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How do you use the Arko sticks?

May sound like a really noob question, but how do you use the Arko sticks? I have never used any shaving sticks and was curious as to how people tend to use them.
 
Smooshed in it a bowl with my thumbs (it's not that hard a soap) and gathered enough for a face lather...the few times I tried it that is. I won't go near Arko these days. Far too industrial a scent.
 


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Glad you found Arko. I don't like to apply stick directly to my face. I slice it like a salami, press into an Old Spice mug, and use like a soap puck.
 
Like others have said. Wet face apply Arko directly on your face then with a wet brush create a nice Arko lather. Enjoy
 
There are many ways. I prefer to store them in one of those $2 push-up plastic containers from West Coast Shaving. I also have one of the Turkish copper shaving bowls available from several vendors on eBay, and a smaller size plain metal bowl for the travel kit. Scrape off small strips of soap with a thumbnail, drop in the bowl. Cumulatively it should be the same mass as the "almond-size dollop" recommended for creams. Soak the brush, shake only once. Throw in a few drops of water with the soap. Stir with wet brush for a minute and a half. Dab in more water, a few drops at a time, if needed - especially in this dry winter air. A little too much water is ok, since Arko does not easily break. Lather should be thick and rich, filling the bowl to the brim. Apply and shave while enjoying the honest-to-God smell of real old-time soap.
Some people will point out that the sticks are perfectly made for face-lathering, where you scrape a film-thickness layer of soap directly on the face and then lather. That works well but I had a couple irritating experiences with stiff brushes burning up my face.
Some people may load the brush directly from the stick somehow.
Try and find whatever way works for you.
Arko also makes a puck form, which I store in a vintage shave mug just as my father stored his Old Spice many decades ago. It is easy to lather-up; just throw in a wet brush and water right there in the mug, apply, rinse when done, and hang from an S-hook until next use.
 

IMightBeWrong

Loves a smelly brush
After you try Akro, make sure you try some Speick and Valobra sticks. Some of the best soaps around come in stick form. :thumbup1:
 
If you want to use Arko stick as intended I just wet my face, wet the end of the soap and rub it on my face..then lather. However, I don't really like shaving sticks so I pressed my arko into a mug since it is relatively soft, and lather it like a normal soap in a container. Can't go wrong with either method.
 
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