Bath Soap to Shave Soap?

Discussion in 'Shave Soaps' started by Rev579, Dec 3, 2019.

  1. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    Has anyone ever "converted" a hand-held bath soap to a shave soap?
     
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  2. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    I have not done it personally as anything more than an experiment. But, yes it can be done. However, some bath soaps will work better than others depending on their exact formulation. For ex. some may not provide sufficient cushion or glide. Others may not have sufficiently stable lather, etc.

    You could even do the reverse, use a shave soap as a bath soap.
     
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  3. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    Thanks Rich. I have a couple of bars of Penhaligon's Halfeti bath soap, and as a tinkerer in nature, it would be worth the effort to try to convert a bar to a more appropriate shave soap. It wasn't quite as slick as I'd prefer.
     
  4. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    You're welcome.

    So long as you don't mind some possible irritation (or nicks), it's a fun experiment and possibly quite useful for travel. Let us know how your tinkerings go.

    edit: on the tinkering side... unlathered shampoo does nicely in a pinch for shaving.
     
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  5. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    I have converted a puck of ToOBS Platinum into a shave stick and a allowed some cream/croap Mr. Taylor's to dry out to also convert into a shave stick. Alternatively, I guess I could try to find a good, unscented soap or cream and then grab a sample of Halfeti and blend the two. But then I would have to know the best ratio because that stuff is Superman/Captain Marvel strong!
     
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  6. Lancre

    Lancre Well-Known Member

    I don't know if this counts, but my first few DE shaves were with a Dial bath bar. They were better than what I'd been getting from the face graters.
     
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  7. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I used pre-reformulation Pears soap. That might be cheating, since it's the same stuff that they sold as a shave stick way back when.

    When I first got into wet shaving, my mother recalled that when her father came back from the Pacific (WWII vet), money was so tight he would take the tag ends of shower and hand soap and press them into his shave mug.
     
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  8. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    In comparing 3 different ToOBS options: Cream, Shaving Soap, and Bath Soap, the Cream and Shaving Soap are virtually the same with the only exception being the content ratio of Triethanolamine(Greater in the soap) and Parfum(Greater in the cream). The ToOBS Bath Soap ingredients are almost completely different. Further, the ToOBS soap mirrors Penhaligon's Bath Soap with the salts and such. Replacing the majority of the dominant sodium compounds in bath soaps with their potassium equivalents is not really possible. It looks like Plan B.
     
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  9. johnnyray

    johnnyray New Member

    There is a WikiHow article on making shaving cream from Dove bars. Can't post the link. Article title is: "How to Make a Shaving Cream for Men: 10 Steps (with Pictures)." Never tried it.
     
  10. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    I'm using a bar of Imperial Leather at present. Works fine but to me, soap is soap.
     
  11. Tallships

    Tallships Well-Known Member

    Even though I can get a good lather from Williams Mug soap. I grate and mix Williams and half bar of Dove bath soap, it makes a better fast lathering, slick and cushioning, long lasting lather, I like to use the Dove Tangerine, Shea Butter or Cucumber, makes a nice scent. It's economical too.
     
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  12. johnnyray

    johnnyray New Member

    I'm don't frequently post, but I do read the Shave Den daily. I also enjoy watching Fuzzy's YouTube videos. I know that it's a grey area, but that might just qualify as "molesting the Williams". As someone who can't lather Williams, I'm eager to try out your method.
     
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  13. EnglishChannel

    EnglishChannel Well-Known Member

    Not sure if this qualifies as "conversion" but I have used bath soap for shave lathering on numerous occasions.

    Back when I was traveling for work, I would many times try the hotel supplied "luxury soaps" in a concoction of lathering combinations with other pre-shaves or creams. Especially if the soap had an enticing sent. One hotel chain provided a ginger soap that made an excellent super lather when combined with SheaMoisture shave butter.

    I always packed those bars of soap in my luggage before leaving for home.

    Here is a bath/beauty bar that I posted about years ago:
     
  14. chevyguy

    chevyguy Well-Known Member

    I'm gonna try this since my Williams Mug Soap is half gone. I've made good shaving lather with Dove Hand soap in the past, Palmolive works good too.

    Clayton
     
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  15. Ursa

    Ursa Well-Known Member

    I've used Yardley Shea Buttermilk as well as Cocoa Butter bath bars as shave soap. The Shea Buttermilk was quite satisfactory--I ended up later grating it into a nice sugar bowl with a lid, added water, tamped it down, and now it's a decent dedicated shave soap.
     
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  16. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

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  17. Tallships

    Tallships Well-Known Member

    There was a time when one of my sons, as a child got hold of my soap mug and decided to make foamy bubbles the day before, not to anyone elses knowing, so I was told. the next morning I went to shave and my soap mug was empty. I had to use Ivory soap to shave with. I had to re lather a few times but it was slick and got a good shave. You can be sure, none of my sons ever used dads shave soap again until they were old enough to shave. I always kept extra shave soap in the house after that.
    Ivory bath soap in a pinch works, Ive tried a few others with good results
     
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