial puck of AOS Lemon. No dialing in required with this! I ended up using 209 grams of soap in 123 shaves, for a 1.7g/shave average.

So what can I conclude about MdC? It is a very good soap, but not great in my opinion. As it got softer, it loaded too easily, so that there were days when I overloaded a bit. I may have stretched it a bit further, but there is no way, IMO, that it could last a year, as many have claimed in the past. I can see, though, that when used in rotation it could appear that way.

Will I use it again? Well, I got two jars when I visited Paris last year, so yes, but I doubt I will buy it again.


Arlington (80+%) 8 Oct 2012 to 13 Jan 2013 Note there were 4 travel shaves and about 10 shaves finishing a tub of Mr. Taylor's Cream.
TFS Rose (32g) 14 Jan 2013 to 31 Jan 2013
Valobra stick (51g) 1 Feb 2013 to 6 March 2013
Haslinger Coconut (60g) 7 March 2013 to 26 April 2013 60g/50 shaves (1.2 avg)
Arlington Cream (weight tbd) 27 March to 10 Aug 2013 Used to make superlather. Especially nice with AOS Unscented
AOS tallow unscented added (75g) 8 May to 18 July 2013 61 shaves, taking out the days I was traveling
QCS Vostok 19 July 2013 to 4 Sept 2013 (44 shaves)
Valobra Menthol 5 Sept 2013 to 12 Oct 2013 33 shaves. The rest were travel days.
Tabac 13 Oct 2013 to 31 Dec 2013 77+ shaves. There were 2 or 3 left that got moved to the Frankensoap tub.
AOS Sandalwood (new formula) 1 Jan 2014 to 14 April 2014 92 shaves
Trumpers Violet 15 April 2014 to 12 June 2014 55 shaves/75 grams of soap
Pre de Provence 13 June 2014 to 19 Dec 2014 174 total shaves
LaToja cream 20 Dec 2014 to 31 Jan 2015 43 shaves (partial tube)
Martin de Candre 1 Feb 2015 to 30 June 4015 209g/123 shaves (1.7 avg)
AOS Lemon (old) 1 July 1015 to ???

 

[brucered]

Thanks, Bruce. That is great to know moving forward, one more knock on the relative cost of soft soap.

Yes, some of these soft soaps use a lot of product. Add that to the difference in Volume vs Weight and it is even less cost effective vs a hard soap. Not to mention, the SMdF is in my eyes, more a cream. I am having a heck of time loading by swirling as the soap is actually moving with the brush. Large chunks and globes are swishing around my soap dish.

Maybe my tastes are changing too or maybe Haslinger has spoiled everything else for me but after a few days with it, I am finding the scent very strong to my nose. Cushion was terrible today too, I could feel the blade every stroke even though it was slick. Hopefully just a bad day or two and I can dial it soon.

Mine is 50g in an open dish and it's still not firming up, I'm guessing because it's being used and water is being added to it.

 

[Jinx18]

Yes, some of these soft soaps use a lot of product. Add that to the difference in Volume vs Weight and it is even less cost effective vs a hard soap. Not to mention, the SMdF is in my eyes, more a cream. I am having a heck of time loading by swirling as the soap is actually moving with the brush. Large chunks and globes are swishing around my soap dish.

Maybe my tastes are changing too or maybe Haslinger has spoiled everything else for me but after a few days with it, I am finding the scent very strong to my nose. Cushion was terrible today too, I could feel the blade every stroke even though it was slick. Hopefully just a bad day or two and I can dial it soon.

Mine is 50g in an open dish and it's still not firming up, I'm guessing because it's being used and water is being added to it.

Yea I definitely can't load the brush on top of it. Way too soft and chunks break off. I have been taking a blob and smearing it in my brush then face lathering.

 

[SpikedLemon]

I may have stretched it a bit further, but there is no way, IMO, that it could last a year, as many have claimed in the past. I can see, though, that when used in rotation it could appear that way.

