Thread: Shaving Prep

Hey all,

Well I'm about to show my true newbie status by probably asking a very simple question. What is the best way to lather? I've seen a ton of stuff on mugs and bowls and soaps etc... but nothing that actually says what to do. Do u put your soap in the mug/bowl and then rub the brush around? If that is the case what do you do with the rest of the lather in the bowl? I would assume running the soap under water is wasteful. Any help from you senior members out there?

Welcome.

Check out the wiki section and e.g these might help

Illustrated Guide to Making Basic Soap Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Illustrated quide to making basic cream lather in three different ways - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Get a better shaving result by improving your preparation - Straight Razor Place Wiki

One thing you don't mention is Lynn's CD. It's worth it's weight in gold. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's got over 3 hours of extremely helpful information, especially for people new to straight razors. It shows you how to strop, hone, shave, make lather, etc., etc., etc...

one of the best things i have learned when applying lather is to swirl the bush on your face. if you use it like a paint brush it will glue your whiskers flat making for a not so comfortable sahve i never had a bbs shave until i started using this method

Take a look at the Wiki. It is very useful.

When lathering, soak the brush in hot water in the bowl or mug for 15 to 20 minutes beforehand. Empty the water out of the bowl onto the soap. Squeeze & shake the excess water out of the brush, dump the water out of the soap, then load the brush with soap by swirling & pumping it on the puck. After a minute or so , you will notice the bubbles get much finer. This is the beginning of lather. The bristles on the brush should separate when you lift it off the puck. Then take it to the bowl & swirl it round & round until you get a decent amount of lather & rub it onto your beard, ATG if you can & you should have the start of a decent shave.

Hope this helps. When you want to take it further, do a search for uberlather. You face will love you

Yay! 450

Before I shower I just fill a glass on the counter with really hot water (as hot as I can get it from the tap) and put the brush in there bristles down. Then when I come out of the shower, it's all ready for me. I just shake a bit of the excess water and start to rub it in my container of shaving cream. I personally just build the lather on my face, but with very gentle swirling motions. You'll get to know the proper water:cream/soap ratio, so it's not too watery or soapy. I do all my stropping just before I shower, so I'm all ready to shave right after I lather up.

Everyone has their own way of doing it, but that's what works for me!

There are many different ways to make a good lather, I am still learning some myself. Personally, when I shave with soap I ...Soak the shaving brush in hot water, shake any excess water from the brush and I go straight to the puck itself and swirl away until a great lather is made. After shaving I just rinsed the soap/bowl once and let it dry out until the next shave. There are other ways of doing it with soap but that worked okay for me. Now I use shave cream. I apply a dime sized amount of cream to the bottom of the shave bowl, take the same prepped brush and swirl away for a few minutes until a nice lather is warm, creamy and ready to lubricate my face! Experiment a little and find what you like most. I prefer the shave cream over soap but there are many soap advocates too. Also, go to you tube and type "how to make shave lather". There is a guy who makes a few really informative videos on how to make each type of lather. Good luck!

Is Lynns video the same as what you can see on line on youtube.

I do it the easy way and just face lather. No bowl, no mug, etc. I put some water on my soap puck while I shower and soak my brush. When done showering, I just squeeze the water out of my brush, shake it a bit, and dump the water off the puck. Rub some soap onto the brush and then just work the lather into my face for a few minutes. Every minute or so I add some drops of water to the brush to make the lather more and more rich and creamy.

I think face lather preps your beard better anyway....plus it doesn't kill your arm.

Also you save money for razors instead of buying scuttles and such!

I believe the videos on Youtube is the same as the video on disk but Lynn's video on disk is over 3 hours and much more complete. If you like the youtube videos, I would recommend purchasing the full 3 hour video disk.