Soap/Cream as a factor is achieving a close shave

I might give these guys a try then.   Do any of the ones you mentioned give you excellent post-shave results?   That's the one thing that Sudsy Soapery, Nuavia and Pure20 have in common -- they leave my face irritation-free and perfectly moisturized.   I don't need to apply aftershaves or balms after the shave.  

What is Klar?   I never heard of that one.

Nuavia might be the gold standard for after shave feel. Mystic maybe second (IMO). SMN, ADP, and GFT Rose are no slouches. I think the fact GFT Rose is meant for sensitive skin might be part of that reason and in terms of costs, its by far the cheapest. I'd say ABC is probably the worst of that group but it is the slickest. So each have their own best attributes. SMN is the class of the group. It stands above all.  IMO.

This Klar Seifen. Read the article. It mentions cushion. It comes in a classic tobacco/leather type scent, sport, and sandalwood.  Lemongrass and Almond are not available in the US. Amazon sells it. Its quintuple milled (not triple milled) and lasts a long time. IMO Classic is more of a winter scent, and Sport a summer scent.

Thanks.

I think it makes a difference. I always seemed to get closer shaves when using MWF and Williams, but they also seemed to dry out my skin and leave me with more ingrown issues.

I do realize that some soaps make it easier for the blade to cut through my facial hair than others. Those are usually tallow based soaps, and out of those I've tried, it's MWF and Tabac the ones that get the top rating at that. On the vegetal based side, MdC holds the pole position, with the Eufros Premiums and Alvarez Gómez trailing closely.

I find that the soap makes all the difference in how comfortable my face is when I complete my daily shave, I always shoot for as smooth and close as possible and I shave 6-7 days per week. So in this respect, I would have to say absolutely the soap plays a very important role in achieving a close shave. Obviously the razor and blade do the work, but it's the soap that makes it all comfortable. Technique is obviously also an important factor, however, I like to think I have great technique and the comfort level I experience after using a wonderful soap as compared to a less than stellar soap is remarkable. The comfort associated with the smoothness is what we all recall when we think of the best shaves we've ever had.

I have yet to notice and substantial difference in the soaps I have tried with regards to one being superior in providing a 'closer shave' than others.

No fair Celestino!    You always state you're a one soap guy - MW, of course.  If they are all about the same, how did you make your final choice?
For me, Tabac, Valobra hard soap, Mikes and Strop Shoppe give me the closest shave.

Ted, it came down to all of these attributes: price, post-shave, scents, performance, and lather. Nothing more, really. I have yet to find a soap that is its parallel with regards to all of these aspects, YMMV, of course.

I use a small pea size drop of cream ....nivea sensitive skin, proraso, and or old spice vintage cream to every soap I use. It's been working wonders

Realizing that this is all so subjective, and with the usual disclaimer of YMMV:

I agree with grim  that the terms 'socially acceptable', DFS, BBS, dolphin smooth, etc. are bandied about as if they are defined terms of art. I think each shaver will have their own idea of what they mean.

I tend to go for three kinds of shave: the first is a close shave, which for me involves 2 passes and some touch up. My definition of it is that there is absolutely no stubble when feeling the face and neck with the grain, and some feeling of a little stubble here and there when feeling against the grain.

The second is a very close shave. For me, this involves three passes and touch up. This is where I can't feel any stubble when feeling either with or against the grain.

The third is a super close shave. I can get this with 4 passes-an extra North-South pass to start-and touch up with buffing, etc. In this shave, there's no feeling of stubble whatsoever even when pressing firmly in an against-the-grain direction.

The soap/shaving mix I use will depend on what kind of shave I want to achieve.

If it's really hot out (it was 112F/44C yesterday here, more of the same today), and I need to spend time outside, I'm not going for the super or even very close shave, it's just uncomfortable. If I have to be on camera, I want a shave that's close, but with products-both soap and after shave products that are more astringent than oily so I don't get a 'shiny' face.

In all cases, I'm going for a shave with no irritation or excessive feeling of the skin being 'raw'.

The soap/shaving mix I use will be determined by all of the above. For a close shave, a good quality soap is all it takes: My go-tos are Nuávia, MdC, Barrister & Mann, and some other good artisan soaps that I've been exploring.

If I'm going for a very close shave, I find that I'll need something extra to make the shave comfortable: For me, it's a bit of oil added directly to the mix after face lathering for the first pass.

For the super close shave, it's soap, oil, and then I'll add a bit of a compatible cream-a small dollop does the trick. I usually just apply this by hand to the mix that's already on the face, and face lather. This combination allows me to do an extra pass and enough touch up to get the beard and all stubble in all directions so I can't feel it.

It may be counter intuitive, but I find the soap is most important if I'm going for the simple close shave-it's just the one product and the shave fails or succeeds on that one product. The more closely I want to shave, the more additions to the mix, the individual components become less critical, and it's the combination that allows me to shave away until my heart's content.

I find it difficult to stop sometimes at a simple close shave. That's when I get into a bit of trouble. Say I just want a simple two-pass and touch up shave and decide to use just the soap, and then I go back and do lots of touch up, I find that using just the soap, even the really good performers, can leave me with a raw-and sometimes red-face.

All of the above is, of course, dependent on a good razor and blade, a good technique with appropriate pressure, etc. But with that as a given, the soap/shaving mix will dictate the kind of closeness I can achieve.

When this thread was alive, I didn't really know enough (even though I was into wet shaving for about 1.5 years by now) to make a judgement and/or comment.

But over the last 4 months, I have been concentrating on being more objective to figure out what is what and what works best for me. And I have to say, cushion has been the most difficult (at least for me) attribute of lather to understand. Consistency, slickness, post-shave etc I found rather easy to understand, and I learned to figure out which soap is better than which based on those criteria. But cushion was elusive.

My objective understanding is that there is always a trade off between comfort and closeness of shaving. After all to have a close shave once has to draw a sharp blade multiple times over his/her face. And the texture of our faces, compared to the flatness of a blade, is no where near flat. So no matter how severe or mild, shaving is a trauma for our face.

Now, I think (again completely my subjective understanding here) with any good soap, a close shave can be attained. But I think some soaps/creams are better at protecting the skin than others. If two soaps, A and B, are identical in terms of say durability of lather, post shave feel, slickness, but A on average gives less irritation after shaving than B, I would call A to have better cushion than B. (If someone has a better/ clearer definition, by all means correct me).

I have recently purchased a soap from a renowned artisan. I wouldn't say this soap has the best post shave feel. Nor do I think this is extremely slick. But according to my shaving notes, this gives me the closest shaves without compromising comfort, while all other parameters are unchanged. I will keep doing experiments to validate my findings. But this has been rather fun to figure out.

Now, I think (again completely my subjective understanding here) with any good soap, a close shave can be attained. But I think some soaps/creams are better at protecting the skin than others.

I think you got it. One's with better cushion, among their peers, allow you to get the closest shave without irritation. Sometimes we need to see things for outselves.

So the other day I tried Boellis Panama 1924 and found it gave a closer shave than Klar.

There is something to this thing about Cushion, in the ability to provide the closest shave to the skin without causing irritation. Some soaps are just better than others.