I have been keeping my soap in a bowl uncovered. I am wondering if that makes the soap get "stale" over time as opposed to a soap in a covered bowl.
Since Im moronic when it comes to shaving soap I think that about 120 of my soaps are covered, I always go with the wooden bowl option when aviable.. Or any bowl that comes with the soap.. Plastic or wood.. But I think I have around 15 un-covered soaps, cause they came with an open ceramic bowl or so.. And maybe 5-6 soaps that I have actually put in a bowl or mug without lid..
Uncovered soaps will lose scent eventually, but performance should remain just fine. Some other members here have used 30+ year old soaps and report great performance (but little to no scent).
I leave mine open because I only use a couple of soaps during any given period so they get used up pretty quickly. Also, I have a very small bathroom so I don't have a lot of room for shaving stuff. I have to keep a lot of my shaving goodies in another room down the hall.
I usually keep mine open after shaving but then move it into a closed container for storage. Sometimes I'll leave it uncovered for a week or two depending on what I'm using.
My soaps, about a dozen, are in old shaving mugs and they stay uncovered for the most part , out of laziness and use. I cut small covers out of wax paper and put inside my mugs sometimes, this will keep the dust off. I used to believe that my soaps needed to be stored air tight but I don't notice any significant difference to them left uncovered. YMMV
I've found out for myself that the scent will weaken over time if I don't cover the soaps, so they get covered. One recent exception is the puck of Williams that is partially used. (I ran out of covers for my mugs.) When I used to cover it, the scent was almost nonexistent if I uncovered it to take a whiff. Now that I'm leaving it uncovered the scent is always there. Strange!
I keep my Tabac in a standard coffee mug, but I happened to have a small round metal lid from a tea infuser that was the perfect size. I just use it to prevent dust, it's not sealed at all.
I do both. The glycerin soap that I melted into a coffee mug gets left open. The Prairie Creations soaps got milled into a lidded container, so they get closed up. It makes my shave den look a little neater.
I heard that soap looses its sent if it's not covered. I keep my MWF in an aluminum tin courtesy of West Coast Shaving, my spare Col. Conk in a Ziplock tub, and cover my current mini shave round (Godrej) with my lather bowl. Maybe I have too much soap. Maybe...
