My Guess... 3017

Bruce, with a bowl like yours, who even worries about the soap inside?

In all seriousness, you hit the nail on many points. Hype around various artisans comes and goes, but the tried and true ones hold steady. Sure, they don't get the attention of the "latest and greatest" but those here know this little "secret."

I will say, the only soap I'm looking to try now is the new PannaCrema Red and Blue, it's hard to resist those beautiful jars!

domzals1 said:

I will say, the only soap I'm looking to try now is the new PannaCrema Red and Blue, it's hard to resist those beautiful jars!

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They've got me too. They're one of the reasons I won't be doing the year long sabbatical next year.

paintflinger said:

They've got me too. They're one of the reasons I won't be doing the year long sabbatical next year.

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Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to try it via the current PC passaround before the beginning of the year so it will have to be my named exception. I'm very excited to try them out though.

beginish said:

I still have a stick of Irisch Moos, so I'll stick with that.


lishijia, welcome!

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So do I, but the Tabac I can replace!

brucered said:

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with a tried and true, proven soap that 3017ers are using. It's the reason I keep using these soaps, don't feel like I'm missing anything by not even wanting to try all the new artisan soaps and will continue my use of the 3017 method and trust you guys.

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Very fair words. There's a lot of good info buried in this thread by people who are committed to using the product until completion (being a sub-set of wet shavers that are committed to evaluating their soaps) - it's hard to argue when the feedback is almost all the same.

This thread is something to be cherished. I love going back and watching wooden bowls being emptied by the founder(s).

Put the TOBS eton college away with maybe 10 shaves left on it. And started Tabactober. Man I love this stuff. Can't wait to finish the month of October on Tabac and then get back to killing the TOBS.

@brucered - I think you're onto something there.

Last shave with Cade yesterday went very well. Now that I flipped the puck and the consistency is more of a croap, I am getting the nice lather I remember getting from it. I'm excited to get back to it come November. That is unless I decide to keep TABACtober going until the stick is gone.

Started my month of L'October

I think the top tier soaps are very similar, but I still find that they build up in slightly different ways. I stopped trying to rank them once they hit a certain level of performance.

They are all in the same neighborhood of effectiveness and maybe they just nailed down the ratios of whatever ingredients they have to be effective, but there were subtle differences.

Ingredients:

Haslinger Schafmilch
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Water, Lac Powder, Parfum, etc...

Speick
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Aqua, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate, Fragrance

Tabac
Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Tallowate, Parfum, Sodium Cocoate, etc...

All VERY similar.

A couple more:

AOS Tallow
Sodium Tallowate, Water, Potassium Palmitate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, etc...

MWF
Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, etc...

Similar ingredients in different amounts. Not sure why AOS works so well and MWF is so difficult for me. Must be the Potassium Palmitate and Sodium Palmitate? But then why do Haslinger, Speick, and Tabac work well? No idea.

Here are some artisans:

Mike's Natural
Distilled water, saponified beef tallow and stearic acid, vegetable glycerine, saponified kokum butter, etc...

Stirling
Beef tallow, stearic acid, distilled water, castor oil, potassium hydroxide, vegetable glycerine, etc...

B&M Latha
Aqua, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Tallowate, Glycerin, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Cocoate, etc...

I don't know, maybe if Mike's and Stirling wrote out the ingredients in a different way they would be similar to the big dogs. B&M certainly seems similar but the water being listed first might explain why it's a softer soap.

On that note, my first shave with Tabac I had maybe a touch better lather than my best lathers with Speick. It seemed like I could add a bit more water without making the soap too airy. Very good lather and looking forward to the rest of the month.

ftfy

OccamsBadger said:

If it ain't top tier - its out-a-here, except if you're rockviper. Then you'll 3017 a cow-pattie puck if it was purchased with a "soap" label attached.

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Jarick said:

On that note, my first shave with Tabac I had maybe a touch better lather than my best lathers with Speick. It seemed like I could add a bit more water without making the soap too airy. Very good lather and looking forward to the rest of the month.

