'Shave' soap vs bath soap

Discussion in 'Shave Soaps' started by Jay S, Feb 4, 2016.

  1. Jay S

    Jay S Active Member

    Just a curious question...

    What is it about a hard soap marketed for shaving that makes it so different than a typical bath soap? I've read many accounts of people using shave soaps for showering with when they don't like the shaving performance. Are there one or more ingredients in shave soaps that don't exist in most regular soaps? I'm sure you could lather just about any soap and shave with it, but...

    Thanks for the education,
    Jay

    Enjoy the ride
     
  2. ruffles619

    ruffles619 New Member

    Bath soaps won't lather up like shave soaps do. Due to bath soaps containing other oils and chemicals that are known to "kill" lather. There's more to it than that, but I dont entirely know all the detials. I know olive oil and avocado oil kill lather, among other things.
     
    crackstar and Robyflexx like this.
  3. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    Some people use bath soaps to shave, because they are not interested in the lather, but, only in slickness, and frugality.
     
    ninjack, crackstar and Robyflexx like this.
  4. crackstar

    crackstar Israeli Ambassador to TSD

    Olive oil is the worst ingredient to put in a shaving soap. Despite the good skincare it gives, you might as well forget about having good lather.
     
  5. SHAVEWIZARD420

    SHAVEWIZARD420 Well-Known Member

    Shaving soap has a different ingredient ratio for lather stability and lather abundance. I have been told that bath soap is better for cleaning, but I have used shaving soap as a bath soap and it works.

    The bath soap tends to be more bubbly and the lather will not last as long as a shaving soap. Jeff is right, usually olive oil in a shaving soap makes a terrible lather, but there are a few that have mastered the recipe. CRSW is one that has a olive oil soap that people say works great, TSD soap is another that has olive oil and lathers wonderfully.
     
    whiteboy_cannon and Demidog like this.
  6. gregkw1

    gregkw1 Well-Known Member

    Probably based on the same reason you wouldn't put dishwashing soap into the washing machine
     
    whiteboy_cannon likes this.
  7. gregkw1

    gregkw1 Well-Known Member

    I have 2 shaving soaps that I really don't like so I take them into the shower with my boar brush that I'm breaking in and I lathered up my whole body it's a lot of fun especially if you got company
     
    Ursa, rustypixel, RyX and 1 other person like this.
  8. Slipperyjoe

    Slipperyjoe Rusty Metal Tetanus

    As far as I know, shave soap has a higher glycerin and stearic acid content than hand soap. These ingredients give a shave soap lather it's characteristic slickness and stability. I've had success with hand soap for shaving over the years and the soaps that worked best did have higher than average levels of those ingredients...
     
  9. Salty Belle

    Salty Belle Well-Known Member

    Tis true that bath soaps are (and should be) formulated differently than shave soaps. It's all about the type of fatty acids in the oils and amounts of each oil used in the recipe. Different oils bring different properties to a soap and shaving soap does require a higher content of stearic acid (among other things) to maintain stability. They are usually formulated with a much lower cleansing component than bath soaps as their job is different. Bath soaps will usually have light, large, airy bubbly lather and are designed to cleanse...shave soap should have a tight, dense stable lather to do it's job.

    Bath bars come in different types. Most of the bath "soaps" that line the aisles in grocery and big box stores are actually not true soap at all, but rather syndets (synthetic detergent bars). You will rarely find them labeled as soap (because they are not) but common names might be "cleansing bar" "beauty bar" etc. The glycerin that is naturally created during the soap making process is removed and sold to other industries as it is a highly prized additive in other products...like lotions etc. "True" soap, whether it be bath or shaving soap retains all of the natural glycerin that is created during the soap making process and shave soap will often have additional glycerin added to boost lather, maintain stability and add conditioning properties.

    Probably more than you wanted/needed to know...but I can't help it :)
     
  10. Sabre

    Sabre Well-Known Member

    I can get a great lather from Aleppo or Castille soap. I have never shaved with it, but I think I could...
     
  11. Jay S

    Jay S Active Member

    Thanks to all for the info!!! It's never too much.

    Jay
     
    macaronus likes this.
  12. J Westley

    J Westley Member

    I use the bath soap in the shower to lather up my face before shaving. Rinse it off after a couple minutes before getting out. Then my face is ready to shave with shaving cream.

    Going to change over to a different shaving cream

    J Westley
     
    Paul Turner and BeShaved like this.
  13. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    In my experience, both Dove and CVS Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar work well as shaving soaps, as do Savon de Marseille olive oil soaps. All the other bath soaps I tried did not work well at all for shaving.
     
    BeShaved likes this.
  14. J Westley

    J Westley Member

    I use the Dove, its all the wife buys in bar soap. We both use gels instead of bar soap for bathing, The Dove bar soap is only used for washing face.
     
  15. Mr. Shaverman

    Mr. Shaverman Well-Known Member

    Also, be careful if you use shave soap in the shower. A good shave soap is a lot slicker than regular bath soap, so much so that every time I've used shave soap in the shower it suddenly feels like I'm standing on oil. Footing isn't that easy to maintain! :)
     
    Shaver X likes this.
  16. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    I noticed that a couple of days ago with a bar of Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Bar Soap. Since it is so slick, I tried shaving with it and it works quite well - super slick, great skincare, results in good, close shaves and is very affordable. The lather start to disappear fairly fast, but leaves behind a thick transparent gel that works just as well as the lather. I had no problems with it drying out, and did not have to shave any faster than usual. It looks like there are some good bath soap alterntives to pricey shaving soaps.
     
  17. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    I just bought this glycerin body soap at the grocery store. Not planning on shaving with it but I decided to see if it would later well enough. As you can see I think one could shave with it very easily.And I do not think that lather would dissipate quickly.


    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  18. Salty Belle

    Salty Belle Well-Known Member

    It would be interesting to see the ingredient deck on those. True glycerin soap has yet another set of properties from other bath soaps:)
     
    Paul Turner and Robyflexx like this.
  19. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    From the SFIC website:
    Crystal Clear Soap Ingredients
    Coconut Oil
    Palm Oil
    Safflower Oil
    Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin)
    Purified Water
    Coco Amidopropyl Betaine (surfactant made from coconut oil)
    Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent)
    Sorbitol (moisturizer)
    Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer)
    Oat protein (conditioner)
     
  20. Jay S

    Jay S Active Member

    although I haven't shaved with it, that is my current favorite bath soap.

    Jay
     

Share This Page