How many soaps for the normal shaver?

I try to think of myself as just a shaver, not a collector, and not a shave hobbyist.
To find my perfect razor I accumulated 8 razors but have now sold, traded, or pifed all but two,
one for my daily shaver and one for my travel kit.


When I started DE shaving I used my tried and true Barbasol.
Then I moved to Proraso creams tubes with a brush.
Now I use hard tallow soaps.
I currently have 5 pucks of (what I consider) very good hard soaps.
Ruffly calculating my usage that’s 3-4 years worth of soap.


I’d like to try other soaps but i don’t want
to end up with a collection of 30-40-100+ soaps that some members seem to have.
I don’t have the room and I don’t want to be a shave version
of the crazy cat lady (apologies to those with extensive soap collections).


So my long winded question is fighting SAD…..
If you to are mostly interested in shaving and not collecting,
how many soaps do you have, and how do you balance your collection?


At my estimated consumption level I could get a new puck once a year to maintain that level.
Am I reasonable, am I crazy, can you give me any guidance?
How do you decide on which soaps to get and how many to hold you collection down to?


Thanks,
Curt

The thing is, you want to try all kinds of stuff, but if you buy all kinds of stuff you will wind up with a bunch of stuff that goes bad before you can actually finish a tub/puck. The solution is to try everything you want and when you are settled on a rotation take the stuff you rarely use and PIF it.

Another option is to try things and then trade them on the BST. There's a decent market for trading lightly used soap for exactly this reason

Finish one, buy another one.

"Normal"? You might be asking in the wrong place.

How many toothbrushes do you have? How many circular saws? How many refrigerators?

I have 5 soaps and many samples and plan or going with the BST/PIFing route. A passaround could be the answer if you don't want to spend money and still venture out!

I'm at 30 with soaps and creams. Use about 25 of them. Going only g t one more soap and maybe few creams(only have 3) so many soaps to try, now I know which ones I won't rebuy and some regrets(early on I bought 4 of one company)

I like variety of a different soap every day

Cksnffr said:

How many toothbrushes do you have? How many circular saws? How many refrigerators?

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You made me laugh
[MENTION=83914]czbeme[/MENTION]
Enjoy your journey in wet shaving. Do not calculate how many soaps, how many years. I did it in the beginning. It doesn't help

I think the answer to your question is: Too many

I have a few soaps, which I start (and finish) one at a time using the 3017 method. I normally buy them several at a time when travelling or online which brings considerable savings.

My greatest concern is to hear that one of the products which I love has been reformulated- which often means the death knell for a soap. For that reason, I will happily keep a few on hand.

[MENTION=83914]czbeme[/MENTION] I'm with you on that journey. When I just started DE shaving I had mild S&CAD. I'm glad it was just mild. Then I simply realised I would be using all these soaps and creams I already bought for many years. I almost stopped buying stuff. Why almost? Just bought Arko shaving stick I found it's difficult for me to rotate all these creams and soaps - to my mind I've got too many of them already (more than 10, less than 20). I prefer to stick to just a few and use them. Now I'm thinking about selling a few or PIFing. I'm not young so I do not want to die on all these cans and tubes.

I have 5 full soaps and a lot of samples. Which am planning on PIF soonish. All my full soaps are from different brands but one. Only because the maker missed labeled the soap and I sent an email to the shipper and sent me the right one. The thing is. When I start something I go deep. And think about about how many of the $5 or free shipping would save me, but it doesn't. I have joined B&B in hopes to find others to help me find choose my next ...
I'm happy that I joined B&B because I would of never found out a few things before buying then myself or just watching YouTube all day long, aka soap performance, brands of brushes like Wolf Wiskers. Which I would of been just fine just to stick with brands that I can find on many suppliers websites.
But to get back to your main question. I have 5 soaps, one or two I plan on PIFing. I've stopped buy soaps atm. But looking at brushes and razors. I would like to find 4 or 5 of each. 1 for my go to travel kit (but still use whenever) and the rest to keep at home.

