Hello again. I was wondering, do the shave pucks that you get in a wooden bowl, typically fit in the wooden bowls from other manufacturers? For example could I buy a Truefitt & Hill Shave soap in wooden bown and when it runs out, replace it with an Art of Shaving shave soap puck?
Shave soaps can be custom fit to any bowl by warming them up a little. A few seconds in the microwave will reduce them to a puddle in the bowl. After they cool down, they become solid again.
You lose some of the fragrance that way, and if it's a tallow based soap, you've wrecked the soap. The best method is to grate the soap and mix it with a little water, then press it to fit any bowl you want. Some soaps are interchangeable. Not many though.
Glycerin based soaps microwave and melt very well. Hard soaps and soap sticks like Arko can be grated with a cheese grater and mashed into any shape container. Some soaps, especially tallow based types may be damaged by excessive microwave heat. Click HERE!
I don't think I've ever used tallow based soap, hence I haven't encountered that problem. I have noticed the fragrance issue with Holy Black soaps I've melted, but I wasn't too concerned since I use the aftershave for the majority of the fragrance I get from shaving. I use Taylor of Old Bond Street Cream now, so I haven't had to fit a puck in some time, but that is how I always did before. Edit to correct brand name.
The fragrance may go away because the oils are volatile, but you can rebatch a soap no matter what it's made from. You just have to be careful to heat slowly. Tallow is only a lipid just like any other oil. The oils just come from an animal instead of a plant. Tallow does not bestow mystical properties upon soaps that have been made from it. That said, you need to be careful and heat for only short bursts at a time because cold/hot process soaps regardless of their ingredients can burn—like when you have grease in a pan that is too hot.
I like the technique of grating, adding a little water, mixing, then pressing. Because sometimes when grating and pressing, the grated soaps don't bind together as well as they should. The water helps bind, and you can always let it air out overnight, to harden it up.
I did the grate and add water method a few times. With Speick stick, and Palmolive stick it turned them into a croap. No matter how many days I kept the lid off to harden it up, it stayed a different consistancy, so I would recommend only using a small amount of water.