Shaving Soap Milage Comparison

JasonC

The Soap Spreadsheet King
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Location
Sunshine Coast, QLD
A few months ago I finished a tub of A&E Asian Plum and although I know this is a “love it, or hate it” scent, I am very much in the LOVE IT camp. For me the scent and the performance were simply incredible.

The downside was that I felt like I got very few shaves out of the tub. I definitely feel like I got considerably less than 30 shaves and as a tub of this costs more than $40 delivered, it got me thinking about the cost per shave for my other favourites.

So I selected 15 soaps that I have in my current rotation and over the last 90 days, I weighed each soap before and after each daily shave and recorded the results over 6 shaves with each soap to get an accurate average usage.

Below are my results…
FB9-C9844-C364-496-C-9-C3-E-40206861155-B.jpg

This is the gear used in the trial…
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Notes:
Observations
I feel that Blue DeVil and Noble Otter are the closest in performance to A&E, so it was unsurprising that these 2 had the highest usage per shave. However, I still feel like these are lasting much longer than A&E and with the lower price, they both represent better value. I estimate that I was using 4+gms per shave of A&E.

I would have expected both of he Proraso scents in the trial to have similar usage to each other, but my tub of White is considerably firmer that my tub of Green. So I used less than half of the White than I did of the Green. Either way though, they are both exceptional value.

Buy Price
This is the current replacement price for each soap. I have taken into account delivery costs (if applicable), P&C member and multi-buy discounts, etc.

Full Tub Weight
This is the manufacture’s claimed net weight.

Starting Weight
Gross weight (including the tub), at the start of the trial.

Disclaimer
*These are my results and it goes without saying that YMMV based on your technique, lather preference, the brush used and perhaps a thousand other variables…
 
I nerd out and count shaves from tubs.
your usage is around mine. I got 23 shaves from a Kaizen tub, but admittedly was using it heavier since I wasn’t a big fan of the scent.

If I don’t use at least 3grams of soap average per shave, it’s not enough for me. (Hard pucks not included here).
 
I was surprised to find that the 2 hardest soaps on the list (MWF & RR Blue) didn't really offer any extra milage.

I expected that those 2 would be around 1gm per shave.
Depending on the suburbs you live in, because, most areas may have soft and hard water and the type of soap formula is made.

Soft water doesn’t require more soap loading, hard water sometimes needs more soap loading.
 
I was surprised to find that the 2 hardest soaps on the list (MWF & RR Blue) didn't really offer any extra milage.

I expected that those 2 would be around 1gm per shave.
I haven’t tried either of those but a DR Harris was around 70 shaves I guess so definitely used less per shave on the hard stuff
 
I haven’t tried either of those but a DR Harris was around 70 shaves I guess so definitely used less per shave on the hard stuff
I was just thinking about the Harris. This is my first puck of it at the moment, so I don't know for sure yet how many shaves I'll get it of it, but I doubt if it'll get to 70. I like it, and I like lots of it. :p
 
I was just thinking about the Harris. This is my first puck of it at the moment, so I don't know for sure yet how many shaves I'll get it of it, but I doubt if it'll get to 70. I like it, and I like lots of it. :p
I estimated 70 based on using it sporadically when I was still pretty new to the hobby, and I actually didn’t like the lathers I got from it. Surely wasn’t loading enough.
Then after leaving it a few years, I grated the thing and weighed it net at 80g. Those 80g lasted me 50 shaves.
And yes, those 50 shaves were damn good!
 
176 shaves for Proraso white? WOW! I didn’t get anywhere close to that (mine lasted for about two months of daily shaves). I load my brush for around two minutes on hard pucks like MWF (lasts about a four months at least). For soft soaps I scoop out a heaped teaspoon.
 
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