As the title says really, I have just got an old spice mug for my brother for Christmas (yes I know its early but price was good and I have it now) Just wondering what soaps that are currently available fit the mug? I know I could always grate a soap to fit but with it being a gift id rather have on that fits. I have an OS mug myself but it already has a vintage OS puck in it so I ve never really given it much thought. Thanks in advance
Os mugs are an A.D. of mine. Many popular soaps like MWF and Tabac have to be trimmed around the edges to fit. Smaller pucks like Williams seem to fit, but tainting an OS mug by placing Williams in it is a crime. I have to grate most tallow soaps to fit. Since your not really interested is grating soaps for a gift. You may want to consider a quality Glycerin soap that can be gently heated and poured into the mug. I recommend TSD's soaps for that purpose. Truthfully, Since it's a gift the best soap to place in an OS mug is Vintage OS. It's the perfect combo.
Melt a TSD soap and pour it in Personally I just grated Klar Kabinett into mine, Williams was able to be dropped in but it was quite loose and rattled a mini hubcap in a dryer.
A nice melt and pour is the way to go IMO for a perfect fit. If you get a non-melt and pour you can always cover just the bottom of the mug, set the soap in it for a little while,then kinda twist the soap into the bottom gently. Keep a finger on the soap and pour out the water and let it dry and it should hold. Thats how I got my(don't hate me newb) Williams to stay put till I began to use it.
I don't know the dimensions of the mug, but the puck of Haslinger soap I have looks like it's small enough to fit in any mug. Looking around the web it looks like the diameter of this soap is 59mm or 2.5 inches.
+1 on the glycerin heat & pour soaps. If you are unsure of the process, this spells it out pretty good: "GLYCERIN SHAVE STICKS. Put the glycerin shave soap in the microwave and nuke it. This is best done in a pyrex or other glass container with a pour lip. Glass Pyrex measuring bowls are ideal. Heat it for 10-15 seconds at a time. When the soap has mostly liquefied take it out of the microwave. If you wait for a few minutes the remaining chunks of soap should continue to liquefy. If you leave it in the microwave too long the soap will begin to boil. When this happens volatiles are lost. The first thing to go is the fragrance. If you don’t want your house to smell like your soap or worse, your soap to just smell like ordinary soap, you will not let the soap boil. Boiling soap can lead to burning soap. Soap on fire is not good… If you like to experiment, toss a puck of Williams (tallow based soap) in the microwave for a few seconds and watch it turn into a marshmallow. There is a reason why we only use glycerin based soaps for this. (TSD Soaps are glycerin based and can be used in this method!)" The full tutorial is here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/shave-sticking-it-diy-shave-sticks-and-other-stickisms.29016/ it deals mostly with the history of the shave stick and various methods of making your own. Many of the same principles apply to making soap fit your mug perfectly. If you go with ready made pucks your choices are limited to a bare handful of what I consider very basic or starter soaps. They are okay, but significantly outclassed by most other soaps, both in performance and fragrance.
Thanks for that if it was for me I would go down that route, but as its a gift Im really looking for a ready fit option
In that case, I would recommend the Van der Hagen Glycerin soap if you can find it in your area, or if not, one of the colonel conk soaps.
A trick I learned from TSD I've used with both Tabac and MWF is to grate the soap with a cheese grater. Then tightly pack it into the bowl. I add just a pinch of water while packing and get a solid pack by pressing the mess with the bottom of a juice glass. Others likely have a better technique, but grating works well for milled soaps.
