Tabac Stick - Homemade

I was spoiled by Tex's ongoing experiment regarding how many shaves to the bottom of a Tabac Stick (see related thread.) I had purchased a puck and wanted to convert it into a home made shaving stick. Many of the threads on do-it-yourself sticks involved glycerin based soaps which readily melt in a double boiler. There never was a satisfactory answer, however, for whether a tallow based soap, like Tabac, would liquefy in a double boiler. It does not. Period. End of Discussion. However it does soften the soap, making it quite malleable, and with some dedicated tamping, I think one can make a credible go of it. Heres how to do it. Carefully clean out a deodorant stick, push up style is necessary. The twist ups have the long plastic screw in the middle inhibiting tamping. Grate a slice of soap using a cheese grater. Place in glass jar, and slip jar into a pot of gently boiling water (you've created your own double boiler.) Let it warm up, I gently gave the flakes (which remain distinct, they never will melt) a stir with a rubber spatula. Carefully take jar out and towel dry the jar. Using a teaspoon, spoon the warm flakes into the empty tube. Place a piece of wax paper over soap and tamp down. I drizzled the smallest amount of water on top of the soap, spilled it out, and then tamped. Repeat process, with more grated soap. As the tube fills, you can use your thumbs to do the tamping, which is much more effective than any tool, and you no longer need the wax paper. That's it. Here are the pics. Of course this remains a work in progress, as I'm going to give it a few days to solidify before trying it. To be continued. Enjoy

Darjeeling ... excellent post, thank you!

I grated a puck of Tabac into a ramekin (I know, not nearly as exciting) and had excellent luck. I found that adding a few drops of water the the grated shavings helped the tamping process considerably. Tabac is fatty enough that tamped shavings should stick together and stand up to a good face rubbing with out issue.

I look forward to hearing more. Thanks again!

JKH, much appreciated. Happy Holidays!

I'm so doing this with MWF...
the screw type might work if you used some smaller tamping tool....
I'm going to work on this, thanks for giving me the idea!

Wow, that was a great write up. Nicely done!

Darjee,

Killer post. I miss these kind of posts and I feel we need more of 'em, well done!

Got My Mitchell's Wool Fat Stick!!! It's cooling in the fridge. I'll post a pic tomorrow. Thanks for the great idea, Darjeeling!
Jim

Thanks for sharing the images! Sticks are very useful.

JimR said:

Edited<snip>.....</snip> It's cooling in the fridge. I'll post a pic tomorrow. Thanks for the great idea, Darjeeling!
Jim

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I dunno.. If I had started at this post instead of the top of the thread... I am afraid I would have been rather flummoxed at what you were talking about.

I haven't done the shave stick thing much.... but keep tempting me and I may have to make a Tabac stick!

Etoyoc_Rebmos said:

I dunno.. If I had started at this post instead of the top of the thread... I am afraid I would have been rather flummoxed at what you were talking about.

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I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about!

Context is a vital part of communication, donchaknow

(I'll edit it to make it more...clear).

Great post! Let us know how it works.

Can't wait to try this!

MWF Stick:

Gee... I am going to have to get some of those nice empty sticks to make them. I don't like the odd oval I have in a deodorant container and I believe I read that glue sticks don't work well.

Looks great Jim!

great post!

I used the stick. Perfect! All the Tabaciness intact, and the characteristic, thick, cushiony lather. I'm so glad everyone has liked the idea, its totally not original, but I'm glad it all worked out. Please note Jim R's fabulous entry above, using the twist up stick. Jim, fabulous. You did it. How did you manage it with the whirlygig in the middle??

Darjeeling Express said:

I used the stick. Perfect! All the Tabaciness intact, and the characteristic, thick, cushiony lather. I'm so glad everyone has liked the idea, its totally not original, but I'm glad it all worked out. Please note Jim R's fabulous entry above, using the twist up stick. Jim, fabulous. You did it. How did you manage it with the whirlygig in the middle??

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Thanks Darjeeling, but I only kinda sorta did it...

I used a marker to tamp it down when I was putting the flakes in. Not a big deal, tamp and spin, tamp and spin, the marker fit right into the space between the screw and the walls.

HOWEVER. When I tried to actually use the twister, it appears that the MWF had adhered to the sides of the stick. Perhaps I tamped too well? Anyway...it broke. I had to cut the bottom out and push with my thumbs...PUSH HARD. That fat really stuck to the walls...I had to put a bottle into the hole and bear down with my whole upper body. SOOOO...not a total success.

But the soap was great, works fantastically as a stick, and in the future I will think about how to prevent the adhesion problem...

Re: the adhesion problem. Try spraying the inside of the tube with one of the non-stick products used in the kitchen, i.e. Pam, Crisco, etc.

brothers said:

Re: the adhesion problem. Try spraying the inside of the tube with one of the non-stick products used in the kitchen, i.e. Pam, Crisco, etc.

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I was thinking something a little less chemical, like Olive Oil. Good for the skin, too...

brothers said:

Re: the adhesion problem. Try spraying the inside of the tube with one of the non-stick products used in the kitchen, i.e. Pam, Crisco, etc.

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Wouldn't that change the soap in some way?

I finally found a deodorant with the push up type container. I guess I will have to try some Brut deodorant.

JimR said:

I was thinking something a little less chemical, like Olive Oil. Good for the skin, too...

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Etoyoc_Rebmos said:

Wouldn't that change the soap in some way?

I finally found a deodorant with the push up type container. I guess I will have to try some Brut deodorant.

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Oh, my goodness. I don't think so. I've been eating food cooked with it for decades, and I can't think of anything that's ever been changed or affected negatively in any way. Are we thinking that the inner surface of the old deodorant tube or whatever is a certifiably sterile surface before we start cramming shaving soap down there? Who knows what other chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or other biological substances or contaminants are already on there.