Death Of Tallow Sticks

Bogeyman

Bogeyman

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I used to have a Lea, Wilkinson Sword, Tabac, Erasmic, Palmolive & Speick tallow shaving soap sticks of which I have only a couple Palmolive and a lonely holdout, Arko. The others have all either been discod. or reformulated w/o tallow. I do have a Boots and a LaToja non-tallow sticks as well. I have never tried the Derby stick.

People, this is really sad. Since tallow is cheap I can only assume this is PC nonsense.
 
Bogeyman said:
I used to have a Lea, Wilkinson Sword, Tabac, Erasmic, Palmolive & Speick tallow shaving soap sticks of which I have only a couple Palmolive and a lonely holdout, Arko. The others have all either been discod. or reformulated w/o tallow. I do have a Boots and a LaToja non-tallow sticks as well. I have never tried the Derby stick.

People, this is really sad. Since tallow is cheap I can only assume this is PC nonsense.
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It all boils down to greed and profit....Take Tabac as an example, they have taken out the two expensive ingredients which are tallow and coconut and replaced them with Laurate and other cheaper synthetic ingredients. The price will remain the same and profit margin increased!....I can't comment on the performance of the new vegetal formula but i assume it is equally to the old tallow formulation...By the way, i highly recommend you give the Derby stick & soap bowl a try, it's a very near cousin of Arko. The only difference is it has a slightly fresher fragrance, but the shaving performance is very acceptable, especially from the Derby soap bowl.
 
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Palmolive fox said:
It all boils down to greed and profit....Take Tabac as an example, they have taken out the two expensive ingredients which are tallow and coconut and replaced them with Laurate and other cheaper synthetic ingredients. The price will remain the same and profit margin increased!....I can't comment on the performance of the new vegetal formula but i assume it is equally to the old tallow formulation...By the way, i highly recommend you give the Derby stick & soap bowl a try, it's a very near cousin of Arko. The only difference is it has a slightly fresher fragrance, but the shaving performance is very acceptable, especially from the Derby soap bowl.
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From what I gathered, the factory that made the hard tallow sticks Palmolive, Tabac, Speick, Wilk Sword, closed down and production has shifted elsewhere. I'm not sure whether other factories lack the machines to make tallow based soaps so they shifted to the Laurate based formula. As for performance, reports seem to be mixed some people like the new ones, others are less convinced - much like anything else in shaving.

Looking around at high street hard soaps in the UK, there almost no hard tallow hand soaps left. The only one I can find freely are the unscented/aloe vera ones at Lidl, and they are about 60p for 4 bars or something. So there is at least one factory who can make good hard tallow soaps at affordable prices.

I'm all up for choice, those who do not want to use tallow based soaps should have a choice, as do those who want to use them.

Bogeyman said:
I used to have a Lea, Wilkinson Sword, Tabac, Erasmic, Palmolive & Speick tallow shaving soap sticks of which I have only a couple Palmolive and a lonely holdout, Arko. The others have all either been discod. or reformulated w/o tallow. I do have a Boots and a LaToja non-tallow sticks as well. I have never tried the Derby stick.

People, this is really sad. Since tallow is cheap I can only assume this is PC nonsense.
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La Toja has been reformulated recently as well. Valobra was a good tallow shaving stick, it's gone as well.
 
I don't imagine it's to do with a specific manufacturer. The producers buy in soap noodles, it's this step in the production process where tallow is being replaced.
 
I bought a Boots shave stick a couple of years back on a whim and, although i only used it a couple of times, have been impressed with the lather and scent.
 
Meh! Might as well lament the death of leaded petrol.

I don't think it's quite so steered by modern correctness as I really don't think the market for shaving sticks is anything like interested in a specific ingredient set. It must be a simple cost versus profit calculation on a product that is churned out by literally millions per year, at a guess.

Back to the petrol analogy. I've not used the veg Tabac, but I do have first-hand experience of Erasmic from tallow to firsrt abominable veg formula to gradually improved and the now really very good formula (although discontinued now as well). I have Boots sticks - vintage tallow and modern veg, so not a direct comparison, but again the veg formula is good! I have both the tallow and veg LEA sticks (again, latest veg stick rather than the abortive first attempt) and consider the veg stick to be better. Given the choice, I'd still take a tallow Erasmic, but would most definitely choose the veg LEA. So, my choice is not so much about ingredients but about the formula. Mind you, LEA has lanolin so not vegan.

