Costco brand bar soap

**rummwa** · 02-17-2010, 11:38 AM

When I first started this hobby and before I started collecting different soaps I was putting the ends of our bar soap in my mug. We use Costco brand bar soap and it worked great. I have yet to find a cream or shaving soap that lathered as well as it did. The soap has 25% moisturizing cream using pure vegetable oils in it, detergent-free and has a light pleasant peppermint like smell that does not linger. You get 14 bars each 4.5 ounces in a box and each bar is shrink wrapped. Has anyone else tried this?

**michiganlover** · 02-17-2010, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by rummwa

When I first started this hobby and before I started collecting different soaps I was putting the ends of our bar soap in my mug. We use Costco brand bar soap and it worked great. I have yet to find a cream or shaving soap that lathered as well as it did. The soap has 25% moisturizing cream using pure vegetable oils in it, detergent-free and has a light pleasant peppermint like smell that does not linger. You get 14 bars each 4.5 ounces in a box and each bar is shrink wrapped. Has anyone else tried this?

I am intrigued, what creams, and shaving soaps have you tried?

I have heard of guys using bath soap in a pinch, but they describe the experience as survivable at best, and not something they want to frequently repeat.

There are handful of regular soaps that people have used to shave with, and had good results: Woody's Meat and Potatoes, Pears Glycerin soap, Hugo Naturals, but for the most part regular soaps are inadequate for shaving (I have tried close to a dozen myself with horrible results).

**Boba Fett** · 02-18-2010, 07:53 AM

I suppose a regular bar soap could work so long as it had the proper surfactants and lathering capabilities. To each his own.

**Fozz7769** · 02-18-2010, 08:07 AM

What are the ingredients?

**redwoolf** · 02-18-2010, 08:13 AM

Could you take some picture of the lather building process from start to finish?

**HoratioCaine** · 02-18-2010, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Fozz7769

What are the ingredients?

Originally Posted by redwoolf

Could you take some picture of the lather building process from start to finish?

LOL...rummwa, you really stirred up a geeks' - er, I mean hornets' - nest.

**joelmole** · 02-18-2010, 03:58 PM

I've seen the Kirkland brand bar soap before and wondered if it was a passable bath soap, didn't think about shaving with it. My last couple of bath soaps were Pre De Provence, thought the Costco stuff might be decent, but probably boring. The fact that it mentions moisturizing cream made me think it was just a Dove knockoff.

**norton** · 02-18-2010, 04:27 PM

this it?

**Omnichron** · 02-18-2010, 06:55 PM

there you go. french milled soap and rich lather. yup... I will try it.

**rummwa** · 02-18-2010, 07:00 PM

I will try and answer all questions about this soap. The first picture is 10 swipes of the brush over the soap, the second is after lathering it up. The soap has coconut oil, glycerin, and palm oil. I Have used Williams, Tabac, Proraso Green Tea, soaps, and Proraso, Bigelow, and Erasmic creams.

**Deltaboy** · 02-18-2010, 07:42 PM

WOW !

I'm impressed for a bath bar soap.

**SirWhiskers** · 02-18-2010, 09:08 PM

I've seen a 3-pack of Palmolive soaps at Target for $0.24 (that's right, a 3-pack for 24 cents, it's not a mistake!) and they look like the Palmolive sticks. I wonder if they work as well as the Palmolive sticks, they smell the same and are tallow soaps

**Blondie** · 02-18-2010, 09:31 PM

You mentioned it worked great, before you started collecting soaps. Do you think it works better than the soaps you mentioned? Just curious.

**rummwa** · 02-18-2010, 09:59 PM

I shaved with it again this morning and had no problems, it lathers easier than the others do in my opinion, but I do like the menthol of the Proraso. We use the soap anyway so maybe I will try milling it into a container, or using it for travel.

**HoratioCaine** · 02-18-2010, 10:21 PM

If you're happy with it, that's what matters, but I have to wonder if you know what you're missing. To be honest, your pic shows the kind of lather I would expect from a bar soap, not from a shaving soap. The bubbles are too large, and the density is lacking. It looks closer to suds than lather. Good shaving soaps and creams should have much smaller, nearly imperceptible bubbles, a much denser consistency, and should not allow the tips of the brush to show through it. If you're not doing better with your shaving soaps or creams than what you're getting from your Kirkland soap, check your technique.

**rummwa** · 02-19-2010, 02:51 AM

What am I here for? To learn! learn! learn!

**michiganlover** · 02-19-2010, 04:41 AM

Originally Posted by HoratioCaine

To be honest, your pic shows the kind of lather I would expect from a bar soap, not from a shaving soap. The bubbles are too large, and the density is lacking. It looks closer to suds than lather. Good shaving soaps and creams should have much smaller, nearly imperceptible bubbles, a much denser consistency, and should not allow the tips of the brush to show through it.

+1

That was my thoughts as well, that the lather had too many bubbles, and was not at all equivalent to the lush creamy lather I can get from Tabac, or Proraso Shaving Cream.

While you could shave with this lather (and might escape without razor burn), the resulting shave would be less than ideal, and nothing like the luxurious shaves you can get with a proper shaving soap.

rummwa: ten swipes with the brush is not nearly sufficient to properly load the brush. If your results with Tabac/Proraso look similar to your lather above, it is likely a result of not using enough product. Don't be afraid to really load your brush (I load for upwards of a minute). I also use an amount of shaving cream equal to about two large sized almonds (having found the snurddle/ small dollop of shaving cream equal to the size of an almond to be never enough).

**rummwa** · 02-19-2010, 07:15 AM

Thanks for the info.

**Shaving Dad** · 02-19-2010, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by SirWhiskers

I've seen a 3-pack of Palmolive soaps at Target for $0.24 (that's right, a 3-pack for 24 cents, it's not a mistake!) and they look like the Palmolive sticks. I wonder if they work as well as the Palmolive sticks, they smell the same and are tallow soaps

I saw these soaps at the dollar store the other day. I think it was three for a dollar and I wondered the exact same thing you posted. Does anyone have any knowledge in this area? Is the Palmolive bar soap the same as the shave soap? If it is, that would be totally cool!!!

**Boba Fett** · 02-19-2010, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by michiganlover

rummwa: ten swipes with the brush is not nearly sufficient to properly load the brush. If your results with Tabac/Proraso look similar to your lather above, it is likely a result of not using enough product. Don't be afraid to really load your brush (I load for upwards of a minute). I also use an amount of shaving cream equal to about two large sized almonds (having found the snurddle/ small dollop of shaving cream equal to the size of an almond to be never enough).

Also, get some of that soap down into the base of the hairs. You collect a lot of water there, and the lather you generate there after a few passes and reapplications is very hydrated, and very slick, meaning it works great for ATG passes and touch ups.