While Williams technically had the same scent as Arko, i preferred Williams. By comparison to Arko Williams was almost unscented. I was given advice to let Arko air out for some time. I let it sit for about a year and the scent did diminish a little but it was still too strong for my liking. I recently put some peppermint oil into the lather before I shaved and, my god did things change for the better! The mint was refreshing on my skin and the Arko scent, while still there, was far less annoying. I have shaved with it twice experimenting with how much peppermint oil to add to the lather. It's a balancing act as too much changes the texture of the lather. The last time i used it the lather had "strings" that would hang from my brush as it moved from my mug to my face. It also makes it a bit too slick. When washing the excess lather from the outside of my mug and clearing it from the inside of the mug I almost dropped the mug. Granted this happens with shaving soap in general but the mint oil made it slightly slicker. Good for shaving but not great fot keeping a grip in a mug.
You're welcome! Also, if you just leave the stick unwrapped and set it aside somewhere for a few days the scent really does dissipate and become more reasonable like a lightly soapy type cent.
UPDATE: Added about 40ml of replica Boss bottle from Lidl to whole Arko stick. Waited for about 15 minutes and tried to lather it- it works very well. Scent is there but I can still smell just a little of citrusy smell from Arko but day and night to the original Arko "scent" . It might be best shaving soap I have. Definitely worth trying.
Just finished double-boiling a batch of Arko, Yardley Shea Butter & Yardley Lavender in a 1:1:1 ratio. Looking forward to trying my Yarko shave tomorrow.
I'm jubilant to report excellent results from my Yarko hybrid. Going forward, I would adjust the ratio to an even half Arko/Yardley. Truly a uniquely luxurious treat.
@@nicetna2010 excellent! I think the Yardley really brings in something that the Arco needs. With its reputation as a divisive cent, it also has a reputation for producing an amazing lather. However I did not find that the case with my use of arco. When I hydrated it to my level of preference, it wasn't very creamy at all and nothing really special, but it did get the job done. Perhaps it just needs to be hydrated at a lower level, that's just not my thing. I think mixing in a product like Yardley is a great idea.
I don't know if you have ran out this Arko soap and after shave mixture, or do you still have it, after three years. I wonder if the scent of after shave is still available or also evaporated as time goes by? Because, here in Turkey, there are lots of enthousiasts trying to modify the scent of Arko but whatever you pour in it, every time, Arko scent can kill the ingredient you add to it, althought İ like this lemon scent, it is kinda old scholl barber shop to me...
I think the scent is still there, but I have not used the soap much. Yes, the arko scent is strong, but if you shave it like in thevideo, and let it sit out, you can then wait until the scent is gone. Then, it should not interfere with whatever you want to add to it.
@@sgrdddyshaves Thank sir. Follwing your footsteps and your reveipe, I already prepared a mixture with a half Arko stick and 100 ml of cheap Eau de Cologne (blue colored). I also added some drops of oils like glycerine, carnuba, almond etc in order to richen the content. The outcome is outstanding. I received a different scented and colored Arko, I sampled a few times, shave feeling was nice. I am not sure the alcohol within was 100% evaporated, it was a bit itchy. I didn't try the beverage versions yet but I will let you know if I succedd with Bay Rum (first I should find a receipe how to prepare a Bay Rum coctail). Regards from the homeland of Arko.
Does the soap cheaps absorbs some of the alcohols even most of them evaporates? If there is still some alcohol left in the soap, does it burns while face lathering and shaving? Saying that, İ didn't watch your next shaving video with this Arko Stetham, yet, but will do next. Greetings from the place of birth of Arko...
I have plans to add some whiskey or bourbon into the Arko but İ am not convinced with the outcome, yet. Maybe the alcohol in the whiskey will evaporate, but the caramel scent of Jack Daniels will remain, somehow, in the soap. İ have another similar experiment project in my mind with Bay Rum. But maybe it is better to drink this beverages instead of consuming into a soap 😎
Ha ha! Yes, if I was going to try it, I'd used a cheap whiskey or bourbon. Yes, you do want most of the alcohol to evaporate. The scent left behind may not be very strong, though, because those notes are very smooth ones.. I'll bet bay rum would work better though.
Great video thanks for taking the time to make it. I’m working on my third batch first was arko and brut aftershave second was Williams and some cheap cologne. Have you ever used a dehydrater like what you use to make beef jerky to speed up the wait time on the Arko? It truly is a great soap
that's a great idea with the food dehydrator. Those help water to evaporate quicker. I assume tht it wold help with getting the alcohol to evaporate as well. You would hve to still get in there and stir frequently, though.