Talking with a colleague here that uses DE blades and, for a while, he would express the length of time that a blade would last in days (e.g. he'd get "a week from a Feather blade"). In later conversations, when he started to learn to use a straight razor, I asked if he shaved daily and he admitted that he shaved only every 2/3 days. Ergo that Feather blade was 3 shaves before it was tossed.

He was surprised that I would shave daily.

I could easily see him using a hard soap, such as PdP (that I've been using daily since February), and stretching it easily for a year.

 

[Jarick]

Unless there's an issue with the blade, I get about a week of daily shaving from them.

Another mediocre lather but a decent to good shave. I'm not asking much with a two pass WTG, then XTG shave. I was hoping for something better, but I still had to completely reload the brush between passes, and the lather was dissipating on the face.

I think I'm going to bust out the big dogs and put Haslinger in the dish, see how I like that.

 

[Atalk]

I finished the jar of MdC on Jun 30 and started on a partial puck of AOS Lemon. No dialing in required with this! I ended up using 209 grams of soap in 123 shaves, for a 1.7g/shave average.

So what can I conclude about MdC? It is a very good soap, but not great in my opinion. As it got softer, it loaded too easily, so that there were days when I overloaded a bit. I may have stretched it a bit further, but there is no way, IMO, that it could last a year, as many have claimed in the past. I can see, though, that when used in rotation it could appear that way.

Will I use it again? Well, I got two jars when I visited Paris last year, so yes, but I doubt I will buy it again.

Talking with a colleague here that uses DE blades and, for a while, he would express the length of time that a blade would last in days (e.g. he'd get "a week from a Feather blade"). In later conversations, when he started to learn to use a straight razor, I asked if he shaved daily and he admitted that he shaved only every 2/3 days. Ergo that Feather blade was 3 shaves before it was tossed.

He was surprised that I would shave daily.

I could easily see him using a hard soap, such as PdP (that I've been using daily since February), and stretching it easily for a year.

One of the reasons I track "# of shaves" as opposed to duration. Heck, I could make a Fusion cartridge last a year................

Spoiler

if I shaved every 6 months

 

[Jarick]

Ain't got time for bad shaves. Haslinger Schafmilch is grated into the dish:



Test lather was very creamy and slick. Similar to AOS tallow and Tabac. Let's see how it shaves.

Scent not so much. Wife thought it smelled very floral "like an old persons home". I thought it smelled like a dirty diaper.

 

[Sullybob]

Yes, some of these soft soaps use a lot of product. Add that to the difference in Volume vs Weight and it is even less cost effective vs a hard soap. Not to mention, the SMdF is in my eyes, more a cream. I am having a heck of time loading by swirling as the soap is actually moving with the brush. Large chunks and globes are swishing around my soap dish.

Maybe my tastes are changing too or maybe Haslinger has spoiled everything else for me but after a few days with it, I am finding the scent very strong to my nose. Cushion was terrible today too, I could feel the blade every stroke even though it was slick. Hopefully just a bad day or two and I can dial it soon.

Mine is 50g in an open dish and it's still not firming up, I'm guessing because it's being used and water is being added to it.

I was having the same trouble with my SMdF Bruce. I ended up treating it like a cream and scooping out about two almonds worth of cream and smearing it across the bottom of my lather bowl and lathering it up. I'm using a lot of product per shave and the shaves are pretty nice. It's been so long since I've used a cream (and I think this counts as a cream as far as consistency goes) that it took me a couple of tries to get it dialed in.

 

[brucered]

Thanks Shawn. I may have to give that a try.

That's exactly how I used if when it first arrived and I wanted to sample it.

 

[Sullybob]

When I tried to load it like a soap it was a mess Bruce. It was coming out of the jar and I just couldn't get enough soap for a decent shave.

 

[rockviper]

... Wife thought it smelled very floral "like an old persons home". I thought it smelled like a dirty diaper.

That works for me much better than the other way around.

 

[brucered]

Mmmmmm, dirty diaper.