Mmmm ... sheep grease!

... and Arko/Derby? Yes, both very good sticks and I also would suggest Derby as the nicer of the two, although Arko is an experience.

Beyond the mainstream, if there is an interest in tallow based shaving soaps then there will be an artisinal market that grows around it. Anyone interested in a really good butcher to soapmaker tallow based soap should look to Moon Soaps.
 
pjgh said:
...I have both the tallow and veg LEA sticks (again, latest veg stick rather than the abortive first attempt) and consider the veg stick to be better...
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Because there has been countless reform. versions could you please post a clear photo of this latest and greatest Lea stick version, kind sir?
 
Bogeyman said:
Because there has been countless reform. versions could you please post a clear photo of this latest and greatest Lea stick version, kind sir?
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Two, I think ... 2017 and 2019 from what I have garnered.

Mine are grated, but here's a picture of the packaging of what I consider the latest LEA:

lea-original-shaving-soap-stick-50-g---176-oz.jpg


Red circle "new formula". Batch No. 20L0433. 2019 Reformulation, I believe.

Ingredient list is:
Potassium Stearate, Potassium Cocoate, Sodium Palmate, Aqua, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Cocoate, Cocamide DEA, Coconut Acid, Partfum (Marine Scent), Titanium Dioxide, Palm Kernel Acid, Lanolin, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Lanalool, Linonene.

Slightly different first formulation (2017?):
Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Glycerin, Cocamide DEA, Palm Kernel Acid, Lanolin, Parfum, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Potassium Pentetate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Linalool & Limolene

Refomulated with less on the palm oil, perhaps as that became environmentally sensitive?

I also have the tallow with the grey base as shown by @Digimonkey above - both the Vie-Long and the LEA.
 
pjgh said:
Meh! Might as well lament the death of leaded petrol.
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Which is a very good analogy - leaded petrol was necessary to act as an upper-cylinder lubricant for the older engines and was quite quickly and easily designed out on newer engines. When the push to remove lead from petrol started in the early 80's, i was actually shocked to find that my Japanese motorcycle had already been designed for un-leaded and that the manufacturer had been routinely building high performance bikes to run on unleaded since the mid 1970's.

Same with Tallow - if the will and impetus is there, manufacturers will find a way to make performance products that don't require the fat of dead animals.

BTW - i always associate Tallow with work - during my apprenticeship we dabbed small amounts of Tallow from big tubs to lubricate electrical wires that had to be pulled through tight gaps and tubes o_O
 
Blademonkey said:
When did you buy your Valobra Stick?


Paul.
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Paul,
Until a few years ago here in Italy they could be found quite easily.
I found the last ones in a very old perfumery ( more than 100 y history )
The same where I bought a crazy 30/40 years old west Germany Tabac (after 10 seconds of the brush in the bowl an awesome slick and dense leather )
but the owner's son is a collector and wet shaver, so no good deals ( indeed expensive )
just something that is perhaps difficult to find in these conditions.
Sorry for the OT




0311C17C-4807-40AE-BDC3-681387D280FA.jpeg996C0924-4113-46CF-9B10-ADE3F6C24286.jpeg816AD4B3-3565-4FE6-980A-EEFE013E560F.jpeg6DAA012E-4E0D-4DB3-B0F0-AEE501F85182.jpeg
 
Razorboy said:
Paul,
Until a few years ago here in Italy they could be found quite easily.
I found the last ones in a very old perfumery ( more than 100 y history )
The same where I bought a crazy 30/40 years old west Germany Tabac (after 10 seconds of the brush in the bowl an awesome slick and dense leather )
but the owner's son is a collector and wet shaver, so no good deals ( indeed expensive )
just something that is perhaps difficult to find in these conditions.
Sorry for the OT




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Thank you for your reply, I was hoping that you had found a stock of Valobra sticks for sale!
One of my favourite soaps. :)



Paul.
 
Blademonkey said:
Thank you for your reply, I was hoping that you had found a stock of Valobra sticks for sale!
One of my favourite soaps. :)



Paul.
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My pleasure .

I don't comment the price
at these prices you buy high-end soaps, although I think one stick lasts longer than many 100 g soft soaps

Btw during a sleepless night I found the only ones for sale here …

rasora.ch

VALOBRA Shaving soap stick

VALOBRA Ce savon à raser en stick est très riche et produit une incroyable mousse. Il est excellent pour les peaux très sensibles.
rasora.ch rasora.ch
 
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