Do you let your soap dry?

I'm in the 12-24 hour camp for the most part.  It depends on the season (high humidity etc.)  and if I use a damp or wetter brush.  Of course sometimes I just forget and then it gets covered when I see it.  I do not "bloom" my soaps.

I pretty much cover it back up. I don't have enough real estate in our bathroom to leave them uncovered (I put the brush and my razor on top in the medicine cabinet). I do let it "drain"; I wash off residual lather/proto-lather and then turn the jar over to let any surface water drain out while I rinse my brush and razor. But that's only a matter of seconds, or a minute at most.

Yeah, this has been funny as I've pretty much done the same as jpakstis for years. So far it really seems like we're in the minority.

Still haven't heard what the benefits are other than gross it's damp. I'm in Ireland, everything is always damp (and mossy)! It's not like I ever open up the soap from a week ago and found it still wet let alone with a stagnant puddle festering inside. I wonder am I getting better scent longevity than you guys?

I'm the odd duck, I guess...

I live in the desert: average relative humidity below 10% year round. I bloom my soaps, always. Even my really soft "croaps" get bloomed. I enjoy the scent wafting through the room as my brush soaks and I strop my razor.

I pour the bloom water off into my scuttle. This is the primary water for making my lather. Load the CRAP out of my brush, make my lather.

I leave the lid off my soap while I shave. It takes me about a half hour to shave, and the cap goes back on the tub after I'm done shaving.

No, my soap does not dry out completely before the cap goes back on. Yes, it does dry out to a certain extent. No, I have not noticed anything wonky with my soaps due to excess moisture. Yes, I have done this pretty much from day 1, and even my year and a half old soaps show no deterioration in soap quality or scent strength.

There is nothing scientific to my method. There is nothing confirmed in my observations. This is just how I have done for the last "almost 2 years". It works for me, without causing me any unnecessary heartbreak with moldy soaps, or weak scents...

Take it all with a grain of salt...

I don't put water on a soap before lathering. That 'bloom' word is like 'residual slickness.'   Those hobbyist words that are pretty silly imo!

Yeah I don't bloom. I always thought it's a way to waste soaps so you'll buy more.

There are a few soap makers who actually encourage blooming their soaps. At least Local Gent Shaving Co, Mystic Water Soap and Soapy Bathman come to mind.

Then there are those who say that if you use the soap often, there’s no reason to even put the lid on it between shaves. I’ve read that on at least one Italian Barber product page, and, well, I’ve never seen a lid on a Martin de Candre brain bowl.

That being said, I would just state “do whatever works best for you” — it’s your soap, and you should find the best way to enjoy it. I do hope there’ll be more comments on this thread, as it’s interesting to learn about different approaches to getting the most out of our precious soaps.

True story, when I started wet shaving I always left the lid off over night (I always bloom so I can load easier and not irritate my arthritic wrists) after about a year I started putting the lid on at bed time, the change was for no particular reason. Since early this year I leave the lid off and will normally put it on the next time I'm in the bathroom. I haven't noticed any differences at all in soap look, performance or feel. The only exception to this is MdC, it always sits 24 hours because it is a cured soap and the water wouldn't necessarily be good for it. At least that's what I remember reading on their web site.

My soaps are left uncovered for 8-12 hours after use. I did have one previously hard soap turn very mushy because I did not follow this practice. The mushy soap was early on in my traditional wet shaving journey, long before my OCD driven routines had taken hold. ;-)

To be fair, the mushy soap was not ruined, but it did take a long time to dry out and lost a lot of it's fragrance in the process.

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I place them next to a small fan for 24 hrs.  A little OCD here but I've only been at this since September.

I work from home and leave the lid off until I walk in the bathroom and it looks dry - usually a couple of hours at most.

As regards "blooming", the best summary I've heard is this one @ 2:26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6rJZWwrtY