Thread: lathering up trouble

I recently (1 week ago) started using a proper brush and try making actual lather. I try building the lather on my hand but never seem to get it right.

When making lather, I first soak my brush in semi-warm water. After a couple of minutes I take it out and gently squeeze the excess water out (no shaking, just enough that it doesn't drip to much).
I twist the soaked brush around for 9 seconds on a soapbar with only the tip of the brush touching the soap.
Then I try making the lather on my wet hand.

Now the problem is that most of the time I have to repeat this ritual three times, the first two having all my soap disappear like running water. I don't do It any different from the describtion in the library and when I succeed, I'm never sure if I have proper lather.

Could you guys tell me how you make lather and what I might be doing wrong?

P.s. I use a glycerine-based soap bar.

I'll tell ya what. I struggled for months with my lather. For me it was the hardest part of wet shaving. You need to load your brush (swirl it on the soap) for longer. Shoot for a minute or so while learning. After loading try bringing the brush right to your face and building your lather on there while occasionally dipping the tips of the brush in water to get the right consistency. It takes a while to get the hang of it. Don't over do it on the water either...

YouTube lather making there are tons of videos that will be eye opening..

On top of that, you may want to try bowl lathering for a while until you get the hang of it, then move to palm lathering.

What soap are you using? It could be major factor as well. Some soaps just dont lather well.

I run the brush under hot water for about a minute. Shake out excess water (do not squeeze it out). I run the brush around the mug clock wise then press down a little to spread the bristles. Rotate it clockwise and counter clockwise to load it up while slowly releasing the pressure and raising the brush out of the mug. Now I have a brush full of hot lather and apply it to the face in small circles occasionally putting a small amount of water on the tip of the brush to help create moist lather.

I make my lather in a bowl.
Like Bouschie I load the brush by (after soaking in hot water for a minute) rotating it and whilst rotating releasing pressure.
i use a medium size bowl which I keep hot with the hottest water the faucet gives just up till the moment I come in with the brush. I quickly discard the hot water, which leaves me with a wet and hot bowl.
At first there;s always the big frothy bubbles, but after a while it always turns into a creamy lather. No mather what soap I use. Just dont give up quickly. There's a lot of differenece between the soaps.
I find Mitchell's Woolfat Soap give a lot of arge bubbles at first, and TOBS (the cream) turn almost immediately in a perfect thick lather.
Grating the soap can help, but I personally never really had to do this (except fot giving it a try).

Just keep at it. You'll get there eventually, I'm sure.
The path to creating the perfect lather is almost just as much fun as the way to perfect a straigh razor shave.

Remember, endure and have fun. It's not work, so enjoy the proces.

Originally Posted by technonine

I recently (1 week ago) started using a proper brush and try making actual lather. I try building the lather on my hand but never seem to get it right.

When making lather, I first soak my brush in semi-warm water. After a couple of minutes I take it out and gently squeeze the excess water out (no shaking, just enough that it doesn't drip to much).try leaving it wetter
I twist the soaked brush around for 9 seconds on a soapbar with only the tip of the brush touching the soap.i usually count thenumber of swirls, lus use a little pressure, i also find that a bigger bowl makes it easier as you can get a decent spin on the brush, i go for about 50 swirls.
Then I try making the lather on my wet hand.use a bowl.

Now the problem is that most of the time I have to repeat this ritual three times, the first two having all my soap disappear like running water. I don't do It any different from the describtion in the library and when I succeed, I'm never sure if I have proper lather.use more soap on your brush in the first place and a little more action whisking it, think of whipping cream or egg whites

Could you guys tell me how you make lather and what I might be doing wrong?

P.s. I use a glycerine-based soap baris it shaving soap or hand soap, they are formulated differently as far as i know to produce different results..

see comments in red

The best advice I found on how much soap was, "load the brush like you are mad at it." Never had a problem getting plenty of lather after that.

Many variables in play. First I'd consider Hard Water. This keeps soap from lathering, instead makes something called scum. It's easy to eliminate this variable by trying distilled water. Your brush, the motion you use to load, the amount of soap you gather into the brush, the bowl or mug having texture inside, or the amount of stubble if you face lather.
As a new shaver reducing these many options to doing the same thing, but changing ONE THING may help you figure out what is causing the problem. If you have several issues it will take you more experimenting. See if there is a video of someone making lather of your particular brand of soap.

You say you are using a glycerine based soap bar, is it a shaving soap?

Ed addressed most of your problems, if you read allthe tutorials , it takes time , but I know the library doesn't suggest bath soap for shaving. Tc