Thread: Can't Lather...

Originally Posted by BHChieftain

While you are soaking your brush in hot water, try drizzling a little bit of really hot water on top of the soap to soften it up (just a little, like a 1/4 teaspoon). This will help load up the brush. I've also found that the hotter the water, the easier it it to get rich lather.

When I started, I tended to use too much water, so all I got was wimpy runny lather. Now I squeeze out nearly all of the water from the brush, load it up on the (softened) soap puck, then add a drizzle of water into the base of the brush if the lather is too thick or dry.

Took me a while to figure out the right proportions.

Please report back on your progress!

-Chief

Thats actually exactly what I do. I follow all the steps Ive seen in many lathering instructional videos including mantic's and jockeys' videos. I dont really know what Im doing wrong...

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Have you watched mantic's videos on the mater on youtube? Not all creams lather, have you examined the tabac brand to make sure that it will lather for you? I have no experience with Tabac cream.

Yes I have seen almost all of mantic's videos now and that is where I got got the instructions for making lather. I dont know about the tabac cream but Ill find out soon enough. Also, I was assuming since the tabac soap is so highly rated for lathering well and being a good product, that the cream should be similar. We'll see.

Originally Posted by jnich67

You said: "a little bit" when referring to soaping the brush. Load that baby up! I also lather directly on my face - load the brush until you have a nice paste, then lather on a wet face for longer than you would think. More, more, and more...

Jordan

OK Maybe "a little bit" were the wrong words. I do load that baby up I load the brush for a good 10 seconds trying to get as much soap on it as I can and then if no lather forms I pick up more soap with the brush. And for right now Im not going to lather on my face anymore because that "more, more, and more" got me a red raw spot on my lower right cheek. Like I brushed too much. It seems to be going away now, I got it yesterday.

10 seconds could well be too little. I would probably take 3 times that, but I've never timed it.

You want the brush to be clumped together with soap, really thick with it. The tip about putting a little hot water on there is a good one, it softens up the soap nicely.

Option number 2 is to pick up a cheap cream, it's easier to add cream if you use too much water, or didn't have enough in the first place, that is more difficult with soap.

Try squeezing the brush dry first and shaking it. Then put soap on the brush and lather on your face. If it is dry then add "little tiny" drops of water to the brush and continue with that back and forth while lathering on your face. That should work.

Thanks for all the advice.

I tried it again today and didnt work. However, then i remembered that there was one method of lather making that mantic had gone over that I hadn;t tried: making lather in my hand. I tried it and it seemed to work a little better, however still not quite creamy. I think I just need a little more practice using my hand.

Ill wait for the tabac cream to get here to try using the bowl method again.

Thanks again,
KWood34

Practice. Also, if your hand works better you may have hard water. Try some bottled water and see if things improve. Hard water doesn't lather.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Practice. Also, if your hand works better you may have hard water. Try some bottled water and see if things improve. Hard water doesn't lather.

Im pretty sure I dont have hard water. Regular soap lathers well and none of the other side affects of hard water are present.

I will just continue practicing and see if that helps.

Extreme wet-start method.

Extreme dry-start method.

Originally Posted by KerryWood34

Thanks for all the advice.

I tried it again today and didnt work. However, then i remembered that there was one method of lather making that mantic had gone over that I hadn;t tried: making lather in my hand. I tried it and it seemed to work a little better, however still not quite creamy. I think I just need a little more practice using my hand.

Ill wait for the tabac cream to get here to try using the bowl method again.

Thanks again,
KWood34

+1 for the bowl. I'm terrible at face lathering, myself. One thing I discovered with bowl lathering is size does indeed matter! I started off with the tiny glass bowl that came with a merker razor set and it was meh. more lather coming over the edges than staying in the bowl or on the brush. then moved up to a shallow coffee mug... better but still not great. I was at the grocer on monday and noticed this big white latte mug staring at me. Took her for a spin when I got home and BAM. Mug full of lather.

Also, try a combination of pressures when you're clepping your lather. I start off kinda pushing the brush into the bottom of the mug and slowly back off until I'm basically whipping it like a merangue. With most soaps (MWF not withstanding) I get stiff glossy peaks in just a couple of minutes.

Another thing, I was thinking... (dangerous, I know). I know it matters when you're shampooing but if your hair is oily/dirty the shampoo doesn't lather as much on the first go around and you use way less shampoo on the second application. My thought is if you have somewhat oily skin before you try to lather on your face, it may not work as well.

Originally Posted by KerryWood34

Thats actually exactly what I do. I follow all the steps Ive seen in many lathering instructional videos including mantic's and jockeys' videos. I dont really know what Im doing wrong...

I'm wondering if it the heat...

Can you try an experiment for me? BOIL some water, then soak your brush in the boiling water, and put a bit on your soap. Squeeze 95% of the water out of the brush, and load up the brush really good. Then swirl it on your cheek for 30seconds, if it is thick, then drizzle a tiny tiny bit of boiling hot water into the base of your brush, and keep swirling...

Let me know what happens...

-Chief