Is it essential to seal your shaving soap in a container?

yayavarman · Post by **yayavarman** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:38 am

Is it essential to put your shaving soap back in an airtight container after using it?

Because I have this plastic container were I keep my soap in and I found it always bothersome to keep removing the lid if I want to use it and put it back on when I'm done with it. So one day I decided to just forget about the lid. This way I could also let it dry in the open air. My soap was always wet the next day when I use the lid. I was worried that fungus might grow in the plastic container. But if I leave it out in the open its dry within a day.

Is this bad for the soap?

bjrn · Post by **bjrn** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:06 am

I don't think so. The Provence Sante soap comes in a bowl without a lid, so I doubt it's harmful. I can imagine the scent of the soap might be weakened though.

yayavarman · Post by **yayavarman** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:57 am

Well I'm asking because I bought l'occitane soap in september 2007. But lately I cant make decent lather of it. I dont know if its because I leave it in the open all the time. Or if its because the puck is almost finished and theres only bad stuff left over. Or that the form of the puck after months of use doesnt allow the brush to get well loaded.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:42 am

I'd be careful about airtight containers, except for travel purposes. You might end up growing some unwanted flora if a soap is wet and unable to dry. On the other hand, some soaps (Tabac is notorious for this) once wetted and if allowed to dry completely will crack.

Chris

jvan · Post by **jvan** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:12 am

I'm with Chris on this, the only time I ever cover my soap is for transportation purposes only.

I use different soaps from day to day placing them in my mixing bowl to generate lather and then removing them to empty soap pots that are always left open.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:31 am

I don't think leaving the lid off has harmed your soap.

jww · Post by **jww** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:49 am

Keeping soap in a closed container also keeps dust off it - nothing worse than soap contaminated with dust - makes for crummy lather, that's for sure.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:23 am

I leave them out if they are being used regularly, seal em up if they aren't. If I'm going to put one aside for awhile I make sure it's fully dry first.

yayavarman · Post by **yayavarman** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:27 am

Do cracks affect the performance of the soap in anyway?

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:28 am

yayavarman · Post by **yayavarman** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:09 pm

Ok thats a relief

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:37 pm

yayavarman wrote:Do cracks affect the performance of the soap in anyway?

It gives your brush an easy way to scrape up a little more soap. Therefore, cracked soap gives better performance.

Seriously, it only means the surface layer of the soap absorbed some water, and expanded because of it; then the water evaporated, and the surface layer shrank to its normal size. Because the inside of the soap stayed hard and dry the whole time, the shrinking surface layer had nowhere to go, so it cracked.

Note: What I have said may not be scientifically correct, but it's close enough for soap.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:48 pm

And here all along I was believing it was those darn soap Gremlins skating across the surface.

woodsrider · Post by **woodsrider** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:04 pm

I've always kept mine in an open mug or bowl. It might crack a bit if I haven't used it in a while, but no big deal.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:22 pm

Squire wrote:And here all along I was believing it was those darn soap Gremlins skating across the surface.

I told you my description wasn't scientifically accurate. Now you start bringing in complex science (and secret too!) and confusing these kids... oh, what's the use anyway??

JP · Post by JP » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:55 am

A soap that is used daily won't be harmed by leaving it uncovered, accept for the scent dissipating over time. But for those of us that rotate multiple soaps it's beneficial to cover them up.

Mr. Spacely · Post by **Mr. Spacely** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:11 pm

Keep mine open to dry well and will then put a lid on the mug. Lid is never on more than a few days based on rotation.

Leisureguy · Post by **Leisureguy** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:46 am

Regarding l'Occitane shaving soap, I read a recent observation that using l'Occitane shaving cream with l'Occitane soap to make a superlather worked great, but using either product alone was disappointing:

I was able to work up a nice lather that nevertheless lacked the slickness and water-holding capacity of other top-notch shave soaps such as the Institut Karité or the Mitchell’s Wool Fat. In the end the soap produced a reasonably good shave, but nothing to write home about. And therein lies the kicker. My earlier review of l’Occitane’s shave cream solo was even more disappointing….so how the heck do these two products put together manage to produce the most amazing superlather ever and probably the best shave ever too? I think this is a true case of product synergy, whereby the result from the two combined is far-and-above better than either alone. This is the first time I experience this phenomenon with such intensity and clarity. Frankly, if I had used either product alone the first time out, I would never have bought them again. But as luck would have it, my first two shaves were with the incredible superlather…and I’m sold for life!

a-cut-above · Post by **a-cut-above** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:14 am

I have some soaps in mugs and some in lidded containers. While the Tabac scent may have diminshed a bit, it comes back with use. My DRH Arlington soap is in a lidded container (just happened that way) and its scent faded a bit over time as well. It comes back with use. I don't think it makes a difference, except to shavegeeks and übershavegeeks. (I know, rocks and glass houses....). Go with what you like and what works for your bathroom: looks, space, stackability, comments by SWMBO re: all that shaving stuff, etc.

BTW, the Tabac (open mug) and the MWF (lidded container) both developed cracks. As notthesharpest said, it has to do with mositure, expansion/contraction and figure-skating gremlins. Means nothing for performance.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:48 pm

I did a whif test today Of T&H luxury soap that has been sitting in an open cup for the better part of a year and it does not appear to have suffered any loss of scent.