New Soap Formulas

[Mike Smart]

What’s your thoughts on these lads ?
CK6, Kaisen etc etc
do we need them, are they better than the originals, are these nee style soap formulas better than soaps from the past.
Are they well researched and beneficial to us all or are they a big gimmick ?
personally i like them but i also like vintage gear.
i genuinely believe we’re getting better slickness & using less soap than we would in the past.
Obviously this isn’t a criticism of older soaps
i’m just curious as to whether people rate these so called new formulas

 

[Mr Bigmem]

What’s your thoughts on these lads ?
CK6, Kaisen etc etc
do we need them, are they better than the originals, are these nee style soap formulas better than soaps from the past.
Are they well researched and beneficial to us all or are they a big gimmick ?
personally i like them but i also like vintage gear.
i genuinely believe we’re getting better slickness & using less soap than we would in the past.
Obviously this isn’t a criticism of older soaps
i’m just curious as to whether people rate these so called new formulas

I don't know that anyone has ever done any deep scientific research and comparison or a scholarly article, however there has been plenty of forum threads created pondering this same thing. And one thing I stand by with anything like this (is this soap better than that) or (are soaps today better than soaps of the past) its always subjective. Yes there will be facts and evidence that show how certain new ingredients that are now being used in soap making and that have been used in the cosmetic industry for a while are good for us, or that there are clinical trails that show they are proven to help with XYZ. However it will always keep coming back to YMMV. What I do is get samples of new soaps to self assess, and where possible I avoid blind buying new soaps. When my curiosity is peeked and I can't find a sample I try to look to reviews from people I trust.

But once again it really is subjective.

 

[Kevin Philp]

A bit late replying but here we go...

CK6 - The main ingredients are potassium salts of fatty acids plus glycerin - so that is a quite a soft recipe. Compare the D K Harris recipe with Trumper - D K Harris has a lot more glycerin and is a much easier soap to lather than Trumper. CK6 adds lactic acid to firm the soap bar up and counter the soft potassium salts. I would guess 95% of the soaps performance is defined by the first six ingredients. The remainder sound nice but probably add little to the performance.

Kaisen - a more traditional recipe with high stearic acid fats in the potassium form. Once again firmed up with some added lactic acid. Interestingly they use xanthan gum which would add some foam stability and slip. I have seen recipes from the 1920's shaving soap recipes that used gum tragacanth, which is similar, amazing how old ideas come back after a while.

I have no doubt both are really easy to use and give a good, stable lather quickly. I don't see anything revolutionary here - BUT - considering how poor some shaving soaps are - these recipes look well thought out and maybe it will provoke people to make better products.

 

[p.b]

I’ve not used Kaisen or CK6 but I have used most of the ‘modern’ or recent super-formulas. I’ve also used AoS tallow soap, Yardley, Old Spice, Imperial Leather and other historic soaps.
I think I’m correct in saying all recent soaps are softer and I’m certain I use more product as a result and therefore they do not last as long. Also they are drying, even the tallow ones, when compared to modern soaps. About two years ago I used all the vintage soaps I’d bought back to back and sold them all except the AoS one as I far preferred the more nourishing modern soap.