Best of the Hard Soaps - A Survey

JKMD

JKMD

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2016
Location
Ryde, NSW
Hi All
In the quest for finding the best of the best, would like to see what in your experience is the best hard soap out there? By “best” I mean the one soap you can live with the rest of your life if required. The weightage you give to latherability, slickness, post shave feel, scent etc is all upto you. But it has to be your ONE soap for a deserted island. If it really has to be more than one, pls limit it to THREE alone and RANK them.
Pls list all the hard soaps you have used when you are choosing. (This will give a better idea for the members to appreciate and infer from your opinion)

Some rules to adhere to (to narrow the scope):
1. It has to be ONE soap – if more than one, limit to 3 and RANK
2. Strictly No soft soaps / creams / croaps … (so no cella, proraso, Caties bubbles etc)
3. It DOES NOT have to be triple-milled or quad-milled; a hard puck would do ( so soaps like Haslinger gets in… which I guess is not triple milled)
4. No out-of-production soaps
5. Soap sticks are ok

A rough Format to follow..

Best Soap: (Ranks if needed)

Soaps used:

Remarks: Why it is the best and other comments

Can’t wait for the results to come in…lets see who the overall winner is!
Cheers
JKMD
 
Let me start-off by putting in my own first...

Best Soap: D R Harris Arlington

Soaps used: Tabac, Speick Stick, Czech & Speake (O&C), Haslinger - Schafmilch, Aloe, Sage

Remarks: I'm aware its only a limited collection, but out of the soaps used , based on performance (cushion, slickness, post-shave feel) DRH and C&S are the equal best. DRH came out winner on price point and scent (both are great scents though).

Cheers
JKMD
 
If I had to pick only one hard soap to lather with for the rest of my life I think it would be I Coloniali. It's a truly extraordinary soap with a great smell.
Honourable mentions to Klar Seifen and Meissner Tremona. So I guess they would be my top 3.

I've used most of the hard soaps, bar MdC (samples gratefully accepted:whistle:) and those three stand out for me. Also, they make a nice change from the many recommendations for Tabac, MWF and D.R. Harris you're going to get.
 
Psmith said:
If I had to pick only one hard soap to lather with for the rest of my life I think it would be I Coloniali. It's a truly extraordinary soap with a great smell.
Click to expand...

You, my friend, will go far (y)
 
Psmith said:
If I had to pick only one hard soap to lather with for the rest of my life I think it would be I Coloniali. It's a truly extraordinary soap with a great smell.
Click to expand...

OT: Aaaaaaah yes I remember this 'I Coloniali' Mango Shaving Cream ;) my brother has some and he love this soap so much.

Best Soap: Tabac
Soaps used: Mitchell's Wool Fat, Haslinger Sheeps Milk & Lanolin (very similar to MWF), Summer Breeze,Vanilla Oak, Hazelnut Cappuccino,Forbidden Forest and Sweet Almond Milk
Remarks: Nothing to say much because I couldn't help myself loving Tabac, and I still love all my other soaps too it seem Tabac is a great budget soap and I've got the Tabac bowl all I have to do is just buy the Tabac refill soap and that's it easy peasy;)
 
I really like Imperial Leather.

It's a really hard soap, but the corners wear off after a weeks use in the shower.

Soaps used: Imperial Leather, Palmolive, dove, lux and black & gold.

Did I break any rules?
 
The only hard soap left in the den is Haslinger Schafmilch...so I guess that's my answer :D
 
Nonick said:
I really like Imperial Leather.

It's a really hard soap, but the corners wear off after a weeks use in the shower.

Soaps used: Imperial Leather, Palmolive, dove, lux and black & gold.

Did I break any rules?
Click to expand...
Comedy Gold, mate..Comedy Gold !:sleep::sleep::sleep:
 
Hard pressed to go past our very own @Anthony and his Shaver Heaven tallow range :)
 
filobiblic said:
But not a hard soap. If you can dent it with finger then it's not hard.
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I thought the same, then wondered if he hadn't done something different with the tallow range.
 
Martin de Candre with Saponificio Varesino a close second. Beautiful performance with superb scent and great post shave. Of course this may change as I have not yet tried i coloniali and many others. So Martin de Candre for the time being.
 
It doesn't run when tipped, so not a cream.
It doesn't jiggle/wobble when shaken, so not a croap.
It's not easily indented with light pressure, so not soft soap.
It can be indented with firm pressure, so not a puck.
Only leaves hard soap in my categorisation :)
 
borked said:
It doesn't run when tipped, so not a cream.
It doesn't jiggle/wobble when shaken, so not a croap.
It's not easily indented with light pressure, so not soft soap.
It can be indented with firm pressure, so not a puck.
Only leaves hard soap in my categorisation :)
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I think your definitions need revision. I only see 3 categories:

1) Cream - when you touch it with a finger there is no resistance and you have soap remain on your finger. (Eg Occams, Castle Forbes)

2) Croap (also called soft soap) - it can be indented with a finger. Doesn't matter how deep, it just gets indented. MOST soaps for this category. (Eg Shaver Heaven, Cella, Caties Bubbles, etc)

3) Hard soap (usually a puck or may not be) - no indentation when press a finger against it. It can be triple-milled (processed 3 times so that its smoother) or not. (Eg Tabac, MWF, etc).

Martin de Candre (MdC) fits as a hard soap IMO as you can't indent it with your finger (last time I tried).
 
borked said:
It doesn't run when tipped, so not a cream.
It doesn't jiggle/wobble when shaken, so not a croap.
It's not easily indented with light pressure, so not soft soap.
It can be indented with firm pressure, so not a puck.
Only leaves hard soap in my categorisation :)
Click to expand...
What croaps do jiggle/wobble when shaken?
 
borked said:
It doesn't run when tipped, so not a cream.
It doesn't jiggle/wobble when shaken, so not a croap.
It's not easily indented with light pressure, so not soft soap.
It can be indented with firm pressure, so not a puck.
Only leaves hard soap in my categorisation :)
Click to expand...
What croaps do jiggle/wobble when shaken?
 
Nightguard said:
What croaps do jiggle/wobble when shaken?
Click to expand...
Jabonmans lima incensio is one.
He calls it a soap, I called it a gel. I could pour it onto a brush up here. Not sure it would be quite so liquid elsewhere.
 
eggbert said:
Jabonmans lima incensio is one.
He calls it a soap, I called it a gel. I could pour it onto a brush up here. Not sure it would be quite so liquid elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I had in mind.
 
Fave: MWF
Second: LEA shaving puck (not the stick)
Third: Mystic Waters (all scents I've tried perform the same)

Used: where do I start? Have used around 45-50 soaps.

Mwf has been my fave for around 8 years and I've gone through a few pucks.
Nothing matches that silky lather and post shave feel.

Lea puck is the only soap to come so close to mwf overall.

Mystic Waters is amazing also. Provides great performance and the scents are all amazing and most importantly, most of them didn't irritate my sensitive skin.
 
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