Hard Shaving Soaps

Created: 2020/4/28 :: Modified: 2022/3/15

Here are the hard soaps I've had experience with. I think most are triple-milled. All (except RR, the last one) are wonderful.

Saponificio Varesino
italian. sophisticated scents. Expensive, but last so long, it may be budget by the time you finish the tub.
Mitchell's Wool Fat
a legend. Sheep tallow, as is obvious. Clean linen scent. Some find it hard to get right, for some reason. Side note, from what I can see on the web, there may have been a bad batch produced around 2019 maybe, that did not lather easily, even for experienced Mitchell's users.
Fine Accoutrements Classic Pucks
Hard pucks, discontinued around 2020, with strong scents, usually. One of my all-time favorites. Slickness rivals the best, IMO.
DR Harris
Brittish maker that may be the last large old-school holdout, who has not outsourced their hard soaps. Great scents and performance.
Valobra
great-performing hard soaps, but basic scents. I think they've been discontinued though.
Williams
Like MWF, a legend. And many don't know how to lather it well, either. Slickness rivals any in the top-tier, though it is more work to get there, and it can often be found for less than $2.
Before 2005 or so, the formula had more tallow, and it was able to provide a creamier lather that was easier to work up.
Update: Sadly though, this long standing soap has been discontinued by Combe, it's most recent maker. Many of us got the news early in 2022.
Haslinger
Very good performance, with a decent selection of fairly light scents.
Klar
Another pricey European one. But even at full price, probably still a bargain when you see how many shaves you get from it. Scents are nice, and I just find something interesting about this German soap that's been around for a very long time.
Fitjar Islands
A quality European soap. Norwegian, I think. Several scents. Tried Slatteroy and it smelled like lemon furniture polish to my American nose. I enjoyed the Havn scent from a cream sample I've tried, so Havn is on my To-Get list for the hard puck now.
Golddachs
European, I think. Smallish pucks, contoured to an almost round-bottom soap container, mild scents, but very nice lather. Maybe German, because "dach" apparently means "badger" there.
Cyril Salter
An inexpensive, basic soap that is super cheap, too. Light, classic, lavender scent on the hard puck I have.
Omega Via Barberia
I think from the same company that makes shaving brushes, the puck I have of this soap is very large, inexpensive, and gives a very nice, slick, creamy lather. Comes in a few scents.
Pre de Provence No. 63
Not as rich of a lather as the others, but offers good slickness, is very inexpensive, quad-milled, and vegan. This soap has two excellent pros: 1) the scent ... is the star if you like warm-spicy, and 2) the value... this puck will provide many many lathers.
Razorock What the Puck
Triple-milled soaps that had decent scent strength, but whose lather was lackluster in my first impression. Light and cheap feeling, not creamy... though slick enough to do a nice shave job. However, you can sometimes catch them on a cheap sale, so they might be good bang for your buck in that case.
L'Occitane - Cade
Great scent, though perhaps light, in this hard soap. It's well-loved brother, the Rich Cream, has been discontinued. An oud-like scent maybe? It is fairly slick, but doesn't get creamy and luxurious like most of the others here.