Maybe let the aftershave sit and allow the alcohol to evaporate first? Or does the evaporative process help with infusing the scent into the soap? Thanks for sharing.
This is an educated guess: I think the fragrance will evaporate as well as the alcohol if you leave it uncovered for long enough. So the idea is to let it breathe enough for the Alc to go, but as little of the scent part as possible. But I really could be wrong here.
Short answer: I don't know. But one thing: I know that too much oil will make it too hard to build up a lather. And one more thing: some essential oils are too much for one's skin. But whether or not orange is... IDK.
How do I shave with a dove soap bar? I first used the dove shea butter bar.
cut the whole bar. put the cut up bar in a van der hagen shave mug. add water to the mug with the soap inside the mug. make sure to cover the soap with water completely microwave 30 sec at a time one minute . don't let the soap bubble out of the mug? stop it cool for a sec or two? do it again? it will congeal. leave in a sunny spot the water will be gone in a week or so? the soap hardened in place in the mug. don't get the soap or mug to hot a little at a time easy does it wheelchair Larry
There aren't too many hard soaps out there, compared to the croaps. However, there are some. To do this operation with them, I guess you would not want one that has its own strong scent. I think these should work well... * Cyril Salter - they have one that is light lavender, so it should go well with many aftershaves. * Golddachs * Haslinger * Mitchell's Wool Fat These you would need to shred, just like the arko, but I don't think the process would change much. Incidentally, I like the performance of all of these better than Arko.
@@sgrdddyshaves if I understand correctly, the density of the soap is not as important as its aroma; the more harmonious the aroma of soap and aftershave, the better the final result. right?
@@dmshved8262 Yes, in terms of the scent, the better the soap and AS work together, the better the final scent will be. The performance of the soap is separate, and will just be whatever soap you choose. However, as I think I mentioned in the vid, if you leave too much alcohol in your mixture -- if you don't let it air out long enough -- then that could affect your lather.
I’m way late to the game, but take this one step further, put your final mix where you’re mashing it down, put it into a ceramic bowl, then put that into frying pan with enough water to come up about halfway up the sides of the bowl. Bring the water to a boil then back it off to a simmer and kick back and let your soap shavings melt into a liquid. After it’s all melted you can leave it in that ceramic bowl, or you could pour it into a container of your choice, then give it about a half day to harden up and be perfectly fitted into the container. I do that with pucks like Rockwell shaving soap or Tabac. Melt the refill pucks into a bowl. There’s a video on my channel if anyone is interested in seeing it. Just click my name here and go there. Great video though. I wanna try this.
Thanks for the ideas. You're not supposed to microwave tallow soaps, because it messes up their chemistry. I wonder if the same concern is for boiling them. Very interesting. I might have to ask a soap maker friend. But, the boiling process is probably more work than I'd be interested in doing anyway. :-) Especially when it doesn't really get you much more than my press down method. After a couple of uses, the press-down looks like it was custom fit to the container exactly.
@@sgrdddyshaves To be honest, the entire process took 10 minutes once the water started boiling. It shouldn't affect the soap like a microwave does. Anyway, thanks for the video. I may give this a try with an odorless soap and some Bvlgari aftershave.
@@sgrdddyshaves By the way, I am seriously interested in seeing what happens with your 542 shaves blade. I can't wait for you to hit 550 and have it looked over. Although I think this is a pretty extreme case, you've opened my eyes that maybe bailing on a blade after 4 or 5 shaves may be a bit premature. Especially since I use Feather blades. High quality, extremely sharp, and very expensive. 10-15 shaves from a blade would bring that price down a lot. I gotta give it a try.
As far as I can tell, a really wet slick lather and excellent razor technique is the real secret. I think a smaller blade angle probably means less chipping. One of the by-products that has come as a result of my Marathon run here is the I seen plenty of people improve their technique and so even if they choose to throw a blade away after 5 or 8 uses, they are enjoying it more in the process. And I really love it when people can get more of value from their blades because they get more shaves!
You would not want to microwave Arko, or any other tallow soap. It messes with the chemical composition. If it is a glycerin soap, like Col Conk, etc, then you can microwave that.
Thanks for this. I’ve been inspired. I have started one tonight with an old puck of vintage Williams that I had laying around (that has lost its scent). It’s a gloopy soup sitting in err a soup bowl at the moment.... Looking forward to a rejuvenated soap in a couple of weeks.
