I don't know exactly how long a puck of VDH lasts, but the one I received only 1.5 weeks ago is already halfway gone!
Is this normal?
Is this normal?
The vanishing VDH
- Thread starter salisburyyates
- Start date
1) Which VDH soap are you using - there are several different ones.
2) If you're soaking it, stop.
None of the VDH soaps last terribly long - a good english soap can last over a year - but that sounds pretty excessively rapid.
2) If you're soaking it, stop.
None of the VDH soaps last terribly long - a good english soap can last over a year - but that sounds pretty excessively rapid.
- Thread starter
- #3
It's the deluxe.. not the glycerin. I don't soak it, but I do rinse it with water at the end of the shave to get the suds out.
Don't do that. That's a lot of the problem right there.
Leave the suds on there. The suds are soap too, and you will use it the next time.
EDIT: And get a puck of Tabac. Mine has lasted a year and a half already, and I've hardly put a dent in it.
EDIT: And get a puck of Tabac. Mine has lasted a year and a half already, and I've hardly put a dent in it.
If it's going away that fast you are wasting a lot of soap. I have hardly made a dent in mine using it as part of my rotation for several months.
As others have said, there's no reason to rinse the soap off before putting it away.
As others have said, there's no reason to rinse the soap off before putting it away.
+1 on the other posts here. Use enough water on your brush to make the lather, no need for all the extra water, it's just washing away your soap. No big deal with VDH, but a bad habit best broken before you spend 45 dollars on a puck of Trumpers
learn sumptin new every day. I rinse my soap to get the suds off also now ill stop
The soap is cheap enough that wasting it is not expensive. But you don't need to rinse off any soap after using it, just put it away. And pay attention when loading up your brush, it sounds like you can get away with less.
Imagine had the original post been about a vintage puck of Yardley, or English Fern....
I don't see a problem with rinsing the soap. I do this and my VDH Deluxe lasts forever. If you are lathering on the soap, try loading the damp brush (shake it out first, not too much water) and then move over to a lather bowl. Add some water there (about a teaspoon) and make the lather in the bowl instead of on the soap. It takes a very little bit of soap on your brush to make gobs of lather using this method.
But why rinse? Are bubbles that bad?
Sounds like you are lathering on top of the soap. I used to do that. Now I bowl lather in a separate bowl after loading the brush. Soaps last ALOT longer. There is a thread on here about how to do this.
+2/+1
- Thread starter
- #15
I dunno. In the video below, this guy is showing how to make lather but he is constantly on top of the puck. Does that mean he goes through a puck of soap in like a month? [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY[/YOUTUBE]
I dip the tips of my brush to wet, swirl a while on top of the soap and then build the lather on my face.
My VDH deluxe is just barely half gone and it's been about 6 months.
Of course I do only shave ~2 times per week, so that could be why it's lasted so much longer for me.
But like most other folks here believe, it just sounds like you're using too much water.
My VDH deluxe is just barely half gone and it's been about 6 months.
Of course I do only shave ~2 times per week, so that could be why it's lasted so much longer for me.
But like most other folks here believe, it just sounds like you're using too much water.
Wow... and people say I over-explain things.
That video was about seven minutes too long.
Yes, he is going through a puck of soap far faster than most of us would.
That is called the "Zach Method", and in my opinion wastes a boatload of soap.
Most of us start out with a brush that is fairly dry, load the brush on the puck, and then gradually add water until the desired lather is achieved.
The "Zach Method" starts out with a brush that is super wet, and compensates by adding (and wasting) product until the perfect balance of water/soap is achieved for the perfect lather.
All of that soap he is letting down the drain as "useless for shaving" would make a perfectly fine wonderful creamy lather using the more common method of starting out with a brush that is drier.
Some people subscribe to the "Zach Method", but I think it is wasteful of product, and wasteful of time as well.
I agree with everyone else: less water, mostly for the hit it would put on good soaps, where money starts to matter at least a little
I do think this (the number of shaves/week and relatedly, the number of passes/shave) is an important point, too.
Several of us did a month-long soap journey in June, using the same soap every shave for a month. Before then, I assumed high-end soap pucks lasted 6-12 months. For many gents here, I'm sure they do. At least a few of us found that, shaving every day, we'd use up a puck of high-end soap in something like 4-5 months max. Yes, I was geeky enough to weigh my soap before and after the month. Now, that's shaving roughly 30x / month, and for me at least, doing 4 passes + minor touch-ups each shave. I used Jim's soap-lathering method available in the tutorials. I mention that method because 1) it works so well, and 2), it doesn't overuse water at all.
Given my usage, the life of my soap would be, unsurprisingly much different from, say, a buddy of mine, who holds a professional job and who needs to be presentable every day. He can shave every 5 days and, on the 5th day, start to show the barest hint of stubble. (Day 6 = arguably "unprofessional"). His shaving soap lasts roughly forever.
Phew. All that blathering to make the point that soap life is a subjective thing; but, the objective truth is that bombing soap with a ton of water will reduce it's life relative to a more conservative yet awesomely effective approach, such as Jim's tutorial.
One puck of VDH Deluxe lasts me about 3 months. Don't soak for rinse for extended periods and it should last a while.
