D.R. Harris Arlington soap review

I cannot upload any pics. My phone today just doesn't want to cooperate whenever I send them to my email to be uploaded.

I opened up the box today, there was a citrusy/lemony smell coming from the soap and box, nothing too overwhelming or bad in anyway. Just kind of takes away from it's character if it has too much of a one dimensional scent. Anyways, after some time trying to find a bowl to keep it in, I eventually found one and pressed it in.

Cleaned my sink with some bathroom cleaner first and then I filled up the sink with hot water (always do this when shaving). Submerged my brush in the water for a few minutes, swirling it back and fourth a few times and pulled out and allowed it to drip upside down. I swirled the puck 4-5 times and it lathered alright. It was enough from 2 passes, it did require more lathering for more than 2. This soap was very runny. I couldn't get it to stay thick on the neck. But, it went through a 3-4 days worth of growth pretty well.

It was just slick and smooth, with no drying effect whatsoever. Just smooth skin when rinsed with water. Although, I did have some trouble when I shaved across my neck under my jaw line. To be fair though, I've always had an issue with that part. This soap does NOT work with blade buffing for whatever reason. I couldn't get it to perform blade buffing with my Merkur HD razor. I didn't have to spend as much time trying to shave all the bits and pieces of stubble left over.

Is it worth the $? No, it's definitely not... There are better soaps out there for the same price. This is just my opinion, since this is my first soap in a LONG time and haven't used any other soaps such as Mitchell's Woolfat or Tabac or Trumpers. I remembered why I hate soaps. I hate having to clean up the residue on from the soap. It's wasteful...

Load your brush more, 4-5 swirls doesn't cut it, and try again.

Blix said:

Load your brush more, 4-5 swirls doesn't cut it, and try again.

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Yeah, you may be right. I'll try 10-15 swirls next time.

I can't really say that my experience with D R Harris Arlington is similar to this review, in fact quite the opposite.

I will say that I load my brush more than 4-5 swirls, more like 20-30 seconds and then I move to a bowl where I get more than sufficient lather for 3 passes + touch-ups. For me this is one of the great soaps and fits in my regular rotation.

AFCBradyfan12 said:

Yeah, you may be right. I'll try 10-15 swirls next time.

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LOL, seriously?!?!

I load my triple milled soaps for a minute & do at least 120 swipes across the puck in that time to load my brush. Don't blame a product for poor performance after one use when you haven't learned the right ratios yet. I'm pretty sure this soap will be much better for you when you actually have more soap in your brush.

I'm surprised you got 2 passes with 4-5 swirls. You were probably Skimping on product to even do that. If that little product cut through 3 days worth as easily as you say it did, then imagine what the appropriate amount will do. DRH soaps are incredible. Most agree on that. The biggest disagreement is over what scent is the best!

Rylos said:

LOL, seriously?!?!

I load my triple milled soaps for a minute & do at least 120 swipes across the puck in that time to load my brush. Don't blame a product for poor performance after one use when you haven't learned the right ratios yet. I'm pretty sure this soap will be much better for you when you actually have more soap in your brush.

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+1. Even loading for 30 seconds, ought to mean at least 60 swirls. If some soap can somehow manage to load in 15 swirls, I want to know what it is.

Let's not be so hard on the reviewer.

My first try with T&H luxury shaving soap was a wash out because the soap was harder than what the brush could handle (would not load no matter what I did).

Next day I tackled it with a stiffer brush and everything turned out lather city.....

If the OP is not happy with Arlington they can always PIF it off to any number of B&B folks

turtle said:

Let's not be so hard on the reviewer.

My first try with T&H luxury shaving soap was a wash out because the soap was harder than what the brush could handle (would not load no matter what I did)....

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I remember the trick with letting some warm water on top of the soap just to "loosen" it a bit while you do the prep.

A wet brush requires a full minute of loading. Yes, it makes a mess but the reward more than outweighs the clean up inconvenience. Harris soaps are my favourite from this country, Arlington being number one. It's never failed me and the scent is DIVINE.

I think what everyone says about loading time is true. Marlborough is currently my daily soap and usually load for a at least 30 seconds with a brush that I have soaked then lightly squeezed dry. I then add water to the brush maybe 5-10 drops at a time whilst face lathering. This gives oodles of creamy lather without creating too much froth to clean up...although sometimes I get so much lather that big clumps of it go flying whilst I am working the brush on my face!

OldGreyGuy said:

I can't really say that my experience with D R Harris Arlington is similar to this review, in fact quite the opposite.

I will say that I load my brush more than 4-5 swirls, more like 20-30 seconds and then I move to a bowl where I get more than sufficient lather for 3 passes + touch-ups. For me this is one of the great soaps and fits in my regular rotation.

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+1 for me. Harris is possibly my number one soap.

+1. I just got in a puck of Marlborough, and i'm VERY disappointed. The Arlington is heavenly, the Marlborough is booooooooring.

Optometrist said:

A wet brush requires a full minute of loading. Yes, it makes a mess but the reward more than outweighs the clean up inconvenience. Harris soaps are my favourite from this country, Arlington being number one. It's never failed me and the scent is DIVINE.

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My timer is to load the brush while the sink fills up with water. I might overload a tad (if that's possible), but never underload this way.

rearviewmirror said:

+1. I just got in a puck of Marlborough, and i'm VERY disappointed. The Arlington is heavenly, the Marlborough is booooooooring.

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Jason, I had exactly the same opinion of Marlborough a year ago. Bought it because of Arlington performance, but only used it once. I came back to it a few months ago and it really has grown on me. So much so that I now have the aftershave and cologne too.

AFCBradyfan12 said:

Yeah, you may be right. I'll try 10-15 swirls next time.

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Try 100/120, using a wet brush.

It's getting harder and harder to resist trying the Arlington. Depending on the brush, I do at least 80 swirls on my Tabac. I start with most of the water shaken out of the brush because I pour the water I have sitting on top of the puck into the brush as I begin to swirl.

+1 to everything everybody else just said. Load the brush LONGER. Wet-shaving is not a race.

Also, I don't understand the OPs final comment about hating to clean up the residue on the soap.....what are you talking about? You dont' have to clean up the residue on the soap itself. Just let the soap dry, then cover it, then put it away. No need to clean a soap.

kingfisher said:

+1 to everything everybody else just said. Load the brush LONGER. Wet-shaving is not a race.

Also, I don't understand the OPs final comment about hating to clean up the residue on the soap.....what are you talking about? You dont' have to clean up the residue on the soap itself. Just let the soap dry, then cover it, then put it away. No need to clean a soap.

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The OP uses a "wet" brush like many, incl myself. This produces large amounts of lather than runs over the sides of the bowl. It's no hardship in my opinion, but it does get messy sometimes. Can never have too much lather!

Definitely try using more product. I've been using D.R. Harris Almond for a year and think it's an excellent soap. I have no experience with Arlington.

turtle said:

Let's not be so hard on the reviewer.

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I don't think we're being hard on the reviewer, just giving him info. needed to present a fair trial. A review based on a single use of a product is probably not going to be fair, especially if the product isn't used properly.