I don't think the soap was spoiled, since it worked just as well as Arko does normally. And if you noticed, I outlined that part of the process is to allow the alcohol to evaporate. That way, it doesn't affect the lather you get.
Я смешала маленькие клочки мыла с одеколоном после бритья. Надеюсь, я правильно понял ваш вопрос. (Я использую Google Translate) i mixed the small soap shreds with an aftershave cologne. I hope I understood your question correctly. (I'm using Google Translate)
@@sgrdddyshaves мужик привет натёр мыло на маленькие клочки и залил одеколоном после бритья,отлично получилось, мыло 72%жирности , а в качестве одеколона использовал самогон виски по вашему,мыло для бритья получилось как в лучших барбершопах Лондона
Make your own shaving soap out of shaving soap? By the way, arko isn't even the cheapest soap in my country so this would be extremely stupid to even try, lol.
I wanna try this with some aqua velva or maybe clubman pinaud. Thanks for the video man.
While Williams technically had the same scent as Arko, i preferred Williams. By comparison to Arko Williams was almost unscented.
I was given advice to let Arko air out for some time. I let it sit for about a year and the scent did diminish a little but it was still too strong for my liking.
I recently put some peppermint oil into the lather before I shaved and, my god did things change for the better!
The mint was refreshing on my skin and the Arko scent, while still there, was far less annoying.
I have shaved with it twice experimenting with how much peppermint oil to add to the lather. It's a balancing act as too much changes the texture of the lather. The last time i used it the lather had "strings" that would hang from my brush as it moved from my mug to my face. It also makes it a bit too slick. When washing the excess lather from the outside of my mug and clearing it from the inside of the mug I almost dropped the mug. Granted this happens with shaving soap in general but the mint oil made it slightly slicker. Good for shaving but not great fot keeping a grip in a mug.
Thanks for the video. I had my first Arko soap shave and the scent is terrible! Will do an aftershave mix and see.
You're welcome!
Also, if you just leave the stick unwrapped and set it aside somewhere for a few days the scent really does dissipate and become more reasonable like a lightly soapy type cent.
UPDATE: Added about 40ml of replica Boss bottle from Lidl to whole Arko stick. Waited for about 15 minutes and tried to lather it- it works very well. Scent is there but I can still smell just a little of citrusy smell from Arko but day and night to the original Arko "scent" . It might be best shaving soap I have. Definitely worth trying.
Just finished double-boiling a batch of Arko, Yardley Shea Butter & Yardley Lavender in a 1:1:1 ratio. Looking forward to trying my Yarko shave tomorrow.
Ha haaa.... Sounds good!
I'm jubilant to report excellent results from my Yarko hybrid. Going forward, I would adjust the ratio to an even half Arko/Yardley. Truly a uniquely luxurious treat.
@@nicetna2010 excellent!
I think the Yardley really brings in something that the Arco needs. With its reputation as a divisive cent, it also has a reputation for producing an amazing lather. However I did not find that the case with my use of arco. When I hydrated it to my level of preference, it wasn't very creamy at all and nothing really special, but it did get the job done. Perhaps it just needs to be hydrated at a lower level, that's just not my thing.
I think mixing in a product like Yardley is a great idea.
I did the same exact thing with a couple of sticks of Arko and some Stetson! Not a bad outcome.
Yeah, really pretty good! I actually like the smell of stetson better as a soap instead of the AS!
Oi oi good idea and easy 2
Thanks for taking the time to make this video, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Great!
I don't know if you have ran out this Arko soap and after shave mixture, or do you still have it, after three years. I wonder if the scent of after shave is still available or also evaporated as time goes by? Because, here in Turkey, there are lots of enthousiasts trying to modify the scent of Arko but whatever you pour in it, every time, Arko scent can kill the ingredient you add to it, althought İ like this lemon scent, it is kinda old scholl barber shop to me...
Does the scent of Stenton still inside the soap, after three years of usage?
I think the scent is still there, but I have not used the soap much.
Yes, the arko scent is strong, but if you shave it like in thevideo, and let it sit out, you can then wait until the scent is gone. Then, it should not interfere with whatever you want to add to it.
@@sgrdddyshaves Thank sir. Follwing your footsteps and your reveipe, I already prepared a mixture with a half Arko stick and 100 ml of cheap Eau de Cologne (blue colored). I also added some drops of oils like glycerine, carnuba, almond etc in order to richen the content. The outcome is outstanding. I received a different scented and colored Arko, I sampled a few times, shave feeling was nice. I am not sure the alcohol within was 100% evaporated, it was a bit itchy.
