lids for hard soap bowls

[czbeme]

I've read answers to similar questions so I'll try to make this as specific as possible.
I have a hard tallow base soap puck that came in one of those quaint wooden bowls.
There is very little lip above the bowl so when I load my brush it's impossible to not over flow the sides of the bowl.
because of that I've moved it out of the wood bowl and been using a small ceramic kitchen bowl
that fits the puck really well and gives me about 2 inches of flared sides that hold every thing in.

I know (or think I do) that I can use it this way if it gets regular use maybe once a week?
but if the soap was taken out of rotation for say 3 or 4 months does it need to have a lid of some type?
Can it be left uncovered that long or could the top of the bowl be sealed with plastic wrap?

I can't believe the wooden top seals very well, or the ceramic lid for MWF, or the plastic lid for Tabac????
What's the best practice and what pitfalls are present?

Thanks,
Curt

[brothers]

Curt, I think they aren't hoping to be sealed. If you're using that kitchen bowl, you could either just set it aside and ignore it until ready for the next use. It's just soap and it'll dry out in a day or so. No harm will be done, or, if one is a bit tightly wound for lack of a better word, one could rinse the soap and bowl separately, then let the soap dry before putting it in the bowl until next time. Soap is pretty tame, doesn't actually do anything if left alone, except maybe if left alone and forgotten for a number of years, soap might lose some or all of the original fragrance. I hope this has helped in some small way to answer your concerns. I like those little wooden bowls.

[Brutus]

On many of the hard soap containers that I have in rotation the lid does not fit particularly well.
As I have (some might say too) many soaps in rotation, I would have noticed if this would affect the shave, but so far it hasn't.

Scents will grow weaker over time though, but not enough that I would seriously contemplate reducing the list of soaps that I have in rotation.


B.

[Squire]

Curt you can leave them for extended periods of time with or without a cover. I store mine in zip lock type plastic containers that come with lids so I use them mainly because it's neater and keeps dust off the surface of the soap. I do make sure the soaps are thoroughly dry before they are put away.

[EL Alamein]

No lid is ever required.

Chris

[Brutus]

No lid is ever required.

Chris

Well; I wouldn't go quite that far.

We had a sandstorm here in Dubai a few days back with visibility down to 500 feet that managed to cover everything indoors with a nice cover of dust.

Lids do have their uses in dusty environments or when you need to stack soap container due to an overabundance of soaps or lack of storage space.



B.

[BiffBuff]

I keep my soaps in snap-top plastic containers (zipLock, Glad etc.) and I don't worry about them at all. Creams, on the other hand, can dry out and become useless unless protected from the atmosphere.

As far as the OP's specific situation goes, I think that allowing the soap to dry thoroughly, and then covering the soap, bowl and all, with cling wrap should assuage any worries.

[EL Alamein]

No lid is ever required.

Chris

Well; I wouldn't go quite that far.

We had a sandstorm here in Dubai a few days back with visibility down to 500 feet that managed to cover everything indoors with a nice cover of dust.

Lids do have their uses in dusty environments or when you need to stack soap container due to an overabundance of soaps or lack of storage space.



B.

Yes, I would agree that a lid would provide a useful function in such an environment. But if no lid is handy merely open the spigot and wash off the top of the cake of soap and have at it.

Chris