I went through the phase of trying differens soaps, croaps and creams, now I've got enough to last me for years, some I'll replace, some I won't.......
Soap - Keepers
Arko Bowl Soap + 1x spare
Godrej Shaving Round + 1x spare
Soap - Not Replacing
Blue's Soap Goat Milk And Animal Fats From New Zealand
De Vergulde Hand
Unbranded Chinese Soap
Shaving Sticks - Keepers
La Toja
Lea
Bea
Tabac Original
Derby
Shaving Sticks - Not Replacing
Palmolive
Arko
De Vergulde Hand
Croaps - Not Replacing
Proraso Red, White & Green
Monsavon Bol A Raser
Creams - Keepers
Proraso Red, White, Blue & Green
La Toja Classic
Lea Classic
Williams Expert Ice Blue
Nivea Men Mild
Creams - Not Replacing
Old Spice Original, Musk & Fresh Lime
La Toja Sensitive
Gillette Classic
Bea
Bond Classic
Lider Classic
Goldex
Estoril Men Sport Line

De Vergulde Hand will last for a long time
Blue's Soap is good, but not good enough to replace
Unbranded Chinese soap is not good enough to use for anything except superlather

I'll use the Arko stick to top up the Arko bowl
I'll use the De Vergulde Hand stick to top up the De Vergulde Hand bowl
Palmolive stick will last for a long time !!

I use Proraso Red, White & Green Croaps mixed with Proraso Red, White & Green creams to mix superlather - the creams will last longer
Monsavon Bol A Raser is good, but not good enough to replace

Gillette Classic is no longer available locally
Old Spice creams are too bland and insipid to replace
Bea is virtually the same as Lea, but harder to find
La Toja Sensitive isn't much different to La Toja Classic
Goldex, Estoril & Lider smell too fake and chemically
Bond is nearly empty anyway

When I've just got the keepers, I'll think about trying something new

I have a few soaps and creams, some of which will be getting piffed when i get around to it. A few creams as well. What i've gotten into is using samples to try things now. I've got 25ish samples that i've been steadily working through for the last month. If one of those sample soaps or creams jump out at me than i'll make a note to purchase it (which hasn't actually happened yet) It saves me a lot of space and a considerable amount in money while still being able to try new things. My current soaps will either be used completely or given away.

How long does it take for soaps and creams to go bad, and how can you tell if they've gone bad?

Define "normal" shaver.

Kagia said:

How long does it take for soaps and creams to go bad, and how can you tell if they've gone bad?

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I don't really know, but I would assume that creams and softer soaps will go bad before milled soap.

I have about 10 different soaps/creams that I know are top notch performers and I know I like the smell of. I generally only buy soaps and creams in person. It helps a lot I can visit Pasteurs pharmacy only once every couple of months

BSAGuy said:

Define "normal" shaver.

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I guess normal is the wrong word.
I was trying to define the fuzzy line between someone who enjoys their shave and has minimal razors, brushes, and soaps vs.
those who collects shave gear as a hobbyist might collect Star Wars toys or Civil War memorabilia.
If you have a large collection of brushes, razors, and creams displayed in your bath, then I think it's as much hobby as getting a shave.
I think this is pretty cool! I love seeing the pictures of members impressive collections of vintage Gillettes or shave mugs etc...

As a more casual user I have pared down to my daily razor, brush, and bowl.
I do however have 5 soaps that get used in an irregular rotation given the weather or my mood.
Often I hear about or see a review of a soap on B&B and think "that sounds great I should try it",
but luckily I usually find a reason I don't need another soap.
So I guess my question is deciding not what the right number of soaps to have is but
what's the right number of soaps I should have!

As I've given it more thought during this thread,
for me it's obvious the 30 hard pucks would be too many (15 years worth) I'ld never live to use them.
I'm thinking more than 10 for me (5 years worth) would be excessive.
So since I have now drawn that line in the sand, I need to be extremely selective.
The 5 soaps I have are all great and should be enough for the "normal" shaver.
However the siren call of different soaps is hard to resist.
After defeating RAD, and BAD, SAD is still a formidable beast to tame,
like the Twelve Labors of Hercules.
BTW: I hear that the new Minos Cretan Bull soap has an incredible post shave feel.