I didn't try the beverage versions yet but I will let you know if I succedd with Bay Rum (first I should find a receipe how to prepare a Bay Rum coctail). Regards from the homeland of Arko.
Does the soap cheaps absorbs some of the alcohols even most of them evaporates? If there is still some alcohol left in the soap, does it burns while face lathering and shaving? Saying that, İ didn't watch your next shaving video with this Arko Stetham, yet, but will do next. Greetings from the place of birth of Arko...
Greetings! Thanks for writing.
No, I do not feel any kind of burn when using this soap. So it would seem very little, if any, alcohol is left.
i would love to smell that after! smells sweet with the honey?
Not to me. It smelled just like the stetson cologne.
Hmmm, thats interesting. I've been mixing different soaps, but nvr with aftershaves liquids. You gave me the idea to try it as well. Tks with cheers.
Go for it!
I have plans to add some whiskey or bourbon into the Arko but İ am not convinced with the outcome, yet. Maybe the alcohol in the whiskey will evaporate, but the caramel scent of Jack Daniels will remain, somehow, in the soap. İ have another similar experiment project in my mind with Bay Rum. But maybe it is better to drink this beverages instead of consuming into a soap 😎
Ha ha! Yes, if I was going to try it, I'd used a cheap whiskey or bourbon. Yes, you do want most of the alcohol to evaporate.
The scent left behind may not be very strong, though, because those notes are very smooth ones..
I'll bet bay rum would work better though.
Great video thanks for taking the time to make it. I’m working on my third batch first was arko and brut aftershave second was Williams and some cheap cologne. Have you ever used a dehydrater like what you use to make beef jerky to speed up the wait time on the Arko? It truly is a great soap
that's a great idea with the food dehydrator. Those help water to evaporate quicker. I assume tht it wold help with getting the alcohol to evaporate as well. You would hve to still get in there and stir frequently, though.
Maybe let the aftershave sit and allow the alcohol to evaporate first? Or does the evaporative process help with infusing the scent into the soap? Thanks for sharing.
This is an educated guess: I think the fragrance will evaporate as well as the alcohol if you leave it uncovered for long enough.
So the idea is to let it breathe enough for the Alc to go, but as little of the scent part as possible.
But I really could be wrong here.
Instead of using aftershave, can I use orange essential oil and mix it with the arko soap shavings instead ?
Short answer: I don't know.
But one thing: I know that too much oil will make it too hard to build up a lather.
And one more thing: some essential oils are too much for one's skin. But whether or not orange is... IDK.
@@sgrdddyshaves You are right about essential oils. I am not sure about orange oil, I don't think it is, but better safe than sorry.
How do I shave with a dove soap bar? I first used the dove shea butter bar.
cut the whole bar. put the cut up bar in a van der hagen shave mug. add water to the mug with the soap inside the mug. make sure to cover the soap with water completely
microwave 30 sec
at a time one minute .
don't let the soap bubble out of the mug?
stop it cool for a sec or two? do it again?
it will congeal. leave in a sunny spot the water will be gone in a week or so?
the soap hardened in place in the mug.
don't get the soap or mug to hot a little at a time easy does it
wheelchair Larry
Well, that certainly is one way to do it!
What can change if I use a different soap? Tighter and harder than ARKO
There aren't too many hard soaps out there, compared to the croaps. However, there are some. To do this operation with them, I guess you would not want one that has its own strong scent. I think these should work well...
* Cyril Salter - they have one that is light lavender, so it should go well with many aftershaves.
* Golddachs
* Haslinger
* Mitchell's Wool Fat
These you would need to shred, just like the arko, but I don't think the process would change much.
Incidentally, I like the performance of all of these better than Arko.
@@sgrdddyshaves if I understand correctly, the density of the soap is not as important as its aroma; the more harmonious the aroma of soap and aftershave, the better the final result. right?
@@dmshved8262 Yes, in terms of the scent, the better the soap and AS work together, the better the final scent will be. The performance of the soap is separate, and will just be whatever soap you choose.
However, as I think I mentioned in the vid, if you leave too much alcohol in your mixture -- if you don't let it air out long enough -- then that could affect your lather.
