I think I've found my "forever" soap ...

Steve Bowles

Steve Bowles

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1,860
Location
St Leonards, Dorset
In the beginning I was not a fan of hard soaps. I found them hard to lather, fiddly, and it took way to long to get anything out of them. I had marginally better luck with soft soaps, but was still underwhelmed. I thought I'd be using creams forever, and having acquired more than a dozen of them, I wasn't far off.

Then @Fergiebilly started raving about tallow soaps and how the Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, et al, wouldn't use anything else. Not being one to ignore the Ancients, I asked him what he recommended, he simply said "Haslinger". Thinking that the Von Trapps were the only thing that had ever come out of Austria I gave it a shot and ordered some. Haslinger is now the only hard soap I own, and I use it regularly. I have it in Calendura and Sea Weed. The scent of each is sublime, and must be experienced to truly appreciate their intoxicating properties.

I still use my creams, I have far too many not to use, and I appreciate their qualities, also; but as far as hard soaps go, Haslinger has become the only soap in the house.
 
Haslinger is not really a hard soap. I personally hate it. Got the honey one, and, for me, it's all looks, but no qualities. Perfect looking lather, it's feeling slick on my fingers, but my shaves were awful. Tried to add more or less water, it was the same. I think that I'll try another "flavor", just for the heck of it. Maybe there's something wrong with my honey.

phoenixandbeau said:
How do you find the smaller sized tin? Does it impinge on your loading?
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It's actually very easy to load, as the container is not high, it feels like you are keeping the soap directly in your hand. You'll make more mess on your hand, but I don't have any problem with it. Your brush does not have to "fit" the small container.
 
Steve Bowles said:
In the beginning I was not a fan of hard soaps. I found them hard to lather, fiddly, and it took way to long to get anything out of them. I had marginally better luck with soft soaps, but was still underwhelmed. I thought I'd be using creams forever, and having acquired more than a dozen of them, I wasn't far off.

Then @Fergiebilly started raving about tallow soaps and how the Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, et al, wouldn't use anything else. Not being one to ignore the Ancients, I asked him what he recommended, he simply said "Haslinger". Thinking that the Von Trapps were the only thing that had ever come out of Austria I gave it a shot and ordered some. Haslinger is now the only hard soap I own, and I use it regularly. I have it in Calendura and Sea Weed. The scent of each is sublime, and must be experienced to truly appreciate their intoxicating properties.

I still use my creams, I have far too many not to use, and I appreciate their qualities, also; but as far as hard soaps go, Haslinger has become the only soap in the house.
Click to expand...

I'm pleased for you, to have found your perfect soap, I agree haslinger is a very good soap.
I wish I could settle on something perfectly good and be happy with it but even though I have a thing about MWF I know there are better soaps out there waiting for me to find them, it must be a good feeling to be totally content and no longer have the need to keep searching.
 
phoenixandbeau said:
How do you find the smaller sized tin? Does it impinge on your loading?
Click to expand...
When you look at the small puck in a Connaught's small wooden bowl, and any brush, you think it would be difficult to load. But in reality it loads just fine. I don't want to take anything away from the other soaps I've used (and Sanskrit is at the top), but the "feel" of the soap, and the scents just seem to do the trick for me.
 
SmurfK said:
Haslinger is not really a hard soap. I personally hate it. Got the honey one, and, for me, it's all looks, but no qualities. Perfect looking lather, it's feeling slick on my fingers, but my shaves were awful. Tried to add more or less water, it was the same. I think that I'll try another "flavor", just for the heck of it. Maybe there's something wrong with my honey.


It's actually very easy to load, as the container is not high, it feels like you are keeping the soap directly in your hand. You'll make more mess on your hand, but I don't have any problem with it. Your brush does not have to "fit" the small container.
Click to expand...
Of all the Haslinger soaps I've tried, I found the honey to be slightly less than great. I don't know what it is, but I had less than perfect shaves with it, too. All the rest seem to perform as expected, though.
 
if your happy that's half the struggle. but please don't discount yourself from trying other soaps in the future. the membership has ben generous before with sending samples and such.


I would recommend you follow wickhams Fox, and OSP here on the board. some real goooood stuff cming this year.
 
I've tried several soaps: Wickhams, OSP, P&H, Tabac, and others. They're all good soaps, and they all do what they're supposed to do and do it well. I can't break down into any empirical data what draws me to Haslinger soaps. I really think it's just the scents. If Musgo Real made a soap in Moss Oak, I'd probably switch to it.
 
SmurfK said:
Haslinger is not really a hard soap. I personally hate it. Got the honey one, and, for me, it's all looks, but no qualities. Perfect looking lather, it's feeling slick on my fingers, but my shaves were awful. Tried to add more or less water, it was the same. I think that I'll try another "flavor", just for the heck of it. Maybe there's something wrong with my honey.


It's actually very easy to load, as the container is not high, it feels like you are keeping the soap directly in your hand. You'll make more mess on your hand, but I don't have any problem with it. Your brush does not have to "fit" the small container.
Click to expand...
Well, that is interesting you say that.
I didn't rate the Haslinger compared to. say, Vitos or OSP or P&B,
but I had the honey one as well.
 
MrK1 said:
+1

If only the SV had the same scent...
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The scent is unmatched by any other soap. A twenty year old puck can still fill a room with it's fragrance. I always thought the performance was mediocre, until I tried it with a really stiff Two-Band badger.

SV is the only other soap I've found that creates such a thick creamy lather and manages to NOT clog razors. For slickness, I'd give the edge to SV. MWF is pretty good too, but not as effortless to lather as SV.
 
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