Shaving with Ivory Soap

sandmountainslim · Feb 18, 2012

Spurred on by this advertisement I gave it a try! I went with a more modern method and shaved some Ivory into my shave mug and put a dollop of Comfort Glide Shave Gel on top before I began lathering and the result was GOOD!
I have no idea how the Ivory Soap would work on it's own but as a part of my Super Lather it worked great and is tallow to boot!

Island Dreamer · Feb 18, 2012

That's interesting. In years past, back when I was a shower shaver, the only soap I used with my Bic disposables was Ivory. Only I didn't bother to lather it so much as work it into a washcloth to lather it some and then apply. It worked OK but it wasn't great. I eventually went back to shaving out of the shower and going back to a brush and whatever shaving soap I could find at the local drugstore. But I've always been convinced that one could use any number of bath soaps lathered up with a brush and get at least an acceptable shave. It's just that buying and using dedicated soaps and creams is way more fun.

sandmountainslim · Feb 18, 2012

Yeah but I figured "Hey! If 1911 Man can do It I can do it!" Plus with the added advantage of a drop of Shave Gel on top it is quite acceptable to me.

jbradley · Feb 18, 2012

I've been using a locally made soap. It has a Bay Rum scent, but is not a shaving soap. I decided to try it, it works fairly well, but not as rich a lather as I see in some pics on here. There is a very fine line between too wet and runny and too dry. It took some work to get it right, but I wanted to so it was worth it.
Johnnie

BrookR1 · Feb 18, 2012

I did a little experiment with Oil of Olay soap.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...-with-your-shaving-soap?highlight=oil+of+olay

Nobody · Feb 18, 2012

Hmmm... I like trying things like this. Looks like OOO and Ivory are going on the shopping list.

Viseguy · Feb 19, 2012

Love that ad! I tried to lather Ivory with a brush and, as the ad says, the lather was "not entirely satisfactory". One of these days I'll try using it as a shaving stick. Thanks for posting this.

TheVez2 · Feb 19, 2012

Yep, I've used Ivory by itself. It works! I wouldn't choose it as my daily soap with all the other options available, but if it was all I had, I wouldn't complain. You can get a nice thick workable lather with it.

See my post about it here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/266169-99-44

gearchow · Feb 19, 2012

Used whatever hard, hand soap that was on the sink for years. I went to canned goo and remembered how nice it was to have the right stuff. Joined the B&B and found out the right stuff is something totally different again.

-jim

cpowill · Feb 20, 2012

Nobody said:
Hmmm... I like trying things like this. Looks like OOO and Ivory are going on the shopping list.

I bet the travel size would work great in a shaving bowl. Might need to try this as well if I can find some. will keep you all posted.

The Kiwi · Feb 20, 2012

Island Dreamer said:
That's interesting. In years past, back when I was a shower shaver, the only soap I used with my Bic disposables was Ivory. Only I didn't bother to lather it so much as work it into a washcloth to lather it some and then apply. It worked OK but it wasn't great. I eventually went back to shaving out of the shower and going back to a brush and whatever shaving soap I could find at the local drugstore. But I've always been convinced that one could use any number of bath soaps lathered up with a brush and get at least an acceptable shave. It's just that buying and using dedicated soaps and creams is way more fun.

I didn't "lather" with Ivory, either, but it was what I shaved with first, using an SE razor, long since lost and forgotten, make & model unknown now (although I'm gravitating to the idea it was some sort of "Star" razor). But we're referring to youthful peach fuzz that was really easy to remove, after all. It was 1955.

FtVinnie · Feb 20, 2012

Done that. Shaved many times dry as well, when I had to to. Works fine every several days, but it isn't enjoyable. The dry shave amazes your camping friends, who believe you must be a Man of Iron. Especially with a Trac 2 it isn't an exercise in butchery.

My experience with regular soap and no brush was that I could do half-a-face or so, then started drying too much. So, I would re-soap 4 times to do a 2 pass shave.

gearchow · Feb 20, 2012

+1 on the drying. I recall dipping my fingers in water and re-wetting my face a lot.

-jim

kingfisher · Feb 20, 2012

Can't imagine going to buy Ivory to try it as a shaving soap. So many superior options.....

and by the way, if you really want to shave with a body soap, buy yourself a bar of Hugo Naturals. They smell great, and they lather a hundred times better than Ivory.

hotreds · Feb 20, 2012

My question would be "why bother?"

TheVez2 · Feb 20, 2012

hotreds said:
My question would be "why bother?"

Why not? I did it out of curiosity. After all the ads from the days of yore show using it as a shave soap. Gillette packaging used to say to use Ivory soap to shave with. I recall seeing a razor once that had "Use Ivory soap" etched into the head. Apparently it was common back then, and don't we do a lot of things on this site, just because that's the way they did it 50-60-70 years ago?

I will say that I didn't intentionally go buy it to shave with it. I happened upon a bar in a care package and decided to try it. But it worked, and worked fairly well.

gearchow · Feb 20, 2012

TheVez2 said:
Why not? I did it out of curiosity. After all the ads from the days of yore show using it as a shave soap. Gillette packaging used to say to use Ivory soap to shave with. I recall seeing a razor once that had "Use Ivory soap" etched into the head. Apparently it was common back then, and don't we do a lot of things on this site, just because that's the way they did it 50-60-70 years ago?

I will say that I didn't intentionally go buy it to shave with it. I happened upon a bar in a care package and decided to try it. But it worked, and worked fairly well.

+1

And by trying it now, the experience is there when your in a jam. Like being in a hotel and not having the good stuff, you will know that the small bar of hotel soap works in a pinch.

-jim

Jawaburger · Feb 20, 2012

Is it better than Williams? :001_rolle

hotreds · Feb 20, 2012

TheVez2 said:
Why not?

Fair enough. I guess I don't have your curiosity on the matter. And, in fact, Gillette made a razor that was given out by Ivory Soap. Similar to below.
http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/The%20NEW/1930s%20NEW%20Colgate-Palmolive%20Set.jpg

bassmanlarry · Feb 20, 2012

I remember my grandfather would use whatever soap he had available, and 9 times out of 10 in my grandparents' house, it was Ivory.

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Shaving with Ivory Soap

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