Welcome ZD. Super lathers can be made with either a hard soap or a glycerin based soap. You can either put the cream in the bowl first and then charge the brush with soap and build your super lather or build a lather in the bowl with a soap and then add some cream and watch it explode all over the place. Your choice. I prefer the latter since I can make a great lather with the soap and then send it into overdrive with added cream. A hard soap will last longer for sure but you may find the shave characteristics a little different between the two. I find a hard soap when using a str8 or the Feather ACD-N is usually a better choice for me.
Aside from the obvious difference, the base used to make the soap, one being glycerin and the other being a vegetable base or a tallow base soap. Both produce lather at about the same rate base on my experience with both. Durability I think is based on frequency of use if proper care of the soap is taken. Superlather can be made with both types of soaps. The effectiveness of the lather is solely based on the type of soap, its ingredients and the cream used to make the superlather. I get excellent superlather with both CP tallow base soaps and glycerin base soaps. Wheter one is better than the other is matter of personal preference. Raf
I used soaps, but progressed to creams. Soaps seemed to dry my skin too much and creams seem to leave me softer. I have never superlathered but since I am shaving tomorrow maybe I'll try it. Williams and Proraso. That should be an interesting mix.
Hi everyone This is my first post here, although I have been surfing the forums for a while without the need to register. Something caught my eye here and I thought I would post some clarifications based on my humble knowledge: Glycerin is a product of the saponification process in which oil/fat (being either animal based like tallow or vegetarian, like olive or palm) reacts with peroxides to produce (soap+glycerin). As such ALL soap naturally contains glycerin, unless removed intentionally and sold separately as the case is with cheap bathroom soap (Dial, Zest etc.). That being said, again ALL shaving soaps must contain glycerin. If they do not, they will neither lubricate your skin, nor provide any protection from razor burns. What some people refer to as "glycerin based" soap, is basically soap that was not made from scratch. Some manufacturers buy "soap base" which is bulk soap that naturally contains glycerin, but no additional colors or odors (no fragrance oils etc added), then they melt that and add their secret recipe (Shea butter, oils ect.) and produce scented "glycerin based" soap. Hard soaps are regular soaps which have been milled and/or compressed hard to produce uniformity. Here one may compare the "Williams" (very hard soap) to say "VDH" (rather soafter), both of which are pretty rich in glycerin content. Just wanted to make this clear, as the discussion about superlathering brought this topic up. Sorry if I wrote too much
Welcome Fortran! I make "glycerin based" soaps, but they are made from scratch. Also some glycerin soaps are made with synthetic ingredients while others are not. (Mine are not). My regular soaps are cold processed. They are never milled and/or compressed. Milling cold process soaps is also called rebatching; and for the most part; handmade, remilled soaps are pretty "rustic". I'm too anal to sell rustic soaps.
Hello Irena What I referred to in my post about "Glycerin Based" soaps was simply to clarify what some manufacturers call their soaps, i.e. they come from a Glycerin base bulk. I am sure your handmade soap (as the case is with all handmade soap) will have naturally occurring glycerin that results in the process of soap making. Most soap out there comes from organic bases (either animal fat or vegetarian oils). Some will contain petroleum based Glycerin, but those are in the minority. Not shaving soaps at least! And these days, with all the production of Bio Diesel, organic Glycerin from plants is rather available and cheap. Milling or compressing the soap will not make it any better or worse. It is just an industrial process that is needed to maintain a standard quality benchmark. When someone buys Dial soap, for example, one will not tolerate any "impurities" due to less than perfect mixing of ingredients. Nevertheless, one will appreciate the "personal" touch in a handmade bar of soap where no two pieces look alike or weigh the same. I am sure you make very good soap, and maybe I will buy some from the store at TSD soon I still thought I had to write again to make sure no one is disillusioned about the whole Glycerin content.
