Thread: I aint got no lather!

Hey guys, been a few shaves now and I'm worried that my shave is being compromised by my lack of lather.
I have an Art of Shaving brush, supposedly pure badger, according to the website. Couple of things, first, how crucial is that brush quality? or soap quality? I have some art of shaving and some other cheapo's from walmart. Does the bowl make a huge difference? or is it operator malfunction??? Like a couple of other posts my lather seems to dissipate or dry up a little to fast i think. I have had it a couple of times where i lather up and then 5 minutes later its still nice and thick. thoughts?
thanks!

I originally had a really cheap brush from Amazon ($11). Although it was no problem whipping up a lather, it was not soft and I had to soak it for a long time before I could use it. Then I purchased a Thather brush, which is quite a jump in terms of price. But it's much softer, so much so that I face-lather with it.

In terms of cream, whipping up the perfect lather is about practice and consistency. Too little water and the lather will feel chunky and "floaty" in air. Too much, and there will be a lot of bubbles. I think you should practice whipping up a lather and see how much water is the right amount to add.

In terms of a bowl, any bowl would do, unless you want to buy a Moss scuttle. One thing about the bowl is that it helps keep the lather warm, so try to get a bowl that retains heat.

Good luck!

Brush vs soap quality is about even in my mind.

Boar brushes take awhile to break-in. I do however prefer a badger brush. A bowl with a rough surface will help an under preforming brush and soap combo.

To learn how to lather is go; get some good but low cost soap, such as arko, williams, or vdh. Once you have one of them practice lathering, just rinse the lather down the drain. Your time and a few dollars of soap will drastically improve your shaves. Williams is the hardest to learn but if you can get good lather from it you will have very few troubles with other soaps.

It is best to heavily load your brush with soap and then add water as needed. While loading my brush 95% of the time I use light pressure but the rest of the time I push down on the brush a little more to distribute the loaded soap throughout the brush.

Jonathan

I throw my brush in a sink full of water for a minute or so to soak, put some water on top of the puck of soap for a bit (soften it up) then dump it off, get your brush out of the sink and shake it out. start swirling it around on the soap to load it (tips only). Then I go straight to my face with the brush, dipping the brush tips in the water (if needed) until I get the consistency I want. Bowl lathering would work the same way, just add a little water at a time, swirl & mash until you get stable peaks of lather and test it out. There's nothing that says if it dries on your face that you can't dip the tips in water and go over the dry lather that's there.

OK, long post coming up, you've been warned...and it's just my logic based on my evaluation of my experience.

Firstly, the quality of the brush has very little to do with the quality of the lather. You can use a cheap supermarket brush and get a good lather. I DO feel a good brush feels better on the face; and also that different brushes 'go better' with different lathers. For instance, I like a boar brush for creams and a badger for soaps; badger (I have found with my limited number of brushes - i.e. four) tends to be stiffer; so are good for use with soap. I like boar brushes for cream. The boar brush I have used I found tended to be too soft for a soap.

Secondly, I used to spend a LOT of time making a lather. Coincidentally, I was considering just the other day how LITTLE time I spend making a lather these days; mainly due to time constraints (my entire shave - including lather making and stropping) takes under ten minutes each morning.

Now, I feel I can get by with a 'poorish' (i.e. not perfect, 'oomphy' and creamy (bowl filled)) lather as I have the experience in shaving with a straight to 'overcome' a less than 'perfect' lather. However, a beginner may want to take more time so they have a really good lather with cushion and glide.

If your lather is drying out it's due to lack of water. But don't add too much, it'll sacrifice cushion; you need bubbles.

Are you using soap or cream? When I was new to this I found soaps harder to make a good lather. I'd recommend creams like Musgo Real, Tabac and Irisch Moos for beginners. Also many others; TOBS, T&H, etc. Creams are easier to make a good lather. If you are using soap, make sure you load the brush really well; so the brush is almost 'gluggy'.

I soak my brush in the bowl in warm water as I shower. I then empty the bowl and take the brush and raise it a foot or so from the sink. I move the brush in a rapid downward motion towards the sink (think a fast elevator (lift) going down) five times to remove some water. I don't SHAKE the brush; I move it downwards rapidly. This leaves SOME water in the brush. I then load the brush (if using soap) really well. If using cream at that point I just start swirling the brush in the cream dollop in the bowl. After I've loaded the brush on the soap (if using soap) I take it to my face straight away and face lather. I SOMETIMES need to introduce the loaded brush to the bowl and 'whisk' adding drops of water (dribbled from my fingers) to the bowl. If using cream, I will make the lather in the bowl; again, dribbling drops of water (as needed) from my fingers.

I used to practice just making lathers without shaving. I'd wash my face with the lather so it wasn't wasted. Making a lather is a skill in itself.

I have recently started to concentrate on lathering UPWARDS on my face against the grain to place the lather on my face; and my lather these days is quite thin; not a thick layer of oomphy lather.

MAIN POINTS:

1. The quality of the brush is not paramount. Don't go and buy a hundred dollar brush (unless you really want to)
2. Creams are easier for newbies
3. Make sure you add enough water, but not too much, you want bubbles in the lather (cushion)
4. Leave SOME water on the brush, it should be more than damp but not wet
5. If you're using soap make sure the brush is well loaded
6. Practice making a lather outside of the actual shaving experience. It takes time and experimentation to get it right and know when to add water, soap or cream, and how much you can 'whisk' it for.

PS and [EDIT], I didn't address the bowl question. The bowl matters very little, although some will sing the praises of scuttles with ridges on the bottom, etc. You can buy a cheap noodle bowl from the Asian grocery for two bucks and it'll work fine...

Carlmaloschneider, very well written and informative post!

You can also get a tin coffee cup for a buck...

I totally agree with Datsots: practice is the key to good lather, and time spent just making lather (and then dumping it) is time and soap/cream well spent.

I'm also a newb, with only a handful of shaves under my belt so far. But I'd made untold numbers of bowls of lather before I ever picked up a razor. My first attempts were all over the map; some lathers were soupy, others pasty, and a few were really good. But I soon figured out a method that consistently produced good results. For me, the key was adding TINY amounts of water as the lather developed.

Of course, now I dread trying a different soap or cream, since that will likely mean learning a new recipe! (Just kidding...it's just another enjoyable part of the traditional shaving experience.)

Exactly. It's all technique. Easiest thing to practice ever. Try every soap in the house. trip out.

What Carl said. Basically failure to get a good lather is operator error and not generally equipment related.

Bob

One more thing to add to the sound advice above:

Some soaps/creams will need more or less water than others to get the type of lather you want. For example, I can get a good lather using very little water when I use Van Der Hagen soaps, but until yesterday I couldn't get Williams to lather well at all. I happened to come across an old thread about Williams and learned that it needs LOTS of water (read: enough to cover the bottom of your mug) to get a good lather going. In fact, on the Williams website under the "Shaving Tips" section, the first tip they list is "Don't spare the hot water", so even they are acknowledging that Williams is a thirsty soap.

I say all of this to say (or in Reddit terms, TL;DR) experiment with the amount of water needed for each soap you own, as they will all be different.

Also, don't be afraid to post up a question if you're having problems with a particular soap... there may be something you're missing that one of us has overcome before. Case in point: Arko. It's a fantastic soap, but can perform better if you build the lather a particular way (do a search on YouTube for "How to lather Arko" and look for 3 videos posted by Carmine Sirianni).

It's all about experimentation and practice... keep trying, and I promise you that you'll be rewarded for your efforts.