I’m way late to the game, but take this one step further, put your final mix where you’re mashing it down, put it into a ceramic bowl, then put that into frying pan with enough water to come up about halfway up the sides of the bowl. Bring the water to a boil then back it off to a simmer and kick back and let your soap shavings melt into a liquid. After it’s all melted you can leave it in that ceramic bowl, or you could pour it into a container of your choice, then give it about a half day to harden up and be perfectly fitted into the container. I do that with pucks like Rockwell shaving soap or Tabac. Melt the refill pucks into a bowl. There’s a video on my channel if anyone is interested in seeing it. Just click my name here and go there. Great video though. I wanna try this.
Thanks for the ideas.
You're not supposed to microwave tallow soaps, because it messes up their chemistry. I wonder if the same concern is for boiling them. Very interesting. I might have to ask a soap maker friend.
But, the boiling process is probably more work than I'd be interested in doing anyway. :-)
Especially when it doesn't really get you much more than my press down method. After a couple of uses, the press-down looks like it was custom fit to the container exactly.
@@sgrdddyshaves To be honest, the entire process took 10 minutes once the water started boiling. It shouldn't affect the soap like a microwave does. Anyway, thanks for the video. I may give this a try with an odorless soap and some Bvlgari aftershave.
@@sgrdddyshaves By the way, I am seriously interested in seeing what happens with your 542 shaves blade. I can't wait for you to hit 550 and have it looked over. Although I think this is a pretty extreme case, you've opened my eyes that maybe bailing on a blade after 4 or 5 shaves may be a bit premature. Especially since I use Feather blades. High quality, extremely sharp, and very expensive. 10-15 shaves from a blade would bring that price down a lot. I gotta give it a try.
As far as I can tell, a really wet slick lather and excellent razor technique is the real secret. I think a smaller blade angle probably means less chipping.
One of the by-products that has come as a result of my Marathon run here is the I seen plenty of people improve their technique and so even if they choose to throw a blade away after 5 or 8 uses, they are enjoying it more in the process.
And I really love it when people can get more of value from their blades because they get more shaves!
@@sgrdddyshaves Please video the results of your friend’s magnifying check. This will be a very interesting, eye opening video.
There's no link to the other video.
Sorry. Here you go...
th-cam.com/video/wap-HFCy6Q8/w-d-xo.html
Maybe when the soap first solidifies put it in a freezer ziplock bag with some rice and that will pull the moisture out of the soap faster
That's a thought.
Have you ever used a microwave instead of waiting for weeks?
You would not want to microwave Arko, or any other tallow soap. It messes with the chemical composition. If it is a glycerin soap, like Col Conk, etc, then you can microwave that.
Thanks for this. I’ve been inspired. I have started one tonight with an old puck of vintage Williams that I had laying around (that has lost its scent). It’s a gloopy soup sitting in err a soup bowl at the moment.... Looking forward to a rejuvenated soap in a couple of weeks.
Nice. It's fun playing around iwth this kind of stuff.
inspiring..
looks like vanilla ice cream 😂
That Bug, Insect cent shaving soap 😂😂😂
Hi, what do you mean?
@@sgrdddyshaves watch it from 13m 45s and you will know what I meant about insect scent shaving soap 😂😂😂
@@cariza5 Ha! I fully forgot about that!
It's a shaving soap.... AND a bug trap... All in ONE!
:-)
@@sgrdddyshaves junkies smelling insect scent shaving soap might just get their daily buzz 😂😂😂
You made a big mistake Don't mix shaving soap has made of oils with any perfume that contains alcohol !! you spoiled the soap completely
I don't think the soap was spoiled, since it worked just as well as Arko does normally.
And if you noticed, I outlined that part of the process is to allow the alcohol to evaporate. That way, it doesn't affect the lather you get.
Ну мыло смешать с чем
Я смешала маленькие клочки мыла с одеколоном после бритья.
Надеюсь, я правильно понял ваш вопрос.
(Я использую Google Translate)
i mixed the small soap shreds with an aftershave cologne.
I hope I understood your question correctly.
(I'm using Google Translate)
@@sgrdddyshaves 👍
@@sgrdddyshaves 👍
@@sgrdddyshaves мужик привет натёр мыло на маленькие клочки и залил одеколоном после бритья,отлично получилось, мыло 72%жирности , а в качестве одеколона использовал самогон виски по вашему,мыло для бритья получилось как в лучших барбершопах Лондона
......
Are you communicating in Morse Code? :-)
@@sgrdddyshaves .......well trying to ....I'm bit of an oldskool myself.....
Make your own shaving soap out of shaving soap? By the way, arko isn't even the cheapest soap in my country so this would be extremely stupid to even try, lol.