We had just made a costco run and I was putting away some Irish Spring in the Bathroom. I had a strange idea. I thought it would be interesting to see how well this soap would lather up with my badger brush. After reading the ingredient list (it is a tallow based soap) it contains many of the same ingredients as my shaving soaps. I decided to whip some up to see what would happen. I was surprised to see the amount of lather come out of this soap. If I hadn't already shaved today I would have given it a try. So my challenge is this if you are so daring, to take whatever bar soap you have and attempt to shave with it and then report back on the results. I will shave with Irish Spring tomorrow and let you know how it performs. It would be interesting to see what bath bar soaps may also work well as shave soaps. Travis.
Challenge
- Thread starter Tarsyn
- Start date
Travis,
Could you post an ingredient list scan? I could not find it on line.
Could you post an ingredient list scan? I could not find it on line.
I did this on the fly a couple of weeks ago. I forgot my soap when I walked to the shower trailer (currently deployed) so a friend gave me a new bar of Zest.
It lathered very well, was very slick, but didn't provide any cushion. In the end I was clean shaven, not BBS, but clean shaven. I didn't get any cuts, razor burn or weepers.
It's not something I'd make a habit of, but in a pinch it will do!
It lathered very well, was very slick, but didn't provide any cushion. In the end I was clean shaven, not BBS, but clean shaven. I didn't get any cuts, razor burn or weepers.
It's not something I'd make a habit of, but in a pinch it will do!
Iv had to make do with soap before now, but was using a mach 3. Did the job but no patch on proper soap IMHO
if you ever are that desperate ...............heaven, forbid
use some shampoo.
Mucho better than regular soap to shave with.
use some shampoo.
Mucho better than regular soap to shave with.
if you like the irish spring scent mama bear's green irish tweed is pretty close. and its much better to shave with!
makes me wonder if one could put some drops of glycerine, olive oil, vitamin E, etc., in your bowl, load your brush on the plain soap, and build your lather with the extra stuff to get a better shave?
In a pinch, I've made do with the liquid hand soap at work and a CVS plastic razor.
But tomorrow we'll see how Trader Joe's tea tree oil soap does -- I dont' see how it could be significantly worse than Williams.
(Unless my Tabac arrives ... in which case that's what I'm using.)
But tomorrow we'll see how Trader Joe's tea tree oil soap does -- I dont' see how it could be significantly worse than Williams.
(Unless my Tabac arrives ... in which case that's what I'm using.)
I use Chandrika Ayurvedic soap but I'm down to a tiny sliver and need to buy some more. I'll gladly give it a try after I replenish my supply.
I just tried this . . . Loaded brush with irish spring, 4 drops glycerin, attempt at making lather yielded a very fluffy, however not dense lather. Tried a second time replaced the glyc. with Vit. E Oil...same result. Third try both addatives yeilded a slightly thicker lather, not however what I would choose to use given the choice. The soap alone was also pretty fluffy, In a pinch . . . I think it would work.
look 4 posts up...
...um...so what would happen if you put liquid glycerin...oh never mind. I'll go with Paul C. I have some I use to make gigantic bubbles with.
I used to just rub the soap bar onto my facial stubble whilst in the shower. Adequate.
It beats dry shaving, but it really isn't worth a damn.
If you're out of shaving soap, I'm sure almost every one of us still has a half used or forgotten bottle of canned shaving cream which would suffice.
If you're out of shaving soap, I'm sure almost every one of us still has a half used or forgotten bottle of canned shaving cream which would suffice.
This has been Pop's technique for as long as I can remember. We've always been a "safeguard" family, though occasionally we would have some lever2000 or a bar of knock-off Irish Spring in the house.
I've been known to resort to using cheap hair conditioner as a shave gel. Works surprisingly well.
calm down, calm down, I was kidding...I believe Eagle/Shep experimented with this, too, I just can't remember his outcome
I guess I could see this working, but I remember Irish Spring drying the heck out of my skin when I used it way back when as a body soap. I can't imagine using that stuff on my face, yikes!
- Thread starter
- #19
Well I gave it a shot this morning and here are the results. First I would like to premise my comments by saying I wasn't particularly convinced that this would work. I used a Merkur HD loaded with a Treet black carbon steel blade and my shavemac brush. I was surprised at the amount of lather I was able to generate. The lather was slick and plentiful but it did lack the usual cushion that I am used to. I got a pretty good shave out of it with no irritation. I followed it up with my usual routine applying Kiehls aftershave balm. My skin has felt nice, smooth and soft all day. I think it must be the tallow in the soap. If someone could figure out a way to make it have more cushion it would be a very nice shaving soap. (I love the smell of Irish Spring). In a pinch it works great. It certainly worked better than I expected. I wonder if there are any handsoaps out there that would work even better. Jim I also included the list of ingredients. They are as follows; sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, water, hydrogenated tallow acid (skin conditioner), coconut acid, glycerin (skin conditioner), fragrance, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate, pentaerythrityl tetra-di-t-butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate, titanium dioxide, d&c green no. 8, fd&c no. 3.
who knows what those last 4 ingredients are? Well it was an interesting study. Now that I have that out of my system, I am off to look for more soap/cream purchases. Travis:lol
P.S. You know that 1-800 number that is on the back of the soap box. I actually decided to call it. I always wondered what it was for and now I know. Not really anything too interesting, I wanted to know if they still made shave soaps and brush creams in the U.S. but they stopped 2 years ago. I never saw them but maybe I wasn't paying attention then and that is probably the reason they stopped making them because everyone else wasn't paying attention too.
who knows what those last 4 ingredients are? Well it was an interesting study. Now that I have that out of my system, I am off to look for more soap/cream purchases. Travis:lol
P.S. You know that 1-800 number that is on the back of the soap box. I actually decided to call it. I always wondered what it was for and now I know. Not really anything too interesting, I wanted to know if they still made shave soaps and brush creams in the U.S. but they stopped 2 years ago. I never saw them but maybe I wasn't paying attention then and that is probably the reason they stopped making them because everyone else wasn't paying attention too.
Well, it was marginally worse than Williams. Did one cheek, then rinsed the face & brush and went with HBS. Worlds better.
