AOS question

[nicodemus38]

Im only aware on here of two versions of Art of Shaving hard soap. An old version with potassium palmitate and a new one with sodium palmitate.

I was on their site tonight and their hard shaving soaps all have Potassium Palmitate as the first ingredient, and sodium palmitate as the second.

Is that a sign of something new and improved coming?

[slackskin]

It would sure be wonderful if they would return to the old tallow-based formula, which IMO was so much better than the current formula, but that is not likely to happen.

FWIW, D R Harris soap is still tallow based. When you have been doing something since 1790, change probably comes slowly if at all. Let's hope this is the case with DRH.

[nicodemus38]

so how much luck do you have with the harris hard soaps?

[CMur12]

As I understand it, potassium hydroxide is a lye used for liquid and soft soaps, while sodium hydroxide is a lye used for hard soap. They are often used together in hard soaps for reasons not totally clear to me.

Potassium palmitate is palm oil saponified with potassium hydroxide and sodium palmitate is palm oil saponified with sodium hydroxide. Some manufacturers will list the fat and the lye separately (palm oil/tallow and sodium/potassium hydroxide), while others list the saponified result as one ingredient (sodium/potassium palmitate/tallowate).

- Murray

[brothers]

They start out a bit sudsy, but with the right combination of soap and water, the Harris soaps will work. Everybody's got their favorites, I think the most popular fragrances are Arlington and Windsor. I like Marlborough myself. I have heard the Lavender is relatively mild, but it also has quite a few fans. Sandalwood is the most recently introduced fragrance, I got one but it turns out it's not my cup of tea, so I put it in the box.

[fallingwickets]

Not sure why, but Ive never been a fan of the dandy and rake line of soaps even though I have tried to be. For the most part its a difficult lather.

clive

p.s. aos cream is decent

[Squire]

so how much luck do you have with the harris hard soaps?

Quite a bit actually, I generally have an almond or lavender of some sort going. If pressed I would have to say their Almond shave soap my top pick.

[nicodemus38]

since no one reads my English scents thread,

how are the harris and truefit and even the tobs hard soap scents in strength?

I used the lea classic cream, and I liked the shave overall but the scenting proved to much in the end for me. I see reviews online that say the Ts are mostly comprised of scents that aren't very strong... but I hear otherwise as well.

[Squire]

Hard, triple milled soaps simply do not carry scents well, just the nature of the things no matter where made. What scents they have will also diminish over time though the soap will continue to shave just as well as when it was made.

[nicodemus38]

if the scents don't last long,,, then why do I see a few reviews now and then how great the smell on a 5 year old puck can be.

[Squire]

I believe you missed the point my friend, which is the shaving qualities remain irrespective of the soap's age. There isn't any sort of timetable on scent diminishment though. I have 10 year old soaps that smell fresh as new and 6-8 year old soaps that have noticeably lost some of their original scent.

Doesn't matter to me as my aftershave is going to cover up any lingering scent anyway.

[rustyblade]

I stocked up on old AOS years ago after one of the first rumours of a reformulation hit the airwaves. I felt silly...but several years later it was reformulated. Vindicated!

[CMur12]

I stocked up on old AOS years ago after one of the first rumours of a reformulation hit the airwaves. I felt silly...but several years later it was reformulated. Vindicated!

That's what I did, as soon as I heard that P&G had bought AoS out.

(Good to see you, Richard!)

- Murray

[TRBeck]

Potassium salts (e.g. potassium palmitate) are generally more water soluble than sodium salts (e.g. sodium palmitate). All things being equal, potassium salts will lather more readily, which is why potassium hydroxide is often used in shave soap. Palmitate is saponified palmitic acid, which operates to provide creamy, dense lather, much like saponified stearic acid in many soaps and creams.

Harris soaps are the pinnacle of traditional British hard soaps IMO, and the almond and lavender I will always hold them in high esteem. I never achieved the brilliant lather with them that I got from the old tallowate AOS soaps, and I confess I haven't tried the new AOS formulation without tallow. However, I consider Harris hard soaps so outstanding that I could gladly use them indefinitely if no other shave goods existed. I cannot say that for the current Trumper, T&H, or other British soaps (except perhaps the recent TOBS soaps...haven't tried those, either).

[Squire]

Same with me Tim, if my only choices were Harris Almond and Lavender shave soaps I could live with them happily. Fortunately, they are not the only two I can have but if they were I wouldn't feel short changed.