How Long Does A Soap Last - An Answer

I had read a post where the person asked how long shaving soap lasts.  I was reminded of the tootsie roll commercial where the kid asks the owl how long their lollipop lasts.  The answer is that the world may never know.


So that made me think – how long does a soap really last?  If you have multiple soaps like me you put them through a rotation and it takes a long time before you see an impact.  

Back in October I bought the Stirling Pumpkin Spice soap.  I got an early version that, to me, didn’t really smell like pumpkin or spice but more like baked apple pie.  The scent did not diminish the performance but wasn’t what I expected.  

That made me think – Ok this would be a good one to use up – from beginning to end.  Day after day I used it and took photos every 20 days.  I bowl lathered and included a photo to show that I don’t super load the brush and when finished three passes there isn’t really any lather left.  I used a horse hair brush 90% of the time so this may impact the length of time somewhat.

It took 136 days to use one tub that contained 5.8 ounces of soap.  If you divide the days by the ounces it end up with 23 shaves per ounce for me with a Stirling style soap – that is semi-hard between a cream and a triple milled hard puck.  That means I will use around 15.8 ounces of soap a year or roughly 3 tubs.

I didn't take a photo of the new soap but we know what that looks like.

Day 20


Day 40


Day 60


Day 80


Day 100


Day 120


Day 136


Typical Lather



The good news is that I can finally try the soaps I got in November!

That's more dedication than I can muster.  Well done Sir! 

i could not have done it,impressive.

You're like me only I didn't take any photos. I do this frequently. I've got 6 or 7 soaps but I will use one exclusively for a couple months and then switch it up. Kudos to you for the effort.

I lack both the focus and the dedication to pull something like that off............SQUIRREL !!!

Impressive effort

That took serious discipline!  Well done!!! 

Very nice, looks like you could speed up the consumption of the soap by loading for a little longer each time (I like to load it like i hate it). I have a tub of B&M Seville in my den that is calling to be used up, so I believe I will see how far I can get in a month

[quote='Cincinnatus' pid='668821' dateline='1456257221']
I had read a post where the person asked how long shaving soap lasts.  I was reminded of the tootsie roll commercial where the kid asks the owl how long their lollipop lasts.  The answer is that the world may never know.



Awesome effort on your part! But just in case anyone was wondering, per Tootsie Roll Industries, 144 - 411 licks per studies from several universities. 

(02-23-2016, 02:46 PM)Scoti Wrote: You're like me only I didn't take any photos. I do this frequently. I've got 6 or 7 soaps but I will use one exclusively for a couple months and then switch it up. Kudos to you for the effort.

What's or count?

That's great

Excellent discipline - as well as scientific devotion.  Not sure I could muster both.

(02-23-2016, 12:59 PM)Mr_Smartepants Wrote: That's more dedication than I can muster.  Well done Sir! 

+1

Im confused, did you just lather this soap or actually shave with it each day?

Different soap, but I used Valobra start to finish. Began on New Year's day. Finished on February 9th.

40 shaves for me.

Not at all as long as I expected.

2.5 grams per shave.

I was happy when it was done to be honest.

40 days was too long for the same soap every day. Was my first and my last start to finish.

I wasn't trying to stretch it or kill it quick. It was interesting though as I had actually thought I used soap conservatively. Obviously I was mistaken.

I used a Palmolive stick start to finish and only used 0.8g per shave. They're 50g. As much as I love the lather I was so so over it by the end.

The most I use a soap now consecutively is a sample from start to finish... Usually 10-15 shaves.

(02-23-2016, 08:05 PM)zaclikestoshave Wrote: Im confused, did you just lather this soap or actually shave with it each day?

Shaved everyday with it - I included the photo of the lather to show roughly how much I load - which may be on the light side compared to others.

The only one I have finished, and it took 11 months, was a tub of Cella.  It took 134 shaves, about 1.1 grams per shave. 

I do keep track of some others (engineer) and I use a little less than 1 gram of Palmolive, a little more than 1 gram of Razorock (tallow and vegan), and 1.5-2 grams of Catie's Bubbles.  Others I have not used enough to get a good average value.  I think Strop Shoppe is about 1.5.  I'd like to think I use less of harder soaps (AOS tallow, Tabac) but time will tell.

I still haven't finished the Xpec I got about a years ago and I use it at least twice a week..personally I think I have only finished 1 soap and it was a small 2 oz tester.

Can you even load the soap when it's only on the sides of the container? When my soaps start to look like that, I push the sides toward the middle.

(02-24-2016, 03:02 PM)TropicalHotDog Wrote: Can you even load the soap when it's only on the sides of the container? When my soaps start to look like that, I push the sides toward the middle.

+1.  Pretty much as soon as I get the donut I rearrange the soap with a peak in the middle.  


I count shaves on all my soaps.  It will be a while before I have good numbers.  I did get 143 shaves out of a tub of Mama Bear, though. 




By the way, Stirling makes a MUCH better lather than what you've illustrated.  Used a Stirling sample this morning and had an outstanding, creamy, beautiful lather.  As the old meme goes "you're doing it wrong."

I never like to use the same soap twice consecutively . Always need variety