Thread: Having a hard time creating decent lather

I have tried almost every Truefitt & Hill (T&H) cream, they all provide copious amounts of great lather. I have only found a few creams that lather as well as T&H. If your brush is new, you may want to clean it well first. The first couple of times that I used my new brush, I did not get good lather. I do not find that soaking the brush in hot water for an extended period of time necessary.

Not considering water problems (hard water) or brush issues, what you describe seems to be the result of using too much water, not allowing enough time for lather to develop or both. I would suggest using less water next time, removing excess water from the brush (shake or squeeze) before you load it with cream. A pea sized dollop should be sufficient to generate a large amount of good quality lather. You are using an excellent product but you need to have good technique to get the best results.

The other important point is to swirl vigorously but without going over board during the process. Water should be added progressively and only when lather development stops or decreases significantly. This is particularly important until you learn the right ratios for your cream. Good soaps/creams require some time to reach the peak, usually around 2 to 3 minutes. After you find the peak, the point where no more lather can be produced, you need to add a couple of drops to hydrate it, please be careful at this step because if you add too much, you will find that your lather vanishes into thin air. Good lathering technique is essential to obtain the best results with good soaps/creams, please , do not be discouraged.

If you have any more questions, please ask. Happy shaving,

Al raz.

Which one did you get? Trafalgar and 1805 are my favorites.

Agreed. Way too much water. Its a very simple ratio. Squeeze out all water from the brush, then start re-adding slowly.

The correct ratio, whipped up violently, will always produce a great lather. It is not any more complex then this . . .

No one can give you a ratio by flicking, twisting, shaking, or sucking on the brush. Every brush holds a different amount of water.

+1 to AFDavis - squeeze it out, then start whipping. If it doesn't lather properly, add a tiny drizzle of hot water to the base of the brush's bristles and whip again. Keep adding a tiny amount of water and whipping until your lather resembles whipped egg whites in consistency - firm, holds its shape (e.g peaks on the brush), with very small fine bubbles (can't think of the right word).

I taught myself how to lather in a mug this way - it's a good way to work out how to lather, as well, as letting you see what "too dry" lather looks like. I kept adding water until it was "too wet" as well, so I could get an idea of what that looked like too. Heck, you can even practice doing it when you don't need a shave, so that way you can get a decent lather when it comes to shave time.

Don't give up yet, just practice and you'll get there pretty quickly.

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Shaking the brush and adding water later is more difficult than simply letting the brush hold its natural load of water.

I remove my brush from the mug of water and hold it vertically so excess water runs off. I swirl it around lightly in the pot of cream 5-10 times. If there is any water left in the pot of cream, I tip it into the empty mug. I stir the brush quite slowly for up to 30s. This gives a thick creamy lather - can't see skin through it - and will last for 4 passes with plenty remaining.

I think you are shaking out too much water. Also your new brush may need breaking in (clean it with shampoo a few times.)

This is my method as well. Your new brush should hold the proper amount of water. Experiment with the amount of time you let the water run off. I find 2 seconds is too long. Have fun with lather practice. Hey, this is supposed to be fun.

Everyone does this a bit differently, but I think that MANY people around here wildly over complicate lathering. (and shaving for that matter)

I will suggest one thing, not because it's better, or because it's the "right" way, but simply because it's different, and works really well for some folks.


Face lathering.

The basic concept is pretty simple. Instead of lathering in a mug or scuttle, you lather right on your face.

Step 1: Get the brush wet, and shake out all the excess water.
Step 2: Load the brush with creme or soap. Do this by swirling the brush on top of your soap, on in a bowl with creme in it. Yes, you can face lather with creme.
Step 3:Go nuts on your face with the brush to create lather.
Step 4: Adjust. If the lather is shiny and dripping, just load the brush up with more soap or creme. If the lather feels sticky on your face, dip the dip of the brush in more water. Don't run it under the tap, don't dunk the whole thing and start over, just barely dip the tips of the bristles in the water.

If you do either of those things to adjust your lather, and find that you've gone all the way from sticky to shiny or vice versa, you're doing too much. Less is more.



