Silly Shaving Soap Question

[msunnerstood]

For those of you who make it and those who use it. Once you are done loading your brush and shaving, there is likely some foam left on top of your soap in the container. Do you rinse it off? Leave it?

I want to make a shaving soap for women and I just know they will ask.

 

[Obsidian]

I rinse it off and drain off any excess water. I leave my shave soap uncovered so it can dry well between uses

 

[DWinMadison]

I shave in the shower, so I flip the scupper upside down on the shower rack.

 

[msunnerstood]

Thank you both! This is new to me so I am sure I will have several test batches and tweaking before I add it to my product line. Ive been asking myself for quite some time why more women dont use shave soap instead of the commercial stuff (Including Myself) kind of excited to give it a whirl

 

[atiz]

Ive been asking myself for quite some time why more women dont use shave soap instead of the commercial stuff (Including Myself) kind of excited to give it a whirl

Sorry, don't want to hijack, but I'm one of those who don't... because it's kind of messy, and I don't see the advantage of it. I make a syndet shave soap that I can put in a foamer bottle and it works great without having to mess with a brush / making sure to dry it out / etc.
Anyway, good luck, and maybe I'll try it some day too

 

[Obsidian]

Thank you both! This is new to me so I am sure I will have several test batches and tweaking before I add it to my product line. Ive been asking myself for quite some time why more women dont use shave soap instead of the commercial stuff (Including Myself) kind of excited to give it a whirl

My guess would be time. you can grab a bar of soap or can of shave cream and have your legs lathered up in just a few seconds. With shave soap and a brush, there is a much longer process.
You need to soak the brush, prewet the soap, take the time to work up a proper lather which can take a few minutes. Once you get the lather, its a quick process.

The benefits, at least for me is worth it though. I've always gotten razor burn and bumps, no matter what I used. That stopped once I switched to soap and brush along with a DE razor. I recommend a boar brush for legs, badger is just a bit too soft.

If you really want to learn about wet shaving, check out https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/ Its a wet shaving forum and you can learn what properties are desirable in soap, how to work up the best lather and what a good lather actually is. Its a lot of reading and learning but is worth it.
While its mostly a forum for men, if you can make a soap that works well on tough facial hair, it will be great for legs.

 

[artemis]

I agree that it's time, as well as patience and maybe money. The bar of regular handmade soap works fine, I'm done sooner, and the water isn't running for longer than necessary.

 

[amd]

I have one female customer that buys the shave soap (it's so not a thing here for guys), she uses it like Obsidian: lather up on the skin and shave away. When I was using it, I messed with the brush, but for me it was too fiddly. I only stopped because I was trying to reduce the number of different products I was using in one shower. I can lather up as well with one of my soaps for shaving. To answer the original question in the thread: I never rinsed off the lather left on the shave soap. When it dries out it becomes soaplike again, I thought it helped the soap lather up faster when using it the next time.

 

[LBussy]

Sometimes I rinse, sometimes I don't. I think it's just an OCD thing.

As far as a Syndet for shaving. No. I personally believe that shaving one's face every day is probably the most demanding use of a soap. Having used literally over a hundred different syndets and soaps, I can assure you that there are no syndets which will compare to a good soap.

 

[Obsidian]

For those of you who make it and those who use it. Once you are done loading your brush and shaving, there is likely some foam left on top of your soap in the container. Do you rinse it off? Leave it?

I want to make a shaving soap for women and I just know they will ask.

I was thinking about this more as I shaved this morning. I think it also depends on your formula and how you package it.

I use KoH and pour in a small bowl. Its a very soft soap and there isn't a lot of room in my bowl for lathering so it gets messy.
Being soft, it also soaks up water easy so I want to clean it up and drain it best I can.

If it was a harder soap in a mug, I would probably just drain it.

Before and after

 

[IrishLass]

My hubby doesn't rinse. He just leaves whatever leftover foam in his mug alone. It's more soap for tomorrow.


IrishLass

 

[msunnerstood]

I was thinking about this more as I shaved this morning. I think it also depends on your formula and how you package it.

I use KoH and pour in a small bowl. Its a very soft soap and there isn't a lot of room in my bowl for lathering so it gets messy.
Being soft, it also soaks up water easy so I want to clean it up and drain it best I can.

If it was a harder soap in a mug, I would probably just drain it.

Before and after

Mine has KOH too. Once it Cures I will try both ways with the little half container I had left over

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Once you are done loading your brush and shaving, there is likely some foam left on top of your soap in the container. Do you rinse it off? Leave it?

It doesn't matter. I leave it. More importantly, tho, is that both the brush and blade need to be rinsed thoroughly and towel dried to extend the life of both. What I like most about my shave soap is that I get a close shave, no nicks, and I don't have to shave my legs as often as I did with commercial type foam.

 

[beckster51]

I make shaving soap for my husband, and he uses it with a brush. I make 3" round pucks, and I just use it in my hands to work up a lather, apply, and shave. It works great, takes no longer time, and I avoid the cans, etc. I have never seen the need to use a brush on my legs on underarms. My shaving soap is very slippery and moisturizing.

 

[msunnerstood]

Well Ive decided Im going to make the pucks fr the guys and a smoother shape for the woman so they wont need to use a brush. Thank you to everyone who has responded!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I use an old Estee Lauder cosmetic brush that I've been using for 13 years and it hasn't lost any hairs... and a small round bowl that fits my hand nicely.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Im going to make the pucks fr the guys and a smoother shape for the woman so they wont need to use a brush.

Guys or girls, it doesn't make any difference. A 2.5" diam. X 1" deep puck fits any size coffee mug, small bowls, tins for travel, and a plastic jar set that WSP sells. One geezer pal likes to lather up with his hands and doesn't bother with a brush. I'm just sayin'...

ETA: WSP doesn't seem to have those jars any more, but they look like this one. You can save time and expense on packaging by pouring right into those containers.

 

[msunnerstood]

I was thinking about this more as I shaved this morning. I think it also depends on your formula and how you package it.

I use KoH and pour in a small bowl. Its a very soft soap and there isn't a lot of room in my bowl for lathering so it gets messy.
Being soft, it also soaks up water easy so I want to clean it up and drain it best I can.

If it was a harder soap in a mug, I would probably just drain it.

Before and after

I made a batch of softer Shave soap too. Do you find it still lasts a while even as a softer soap?

 

[Obsidian]

I made a batch of softer Shave soap too. Do you find it still lasts a while even as a softer soap?

Yes, it lasts quite a long time. Its just lathers faster and easier being soft

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I also have always used the soap I wash with to shave my legs with