50-100 year old soap test

So, it's no secret that we all have enough shaving soap for five lifetimes. The good news is that it appears to last a very long time, though I would expect soaps with ingredients, such as avacado oil, that can go rancid to have a shorter shelf life.

I just received a Woodbury's soap bowl purchased from eBay. I have no idea how old the soap is. The company was founded before 1900 and the last references I can find are in the 1960s.

See pics below to draw your own conclusions.

So, I decided to take this soap on a test run. I cleaned it thoroughly and soaked it in warm water.

It performed well shaving. My best guess is that there is not any degradation of the soap. I have no idea of the quality level of the original. It certainly didn't perform like a Barrister & Mann. I'm guessing that it is like a currently produced inexpensive, yet completely workable soap.


[Image: Woodbury%201_zpspworieu1.jpg]

[Image: Woodbury%202_zps2r8qs57v.jpg]

[Image: Woodbury%203_zpsrjsjhxee.jpg]

Nice, I remember Rudy Vey once mentioned he used vintage soaps, some 50 years and older.

Suffice to say when he said that, that's when my relentless soap buying spree also started..

Thanks Rudy...

For most of us, there will be enough shaving soap to pass down the generations to the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grand kids!

I know churchilllafemme is keen on using vintage soaps. I believe he has some Williams from the early 1900s in a bowl similar to that one. Maybe he can share his experience with it.

Oh and BTW, is there any scent left?

I like vintage tallow soaps too. Even bought a couple...

Definitely no scent left. Hopefully, more folks that have used the vintage soaps will reply.

I won't shave with this on a regular basis. I was buying the bowl and it happened to have some soap in it.

I have a vintage Yardley. Smells gone but it lathers and shaves like a champ!

As long as it's not funky smelling and or looking I think you're golden.

Dang Todd, no wonder I cant find Yardley anywhere. Thats a little pile-o-gold there.

The Williams Rose soap from around 1903 that I have and use in my regular rotation has a very slight scent left. Its lathering performance is quite good, very much like that of vintage Yardleys.

I have some vintage old spice and Colgate cup soap. Scents are pretty much gone but they still lather beautifully