Your thoughts on soap "curing". Is it imperative for a great shave?

As I indicated there are so many routines people get into. However, there is noting hard and fast regarding anyones preferences. You will see articles from a number of people expressing their thoughts and theories. The best advice you can have is do what you think is best for you.

I will still go with "Good soap is Good soap". If it isn't, no voo doo routine on earth will help it.


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That tikibarsoap link looks like lather porn to me.

My mom used to unwrap all of the bars of ivory soap she bought and stack them in the cupboard to dry out before use. She was born just before the depression and I think the point of this was to economize - the soap was harder and didn't go as fast. Of course the fact that I left the bar soaking in the tub for the duration of my weekly bath likely thwarted her conservation efforts. Payback for diluting our milk with powdered milk The lumps! yuk

That tikibarsoap link looks like lather porn to me.

My mom used to unwrap all of the bars of ivory soap she bought and stack them in the cupboard to dry out before use. She was born just before the depression and I think the point of this was to economize - the soap was harder and didn't go as fast. Of course the fact that I left the bar soaking in the tub for the duration of my weekly bath likely thwarted her conservation efforts. Payback for diluting our milk with powdered milk The lumps! yuk

The Tiki I have tried is pretty good soap, but you are totally correct: Shaving is shaving, and lather porn is making newbies wonder where they are going wrong.

How significant is this process of "curing" soaps before the first use? In particular tallow based soaps as the tallow ingredient apparently needs to be activated. Has anyone tried this on their own? Are these soaps ready for use once they arrive at your doorstep? Let me know your thoughts...

What do you mean by the tallow ingredient needs to be activated? There is no activation for any ingredients. At first I thought you meant if a soap is maybe wet and seems to need to dry or cure longer. However, now I wonder if you are referring to blooming a soap. To bloom a soap you simply add water on top of the puck and let it sit for a few minutes. This will typically bring the scent out more, but I bloom harder soaps to make them soften up to enable easier loading.

That tikibarsoap link looks like lather porn to me.  

My mom used to unwrap all of the bars of ivory soap she bought and stack them in the cupboard to dry out before use.  She was born just before the depression and I think the point of this was to economize - the soap was harder and didn't go as fast.  Of course the fact that I left the bar soaking in the tub for the duration of my weekly bath likely thwarted her conservation efforts.  Payback for diluting our milk with powdered milk The lumps! yuk

Oh, Marko, did that powdered milk story ever bring back memories!  My dad was out of work for a bit.  Mom, to economize, used powdered milk in place of whole milk.  My sister and I hated drinking it and claimed we could tell the difference.  (Dad, being out of a job, had no relevance at our very young ages.)  Mom bought whole milk for us but didn't want to waste the powdered milk so she got the idea to make chocolate pudding with it when we kids weren't around.  Now, I loved (and still do) chocolate pudding.  However, when Mom gave me her sneaky mixture, I just looked at her with the most accusatory face I could muster and said, "You used powdered milk!"  My mother's eyes opened wide and asked how I knew.  Needless to say, that was the last time we had powdered milk in our home.  Fortunately, my dad got another job soon after that incident.  Jeepers, was I one rotten kid, or what.

Soaking a puck of soap in water is wasteful and yucky.

What's growing in that soupy mess after a few weeks anyways? Let it air dry.

I want lather not slime. I'm happy to work for my lather as long as the soap is reasonably competent. Haven't tried too many that don't suffice.

Occasionally I'll put a little water on top of a soap puck if it's not been used in ages.

That "b" word I think is patently ridiculous to be frank. It's soap not an orchid or African violet...

If anything I'd prefer my soap to be well dried and properly aged. I don't have any problems using artisan products and so called croaps. Creams are A-ok in my book too.

I do appreciate a good triple milled type hard soap most of all usually. For that, it should be ready to go day one when I get it.

I'm the first to admit I have some quirks and rituals that I am sure not many others would find necessary either. I just don't make up phrases to make them sound like anything they're not. Quirky rituals. Harmless, but hardly something that's going to make or break my shave.

The only soap that I really treat differently is Williams. I add water in the mug, try to make proto lather, throw it away and start to make a richer lather I'm going to use. Never needed to soak Williams for a long time, I do this with cold water exclusively. (Don't have hot water on tap)

This is why I usually use Williams first when breaking in a boar or when first cleaning a new badger cause the process takes a little longer and the soap is very affordable.

Williams can give pretty good lather too to be honest, the scent is quite industrial but the lather can be surprisingly rich.

I sometimes do this as well when MWF starts being fickle, otherwise normal method of lathering for the most part.

Soaking a puck of soap in water is wasteful and yucky.

What's growing in that soupy mess after a few weeks anyways? Let it air dry.

I want lather not slime. I'm happy to work for my lather as long as the soap is reasonably competent. Haven't tried too many that don't suffice.

Occasionally I'll put a little water on top of a soap puck if it's not been used in ages.

That "b" word I think is patently ridiculous to be frank. It's soap not an orchid or African violet...

If anything I'd prefer my soap to be well dried and properly aged. I don't have any problems using artisan products and so called croaps. Creams are A-ok in my book too.

I do appreciate a good triple milled type hard soap most of all usually. For that, it should be ready to go day one when I get it.

I'm the first to admit I have some quirks and rituals that I am sure not many others would find necessary either. I just don't make up phrases to make them sound like anything they're not. Quirky rituals. Harmless, but hardly something that's going to make or break my shave.

I have to disagree with you. I used to never bloom my soaps, and then decided to start and I enjoy the lathering process and scent much more this way. Also, there is nothing wrong with putting water on soap by the way, which is how you're supposed to use soap in the first place, and some brands of shaving soap even recommend blooming the soap for several minutes before use. Soap has a naturally alkaline pH level which is why a preservative is not needed, thus no need to worry about getting the bar wet.

That tikibarsoap link looks like lather porn to me.  

My mom used to unwrap all of the bars of ivory soap she bought and stack them in the cupboard to dry out before use.  She was born just before the depression and I think the point of this was to economize - the soap was harder and didn't go as fast.  Of course the fact that I left the bar soaking in the tub for the duration of my weekly bath likely thwarted her conservation efforts.  Payback for diluting our milk with powdered milk The lumps! yuk

I hated when my mom did that too. I could drink 1/2 a gallon a day till she tried to cut in some powdered mild from the food pantry. We didnt have any chocolate syrup either to mask the taste.

10 years later I am drinking luke warm, shelf stable, fresh out of a sealed box, Parmalat milk while doing a 179 day tour of Haiti. It was at that time I would have choked down some half real, half powdered concoction my mom tried to slip past me. It had to have been better than the Parmalat.


On the soap, if it's soft soap, I might let it air out for a few days, but you always risk losing some scent when you do that. Mostly its to firm it up a little, but since I moved to a humid environment, I dont really air out my soaps any more unless its in nightly use next to my sink.