After reading this thread I decided to give the shave stick a shot. It lathered well but in the end I prefer a puck or a tube and my hot water scuttle. The brush cools off too fast. I'm used to having a nice warm lather for all three passes and I like it.
Great information. I've put an Arko stick in a used/cleaned deodorant stick. Don't use it often, but it works very good.
Thease are cake push up tubes in a display stand. Imagine all thease tubes neatly displayed with all the different soaps. They even have screw on lids and are liquid tight
I was excited...for a moment. Here's the link: http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product/push-up-pops-display-stand I thought the stand would be awesome for displaying razors, but it's made of cardboard.
While I completely agree with the tradition,convenience, portability and space saving aspect of a "shave stick" and I really love using Arko shave soap(I even like the smell). That said I find I dislike "face lathering" as a rule(I don't find "face lathering" particularly qucker than "bowl lathering" and I also find it messier)....So I tend to grate my Arko and mash it into a small Ziploc bowl, that way I can have a puck to bowl lather with, have a stick in a pill bottle for travel if I want/need it and either way I have consistency in my shave soap lather which I tend to like....
Doesn't that kill the main advantage of face lathering, the clean up? If I have to wash my scuttle it's going to have warm lather in it.
Excellent write up. When I first tried Arko, I bought one of these for it to go into; http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Twist-up-Shaving-Stick-Containers-2-oz_p_649.html I ended up Piffing it...anything but Arko I always say, LOL.
I love shave sticks. I use Mike's Natural Barbershop in stick from and Palmolive. Both of those are in my top 5 of my favorite cream/ soap list. I have an unopened Arko stick that I might use one of these days.
Thanks for the informative tutorial! Sticks are my favorite way to use soaps. I currently have MWF and Mike's unscented sticks. I also use a small scuttle to keep my lather warm between passes. Works great for me!
O.K. it's been 10 months since my last post in this thread. I am now a total shaving stick and face lathering convert. I find face lathering is the best way to prep my face for shaving. I use a horsehair brush and lathering with it really makes my whiskers soft and it makes them stand up to get cut. I'm actually scrubbing my face with the brush in order to make the lather. I still use my scuttle to keep my brush warm. It's worth the effort of washing it out when I'm done. My favorite soap was never intended for face lathering. I melt Van Der Hagen Glycerine pucks, add a little fragrance and then pour it into a deodorant type tube. It works great and it's super cheap. The quality of the lather is at least equal to any commercially made stick and I get to choose the fragrance.
I actually love Arko. And Tweex. And Derby... but I dont like face lathering. My method is that I press them into pucks in the bottom of mugs. I have bought a bunch of old Golden Knight soap mugs for this purpose. I don't know why but I love the size and feel of those vintage mugs. So each mug gets a semi permanent occupant, they get filled and hung on one of those old school accordion style wall racks until needed. Might be more trouble than it needs to be, but it gives me an excuse to accumulate.
that would have been a nice piece to have. I have a small collection of WW2 stuff and a german shave stick would be sweet
I love the sticks. and ever since I got me a plisson synthetic, the lather is awesome and thoroughly enjoy face lathering. I use La Toja, Speick and Arko in rotation. Got my eye on a TSD stick. am I the only one who doesn't grate down, melt down or modify my soaps/creams? I use them the way the come. If only cella would make a stick................
I had the bright idea, or so it seemed at the time, of softening my Palmolive soap stick into my soap bowl by putting it in the 850w microwave. Don't do it. Soap burns you know. The house stunk.