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I was very curious about this! It has been a long-long time since I 3017'ed a Tabac puck. My memory was telling me that Speick was real close and maybe equal, maybe a touch behind. I believe you when you say they are close but Tabac is a touch better. Good to know. Thanks.

With top tier soaps like Haslinger, C&S, Valobra etc, I can tailor the lather to the type of shave I want that day. They have wide sweet spots. I'm not a soap maker but I do cook quite a lot and have taken many gourmet cooking classes over the years. I know that quality of ingredients is every bit as important as preparation and process of cooking. I would imagine with soaps its the same, but with soap it isn't just one and done. You have to produce the same quality of soap the same way every day. So it isn't enough to use quality ingredients once in a while, but consistency of ingredients would matter as well.

I picture Haslinger and Mitchells using the same ingredients from the same sources year after year. I may be completely wrong, but I think some artisans struggle here. It would be challenging if you are purchasing small quantities to get the same quality day in and day out. But that's just me making assumptions...I'm not an expert and have no idea what a small artisanal soap maker is up against.

I agree with everything Bruce wrote. I still find some appeal in trying an artisan soap here and there, but my stash will never again be flooded with quantities of artisan soaps and samples. Furthermore, I find 90% of the "reviews" I read on B&B outside of the 3017 thread, on other forums, and on youtube to be rubbish. It is simply impossible to judge a soap having never used it but giving it a good whiff. Fool me once, shame on you....

So I am all-in with tried and trues. I have quite a stash of Valobra based and Haslinger soaps. After 2016 year of Haslinger I plan on giving MWF and DRH a go while also mixing in some Haslinger and Valobra here and there. If an artisanal soap comes along that's been available for quite some time, and receives good reviews from some trusted sources (any and all of you 3017'ers) then I might give it a shot...or not.

Still plugging away with Mike's Orange, Cedarwood, & Black Pepper. Hit the bottom of the tin about a week ago and reformed what's left. Still not excited about the scent. The performance improved with very heavy loading. On deck are the remains of a tub of RR Son of Zeus and then a new puck of Institut Karité.

The tried and trues as Snowman mentioned and Bruce wrote about are my gold standard as well. The Valobra based and Haslinger soaps are my favorites and the ingredient comparison with artisan soaps is interesting. I have used 5 full tins of the Select version of CRSW (Cold River Soap Works) since they were introduced in May 2014 (16 months ago) and just started their Fall 2015. The lather/prep and shaves are very consistent and each tin of soap very reliable. As equal to the Haslinger with a better post shave feel imo. That's why I have mentioned elsewhere I don't 'think' of CRSW as artisan...but it clearly is. Not many out there but this one shines.

Good to know about the CRSW. There have been a few 3017ers sing their praise.

Thank you Maurer and Wirz.

That is all.

snowman said:

... So it isn't enough to use quality ingredients once in a while, but consistency of ingredients would matter as well.

I picture Haslinger and Mitchells using the same ingredients from the same sources year after year. I may be completely wrong, but I think some artisans struggle here. It would be challenging if you are purchasing small quantities to get the same quality day in and day out. But that's just me making assumptions...I'm not an expert and have no idea what a small artisanal soap maker is up against.

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Rod with Stirling has posted about this at least a couple times. I think it was sometime this year but could be wrong about that. Anyway, they're now sourcing ingredients from consistent suppliers and he feels that their quality and consistency has improved as a result. I don't have any first-hand knowledge just reporting what I've heard him say.

djh said:

Thank you Maurer and Wirz.

That is all.

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+1 Another great shave with Tabac this morning.

What I find different between the top tier soaps and the artisan and second tier soaps is that with the top tier soaps I'm dialed in on the second or third shave. With the artisan and second tier soaps it could take me a week or more to get the soap dialed in and even then the lather may or may not be as good as the top tier soaps.