Shaving with a shave soap is a wonderful thing.
Using shave soap is one of the easiest plastic-free switches to make. Since it’s a solid soap it performs a little differently than products you might be used to. And of course, shaving with shave soap and a brush is a much different experience than shaving with foam or a gel. But with just a few minor tweaks to your routine, and a little understanding and know-how, it is possible to experience a really great shave with natural shave soap.
Tip one: prep the shave soap
Badger Shave Soap is a hard puck made of traditionally milled soap. This means that it lasts a long time. It also means you have to work just a little harder to get a good lather going. So your first step is to “loosen” up the bar by wetting it at least 5 minutes before you begin. I find that prepping my shave soap while soaking my horse hair brush not only saves time but also makes building lather even easier. Fill your sink with just enough water to keep the bristles of your shave brush covered. Then dip the brush in the hot water and sprinkle some water onto your shave soap. Replace your brush back in the water. The hot water softens both brush and shave soap. While the shave soap and brush sit it’s time to prep your skin with gentle exfoliation. Now you’re ready to move on to the next step!
Tip two: Pre Shave Oil
Pre Shave Oil is meant to be used in conjunction with shave soap and a double edge safety razor or straight razor. You can use it with any wet shave system. Pre Shave Oil provides “slip”, which allows the razor to move smoothly across the skin. Having good slip reduces the chance of irritation. Badger Shave Soap has naturally occurring and added glycerin which also provides slip. However, I find that using Pre Shave Oil best mimics the experience of shaving with foam or a gel. Pre Shave Oil not only adds more “slip”, it also helps to soften hairs resulting in a nice, close shave.
Tip three: 2-minute lather
In my experience, the key to building a great lather with Badger Shave Soap is to work the puck with the horse hair shaving brush for at least 2 minutes. This creates foam that more closely resembles canned shaving foam. I know 2 minutes may seem like a really long time. But keep in mind, the longer you swirl your brush over the Badger shave soap, the smaller the bubbles become, the longer the lather lasts after it’s applied to the skin. For the first couple of times, try timing yourself. Eventually, you will become a Zen shave soap master, able to build the perfect lather every time.

Tip four: swirl, then paint
After building the perfect lather, apply it to your skin using what I like to call the “swirl and paint” method. First, apply the lather onto your skin in a circular motion, over the Pre Shave Oil. This gently exfoliates the skin and feels really good. Then, paint on additional foam using an up and down (or side to side) motion. This will deposit more foam onto the skin. Start shaving. If the foam thins out during the shave, feel free to paint on more.
Following these tips is the key to enjoying an award-winning shave with a totally natural and 85% organic Badger Shave Soap—every time.
What is your experience shaving with natural shave soap? Share your own tips for the Badger community in the comments below!
18 comments on “Tips for Success: Badger Shave Soap”
I am delighted that I noticed this website, precisely the right information that
i was searching for! Thanks for Sharing!
Glad to hear this was helpful! 🙂
Thanks for your tips. I began using Bader because it is a plastic-free product with a high EWG Research rating. I’ve had trouble getting enough lather to stay wet on my face for the entire shave and have tried more or less water to try to make it better. Tips one and three will probably help.
Beautiful! Let us know how it goes and thank you for your commitment to earth and body friendly purchasing!
Grate issue describe in this post. Thank you for the post
You’re very welcome! Thanks so much for reading and the kind words. 🙂
Hi Jentri,
I saw that Badger doesn’t sell shampoo nor body-wash, and the only soap I found on the site is the shave soap.
I am looking for a product (based on natural ingredients) to wash my hair. Looking at the composition of this Badger soap, do you think I could use it for my hair?
Thanks,
ioana
Hi Ioana!
Thanks for writing. I think that this bar could work for hair-washing, but it would depend largely on your hair type and length. If you’ve used shampoo bars in the past successfully, I would give it a shot.
If that doesn’t sound like a good fit, I’m a big fan of Seaweed Bath Company’s Citrus Vanilla shampoo. There’s a great company, and really natural. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Kindly,
Jentri
Do you happen to know if Badger Shave Soap can be melted in a microwave to get it to fit into my shave cup? I’ve read that this can be done with glycerin-based shave soaps.
Hello Curious! I am not sure if it would melt in the microwave, but soaking it in water would soften the edges… maybe this would be enough to fit it into your shave cup?
Let us know if you discover any great tricks!
Jentri
This is not shaving soap. I just threw away a week old $12 puck after trying every possible way of creating lather, only to have it disappear before I could even touch the blade to my face. I have 6 other soaps that create lather when I look at them the right way. This stuff wore my arm out and my made my face hurt. No lather, no cushion, no slickness, no more…
wow…awesome article, i actually learnt how to use the Pre Shave Oil properly. thanks
Thanks for reading, Damilare!
Jentri
Hey Jentri great article! I like the use of words you used for applying the lather to your face. “Swirl and paint” is very memorable! I will be using that when explaining it to new wet shavers! Cheers
Thanks, Ben! I’ve just sent you an email – thanks for stopping by the Badger blog!
Warmly,
Jentri
Thx for the tips. Very helpful!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Dave!
-Jentri