Samples

I'm particularly surprised that Freddy had issues with the Barrister's Reserve soap. I have samples of those and have been using the Classic a lot. Some if the best lathers of any soap I've used.

I believe Will recently confirmed that the Cool is quite a bit softer than the other two Reserve soaps, which could then cause some loading issues.

That being said, I have placed into empty food containers some soap samples that could have almost been classified as creams. When first loading, I would basically just almost hover over the soap with the tips of the brush. After a moment of this, the soaps I have tried have somehow sufficiently compressed to a point where I can start adding a bit more pressure to the loading. As Jeff mentioned, initially having a bit of extra water in the brush may help in these situations.

I don't know guys, I've never had an issue lathering samples unless it's something really soft like L&L or some of PAA's soaps. I find that loading those with a slightly wetter brush than normal helps a lot. I usually do what GroomingDept said and spread the whole sample into my Captain's Choice bowl. I'm particularly surprised that Freddy had issues with the Barrister's Reserve soap. I have samples of those and have been using the Classic a lot. Some if the best lathers of any soap I've used. I will say though, I'd much rather use a full size tub. Who wouldn't?

Jeff, as I say, it's probably me and not the sample.  I have too many B&M soaps, every one of which is superb, to think it's the product.  However, trying to fidget with those infinitesimal jars and getting out a proper amount never seems to work for me.  That was the reason for my (probably impossible) suggestion of a lower wide mouth jar with less product that would be ready to go upon opening.

I don't know guys, I've never had an issue lathering samples unless it's something really soft like L&L or some of PAA's soaps. I find that loading those with a slightly wetter brush than normal helps a lot. I usually do what GroomingDept said and spread the whole sample into my Captain's Choice bowl. I'm particularly surprised that Freddy had issues with the Barrister's Reserve soap. I have samples of those and have been using the Classic a lot. Some if the best lathers of any soap I've used. I will say though, I'd much rather use a full size tub. Who wouldn't?

Jeff, as I say, it's probably me and not the sample.  I have too many B&M soaps, every one of which is superb, to think it's the product.  However, trying to fidget with those infinitesimal jars and getting out a proper amount never seems to work for me.  That was the reason for my (probably impossible) suggestion of a lower wide mouth jar with less product that would be ready to go upon opening.

Not impossible, but impractical. Too many SKUs to keep track of as it is, you know? But I will tell you that I have definitely found that better lathers come from full size jars. Samples can be finicky and weird, but we don't make pucks anymore (and so had nothing to offer that was thin and full-width), so little jars it was.

For what it's worth, my remedy for sample issues is to use a small plate or saucer rather than a bowl. Something about the format seems to even the problem out a bit.

I don't know guys, I've never had an issue lathering samples unless it's something really soft like L&L or some of PAA's soaps. I find that loading those with a slightly wetter brush than normal helps a lot. I usually do what GroomingDept said and spread the whole sample into my Captain's Choice bowl. I'm particularly surprised that Freddy had issues with the Barrister's Reserve soap. I have samples of those and have been using the Classic a lot. Some if the best lathers of any soap I've used. I will say though, I'd much rather use a full size tub. Who wouldn't?

Jeff, as I say, it's probably me and not the sample.  I have too many B&M soaps, every one of which is superb, to think it's the product.  However, trying to fidget with those infinitesimal jars and getting out a proper amount never seems to work for me.  That was the reason for my (probably impossible) suggestion of a lower wide mouth jar with less product that would be ready to go upon opening.

Not impossible, but impractical. Too many SKUs to keep track of as it is, you know? But I will tell you that I have definitely found that better lathers come from full size jars. Samples can be finicky and weird, but we don't make pucks anymore (and so had nothing to offer that was thin and full-width), so little jars it was.

For what it's worth, my remedy for sample issues is to use a small plate or saucer rather than a bowl. Something about the format seems to even the problem out a bit.

Will, thanks so much for this.  At least HoosierShave and I can say it's not just us.  Interesting about the SKUs and thanks for a full explanation.

I haven't tried using a shave-stick yet but did acquire one in MW's spring sale.  Will it generally produce enough for 3 passes?

This would all depend on how much you apply to your face. I use Mystic Water in shave-stick form 95% of the time and I can get enough lather for 4-5 passes. I apply a very liberal amount as I have too much soap to go through.
If you apply enough to cover your face + neck with a 'thickish' film of the soap, you will have enough for 3+ passes, in my opinion.
Good luck.

If you're saying that the sample doesn't load as well as a full size tin, that's because of the huge discrepancy in surface area. If you're saying the samples work better than the full size product, I don't have an explanation and haven't heard that before.

When I use a sample, I smooth some into the bottom of my bowl, and then I load the brush from there, prior to adding enough water to start the lather building process.

After I smooth the sample into the bowl, I use my brush fairly dry to swirl it and load up the soap, same as I would from a full size soap tub.

Once I have the majority of the product out of the bowl and loaded into the brush, I stay adding more water and pressure to start releasing product back into the water and start the lather creation process.

It's probably superfluous, but it works for me...


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I found putting the whole sample in bowl where one would flatten the sample as much as possible helps. But then one is stuck to use the whole sample until it's finished, which sometimes can be a week or two, depending on the sample size.

That's what I do. Because it's a sample I lather on the same bowl as the soap to maximize the sample. I think if you try and load off a small sample you may not get the same feel as a full tub.

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If you take a decent amount out of the sample jar and smear it on the bottom of a bowl or something, it lathers up quite nicely.