The other thing to point out, is that a lot of the videos go WAY beyond anything that you need to do for shaving. Some go so far that in my experience (wet shaving for about 13 years now, although only with a straight for a few months) a lot of the lathers you see in videos are going to hurt your shave more than help it. There is no reason to make yourself look like santa. If you WANT to look like santa, be my guest. It's fun sometimes. But, it's completely unnecessary.

Your lather does 3 things.
1. It lubricates your skin. You can do this by wetting your face, and then smearing creme over your skin right out of the tube without lathering. You could even do this by coating your face in butter. That would be pretty stupid, and expensive, but it would get the job done.
2. Provides visual feedback for folks with bad eyes like me. i.e. if there's no lather on a spot, I know I shaved there.
3. Provides a little cushion to your razor. As long as your lather is thick enough that it doesn't run off your face, and you know what you're doing, you'll get enough cushion.

So, aim for a lather that is "just" thick enough that you can't see much skin through it. If you find that you enjoy huge gobs of foamy lather, that's great, and it's a skill you can develop, but it's not something you need to worry about right off the bat.

Originally Posted by Alraz

I have tried almost every Truefitt & Hill (T&H) cream, they all provide copious amounts of great lather. I have only found a few creams that lather as well as T&H. If your brush is new, you may want to clean it well first. The first couple of times that I used my new brush, I did not get good lather. I do not find that soaking the brush in hot water for an extended period of time necessary.

Not considering water problems (hard water) or brush issues, what you describe seems to be the result of using too much water, not allowing enough time for lather to develop or both. I would suggest using less water next time, removing excess water from the brush (shake or squeeze) before you load it with cream. A pea sized dollop should be sufficient to generate a large amount of good quality lather. You are using an excellent product but you need to have good technique to get the best results.

The other important point is to swirl vigorously but without going over board during the process. Water should be added progressively and only when lather development stops or decreases significantly. This is particularly important until you learn the right ratios for your cream. Good soaps/creams require some time to reach the peak, usually around 2 to 3 minutes. After you find the peak, the point where no more lather can be produced, you need to add a couple of drops to hydrate it, please be careful at this step because if you add too much, you will find that your lather vanishes into thin air. Good lathering technique is essential to obtain the best results with good soaps/creams, please , do not be discouraged.

If you have any more questions, please ask. Happy shaving,

Al raz.

Which one did you get? Trafalgar and 1805 are my favorites.

Thanks alot for this response, that clears up quite a bit. Im using the Trafalgar...but i look forward to getting some more once this runs out...it smells great!

Really though? Only a pea sized amount? Ive been using way to much then....i feel the cream is the way to go though, it just seems like it has to be too exact with the actual soap pucks.

So basically, just use a damp brush and start swirling fast. The add a tiny bit of water until the lather produces?

Originally Posted by shorynot

Really though? Only a pea sized amount? Ive been using way to much then....i feel the cream is the way to go though, it just seems like it has to be too exact with the actual soap pucks.

So basically, just use a damp brush and start swirling fast. The add a tiny bit of water until the lather produces?

Whether you're using soap or creme, less is more in many respects. It's very easy to add a tiny bit more creme (or make a couple extra passes on top of your soap) and it's very easy to dip the very tip of your brush into the water to add just a little more.

However, the only way to take soap OR water OUT of your brush is to rinse everything off, dry your brush, and start over.

Originally Posted by shorynot

Maybe thats the issue im running into here, ive been completely ringing the water out of the brush. Youre just saying to let the excess drip off the brush?

Yes, I just hold it still for about 5 seconds. Sometimes I hold it bristles up, it seems to release the excess water more quickly.
My brush is silvertip so it holds lots of water. I don't use too much cream, I've been using this tub for 6 months for about half my shaves, I'm about 3/4 through the tub.
I don't whisk vigorously, that makes frothy suds for me, at least at first. Slower stirring works better for me. I end up with lather so thick and creamy it's hard to avoid the "Father Christmas" effect on the first pass. It is most definitely not too watery.

As you can see there are different methods that work.

For reference I use Taylors of Old Bond St. cream. My water is hard.