Being new to making my own lather I am wondering how long can I expect a puck of hard soap to last ? That is how many shaves. Same for soft paste soaps.
A triple milled soap should last roughly 5-6 months of daily use; assuming you're like me you will never completely finish one before moving on. Paste soap? I assume you're referring to something like Proraso, in which case 3-6 months wouldn't be out of the norm. I should note, with soaps you're really not going to have any issue with polishing them off; creams, however will not last as long.
Don't worry , don't scrimp, don't hassle, don't measure, don't even care, you'll amass soaps and creams, you'll end up with a surplus and have more than you'll ever need. Shaving software is cheap and the forums give guys a taste for variety so we never seem to stay with a cream or soap long enough to use it all. With creams costing as little as $1 a tube and it being easy to find even a cheap one that works its a hassle free . Also a mistake we all make I think is to believe we will use a soap/cream up a lot sooner than it will actually last.
Never counted. Really a tough one to answer because different people will use their product differently. Face lathering and bowl lathering will use different amounts. Hard water or soft water will have an effect as to how much product is needed for a good lather. Different types of brushes, the size of the brush, the material of the brush - all play a part in how much product is removed from the puck. Just enjoy the shave.
Ive never really tried to see how long they last as id do rotate between soaps and creams, soaps always seem to last me alot longer than thought they would (and I alway think they will last a fair bit of time)
Being a little OCD, this is something I continually struggle with--wanting more software, stressing about never using anything up. I've been wet shaving for about a year now and I've only completely used up 1 puck of soap (Col Conks Bay Rum). I keep looking at soaps thinking, "Oh no, I'll never use that up if I'm only using it once a week or less." But it really doesn't matter, and I just have to keep reminding myself of that. May not be your situation or reason for asking your question, just wanted to share what it's like for me.
One thing I forgot to add - number of passes. Those who only make one or two passes will obviously use less soap than those like me who make enough lather for six to ten passes! :biggrin:
I'll give the extremes in my experience: Short - Modern Williams. It's a small puck and the only way I can get good lather is somewhat wasteful. It lasted the equivalent of 6 weeks of daily use. This is shaving my face and head with 3 face passes and 2 head passes. Long - Before I started shaving my head I used a puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat for about 75% of my shaves (still gets 20-25%, the most of any soap). It lasted just over a year, or just over 9 months worth of daily shaves. Average I'd say is about 6 months of daily use for a full sized puck (3.5-4 ounces). In my experience soft soaps like Valobra, P.160, etc. last about 60% as long. Creams go faster, a 4 ounce tube of cream lasts 6-10 weeks of daily shaves depending on the cream. Though I must admit I'm currently using Speick cream in my rotation and I'm using a little less than anything I've had before and it might go a little longer. I likely won't know because like many others, I have a few years worth of product and don't keep close track any more.
I'd say 6 months (daily use) is a reasonable average for a triple milled. A 4oz glycerin based might be 4 months. Some triple milled could be longer (much longer). I had a TOBS that lasted so long it literally drove me insane. It just would not die. I took the last half moon of it, ground it down and added it to a Conk Amber melt, and now that Conk is lasting forever. As it gets near its bottom, the last remains are the TOBS.
Its a "one day at a time" kinda thing. I really liked the TOBS, but for reasons I am not comfortable discussing, I just can't use it anymore.
Perhaps I'm on the side of using more than the average, but I really believe most guys have no clue how long a soap really lasts. Before I discovered the shaving forums and buying shave products online, I bought directly from Colonel Conk and had to get the minimum order of $50. I only used the regular size almond soap. I think those orders would last a little over a year, replacing the puck about every 4 weeks. Hard soaps last 3-5 months. I have actually used up many soaps over the years and generally used one product until it was gone before moving on to the next item. Now that I rotate between about 8 products it does appear as though they may last for much, much longer than I anticipated. I have never had a soap last a year of regular use. Pre de Provence lasted about 5 months, but it is much larger to start with than others. I have used Art of Shaving, Truefit & Hill, Tabac, Mitchel's Woolfat and others that I have actually finished off on daily or near daily shaves. Maybe it's my water, but the famed MWF only lasted me about 90 shaves. So that's my experience.
