Thread: Getting a good lather

So I have a few minutes in between shutting down applications and patching servers so I wanted to ask a stupid question....

Is there a secret to getting a really good later? I got a good brush, soap and mug form classicshaving and have been experimenting for the last month while I was looking for razors. I've figured out that the amount of water in the brush has something to do with it, but should I be expecting a really thick lather, or is something less then a pile of whipped cream ok.

Thanks

Here's how I do it. I use a soap mug which has my soap puck sitting in it. I use a second mug that I fill with hot water.
After a shower I fill the second mug and let my brush soak in it while I deoderize my pits, cotton swab my ears, etc..
I remove the brush and allow 4 to 5 drops of hot water to drip into the soap mug.
I shake my brush exactly 3 times into the sink and start to whip the brush in the soap mug. I am not gentle with the brush. I whisk the brush for like a 30 to 40 seconds like if I'm making a batter or a merangue.
My lather always comes out thick, creamy and hot just the way I like it. After the second pass, I let 3 to 4 more drops of hot water drip into the soap mug again the freshen the lather.
After you're done, rinse out your brush, pour the hot soapy water down the drain and pour any left over water in the soap mug down the drain.
Enjoy,
Ernest
PS: Lately I've been using my shaving scuttle which I got from Classic shaving. I do the same but use the lower tank in the scuttle to soak my brush. I gently whisk the brush around the soap ontop so the lather don't pour over the rim. Once the lather starts to build up I use a painting-like motion, going towards the water tank opening to really pick up soap and allow left over lather to pour into the water tank and not onto the sink. I rest the scuttle on a hard solid surface like my sink to prevent soapy water and lather from splashing around and making a mess. I love my shaving scuttle!

There are a lot of demonstrations at different sights that you can go to. Youtube has quite a few. As you search, you will find them. Badger and Blade has an excellent one. Here is a quick and easy one that I do:

If you use a cream, you can just put some in your mug, about and inch and a half or so. Get your brush wet with hot water either from the tap or from any other hot water hot water source, i.e., distilled water microwaved (some areas have very hard water + chlorinated water that can retard lathering). start a small stream of water from the tap. Take your brush thats full of hot water and flick the extra water out; a couple of flicks. Start swirling your brush in the mug. Add a little bit of the hot water from the running tap, swirling your brush fast. Add more water.... Keep doing this till you lather starts building. You'll know when it starts happening. You'll start building volume and the lather will start to look like nice thick whip cream, with no bubbles. You'll get there. This method works well because you control the water ratio to the soap, You will find as you experiment with different soaps, and you will, each will require a different amount of water to get you where you want.

Using hard milled soaps or glycerin soaps is the same except you will need to load your brush with the soap rather that put the cream in you mug. Prior to doing your prep, flick som hot water on the top of your hard soap or glycerin soap. This will allow the surface to soften a bit during the prep. When you're ready to lather, take your wet brush that has been flicked and mash it all over the surface of the soap. Work it in there good! You are loading the brush with soap. Now go to a clean mug and begin as above like you did with the cream.

Another thing you can do with the hard milled soaps is use a small grader and just grate a small amount of your soap in to a mug. I do this because I have so many soaps already in mugs, that I don't have enough mugs to go around.

Another tip for using the hard milled soaps: take a pocket knife and score the surface of the soap. This helps to soften the surface a little better and release more soap in your brush.

Before long, you'll be an expert! Good luck!

Steve

Thanks all...already got a better start with the lather....