To wash or not to wash

T

tullfan

Member
2018 Sabbatical
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Location
Sydney
When you gents have loaded your brush from the puck,especially a puck in an oversized container,do you wash off the remaining suds or let them stay on the soap.
I have been given contradicting advice,or does it just not matter?
 
tullfan said:
do you wash off the remaining suds or let them stay on the soap.
...or does it just not matter?
Click to expand...
I think you answered it yourself. [emoji6]

IMO it's one of those YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) categories. Some say it's more hygienic, especially if you are borrowing or going to sell the soap later. Others say that it's more economical to save it all (and may even squeeze excess lather from their brush back into the tin!). It really doesn't matter and you just do what your OCD tendencies or lazy nature tell you to do...

Personally, I vary between wiping the excess lather with my finger, to rinsing the soap briefly. It depends on the soap and my mood I guess.

Oh, and never wash creams - only soaps. Creams already have the right balance of water and any excess will affect them.
 
tullfan said:
When you gents have loaded your brush from the puck,especially a puck in an oversized container,do you wash off the remaining suds or let them stay on the soap.
I have been given contradicting advice,or does it just not matter?
Click to expand...
I used to leave all the excess lather plus what I squeezed out of the brush back into the puck/bowl. For the last few months I've been washing the excess lather out of the bowl each morning. Let's face it, if you've been an active member on this forum for more than 2 weeks you already have so much soap you don't need to be stingy about saving soap. I also found it more pleasing to start with a "fresh" soap each morning.
 
Depends on the type of container and how messy I got while lathering.
 
filobiblic said:
I think you answered it yourself. [emoji6]

IMO it's one of those YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) categories. Some say it's more hygienic, especially if you are borrowing or going to sell the soap later. Others say that it's more economical to save it all (and may even squeeze excess lather from their brush back into the tin!). It really doesn't matter and you just do what your OCD tendencies or lazy nature tell you to do...

Personally, I vary between wiping the excess lather with my finger, to rinsing the soap briefly. It depends on the soap and my mood I guess.

Oh, and never wash creams - only soaps. Creams already have the right balance of water and any excess will affect them.
Click to expand...
My obscessive laziness disorderwins out every time,if only I could get somebody to write this for me
 
Only if excessively messy. I don't mind a bit of old lather on top, I would suggest that it helps with the blooming process. I think it especially important on harder soaps.

You need to remember it's just dried up soap. It isn't really being changed much or being exposed to other substances.
 
@roger mentioned letting a lather breaking down and relathering it.
Wouldn't this essentially be the same thing ?
 
borked said:
@roger mentioned letting a lather breaking down and relathering it.
Wouldn't this essentially be the same thing ?
Click to expand...
All depends on the type of shaving soap, keeping a loaded brush with a cold processed soap will make it easier to lather the next time but my concern would be bacterial growth.

Cold processed soaps are typically very alkaline which should deter most bugs, however wherever you have moisture you have the potential for bacterial growth and I always wash my brush simply because I don't want to create the conditions for a "super bug" to spring to life just waiting for the next time I nick myself.

Maybe I am being paranoid but over the years I have seen what can happen to soaps. Do a search on DOS (dreaded orange spot) and while this is most likely caused by oxidation, does this create an environment for bacteria?
 
khun_diddy said:
I think we're talking about washing pucks, not brushes. Surely everyone's washing their brushes after use.
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doh - should have read the post more carefully

However I have read elsewhere a discussion regarding leaving the brush loaded with the leftover lather in regards as to natural vs synthetic brushes.
 
The only thing I try to do is let the soap air dry as long as possible before I put the lid back on. Usually wipe any excess soap from the side of the container if things got messy.
 
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