Lather Problems

Hello,

So I got my first razor a couple months back and have been consistently shaving with it. While I have slowly been getting better and better with the blade, I haven't gotten any better with my lather. I am currently using this brush and scuttle from Classic Edge Shaving. I have also been shaving with samplers of Taylor of Old Bond Street and Truefitt and Hill shaving creams.

Whenever I shave, I soak the brush in warm water and then shake it out. I then pour hot water into the scuttle and put an almond size worth of shaving cream into the scuttle and mix it up. I add a couple of dabs of water into the lather and apply it to my prepped face. Before I had problems with the lather drying out on my face, but have since switched to only lathering sections of my face as needed. I do three passes.

Now for the problems: In the bowl my lather usually dries out in between applications. I begin to add more water, but there is not even enough soap left to create new lather. On different occasions I have tried adding more soap (even lots of it), but the lather dries out again in a few minutes. I've tried adding more water to the brush (just little dabs) but this doesn't help either. If I add too much water then lather does begin to form, but it is much too runny to be used on my face for shaving. I thought maybe the water in the scuttle was too hot causing evaporation, but this still happens even when lukewarm water is used in the scuttle. At this point I have no clue what it is I am doing wrong. I can't seem to find a way to get nice, creamy, moist lather. Is my method of creating lather not correct? Could it be that my brush (which was pretty cheap) is not a good one and doesn't hold the soap properly?

If anyone has any suggestions or guesses as to what is going wrong here, I'd greatly appreciate them. As of now I've switched back to using normal canned shaving cream so I'll be able to shave, because I've had too many problems with lathering.

The temp of water shouldn't cause an issue. Both brands are of good repute, and I have the TOBS soap and it works great. I've never tried creams from either company. The brush shouldn't be an issue either. I would suspect maybe the quality/quantity of your water. Creams generally lather up pretty quickly and easily. Maybe work on a few 'practice lathers' when you aren't necessarily shaving and try to keep adding water a bit at a time like you are until you find the sweet spot.

Making basic soap lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Noooooo! Put the can down! The propellants used in the can will dry your skin out worse than lather that dries up between passes. How long are you mixing for? Id keep the water hot, not luke warm. I know that my lather is far, far better using a silvertip badger brush. That goes for creams and soaps. Without spending money on another brush that might not be addressing the issue I would try adding a bit more water to the brush after you first start mixing and mix for a good solid minute before even attempting to apply it. If its runny when applying then I was wrong, if it paints on nicely you're in a good starting spot. See where it goes from there. Another option if your using the creams is to try face lathering. Experiment with the amount of water you leave in the brush, it really will be much better for you than the aerosol can.

How long does it take you to do a three pass shave?

Have you watched any youtube vids? For me it helps seeing how several others achieve what I'm looking for. Youtube: building a lather. Lynns vids and geofatboys vids are good. Mantic59 has a good vid discussing amount of water to use.

First that brush should work fine and the creams you have are good ones. So your equipment is good.

Next scuttles are a nice luxury but actually add an element to lathering cause you do have to take it into account when building lather. What I would suggest first is putting the scuttle aside for now and either face lather or use an old coffee mug (or you could use the scuttle with out water in the reservoir.)

Now onto building lather from everything you have said it sounds like you have too little water in your lather to start. So start by soaking the brush like you have been but don't shake the brush out. Then add the cream to the brush tips.

Now if you are going to try face lathering you will begin to build the lather on your face. Start by just using the tips of the brush on your face with circular motions. You need to use a light touch while doing this or you will dump all the water out of the brush to run down your face. Once to lather begins to form you can add little more pressure and continue building the lather till you have a nice lather.

If you are going to build the lather in a mug. You still just use the tips in the bottom off the mug till you get the lather started. Then add a little pressure and build till you have a creamy lather.

Well it is a relief to know that my equipment isn't the issue. Where I go to college, the water is pretty hard; it smells almost like chlorine and tastes just as bad. So that could be part of the reason its been difficult creating lather. I will take your suggestions into account and probably do some "test lathers" before my next shave, experimenting with different amounts of water.

If the water is really bad you could always try using bottled water. Heat it up in a microwave or electric kettle beforehand. Although the scuttle should probably not go in a microwave.