Thread: Still trying to master the lather...

you know the one that doesn't disappear by the time you get to the other side of your face, but in the mean time this stuff at Bath and Body Works: C.O. Bigelow® Proraso Shave Foam Eucalyptus works great. I put in my scuttle and heat it up a bit and brush it in. And it's cheap, like $10 for 2 cans...

I've only had my first shave with a straight razor last night, so take this with an entire shaker of salt, but one thing I read on here and that I tried last night which seemed to work well was this:

Drip a thin layer of water onto the soap, and let it sit for a minute, but then pour it off. Soak the brush, and then squeeze it out. Work the brush over the soap in vigorous circles. After a minute or so you'll see the consistency of the little bit of lather that you make change to something that looks a bit pastier and thicker. The bristles of your brush will clump together. Work it for just a bit longer until you can coat your brush pretty well. Then, remove the soap if it was in your mug. Start working the brush on the inside of the empty mug, and add a few drips of water here and there as necessary. You'll get a nice thick lather that way. It worked really well for me, although admittedly it was only my first shave and I have nothing to compare to. I tried just sort of working the soap to get a lather, which disappeared on the side of my face like you said, but when I tried this above method, the lather was much better.

Anyway, if people who've actually gotten some serious shaving experience want to chime in or correct me, please do, as I can use serious help as well

You might want to consider über lather. Get yourself a puck of cheap shaving soap like Williams or Van der Hagen (most drugstores or Walmart). Also pick up some glycerin (Rite Aid pharmacy sells it under their brand name on their first aid shelf; Walmart also carries glycerin).

Follow Scott's instructions above to load the shave soap into your brush but don't make lather yet.

Add five drops of glycerin to the bowl of your scuttle then add your usual amount of shave cream.

Work your brush into the glycerin and cream to mix all three ingredients thoroughly and begin to form a compact, thick lather.

Now begin adding hot tap water into your scuttle A LITTLE AT A TIME while working your brush into the lather.

You're going to be adding about a tablespoon of water maybe 1/2 teaspoon at a time. If you don't believe me, use a measuring spoon.

Once you have all that water mixed in (just a little at a time!), you're going to have an awesome thick, rich lather that will last through three passes with your straight and still be going strong for a fourth "cleanup" pass with your cartridge razor.

The above is what works for me. It isn't the "only" way to make über lather. Experiment and find what works for you.

The reason I suggest using the "cheap" shaving soaps is because they make terrific über lather with just about any cream. Later on, if you get into experimenting with different scented creams and soaps, you can try mixing and matching various scents of soaps and creams to enhance your Zen shave experience.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Will just adding a bit of glycerin to the soap lather help at all? It's probably stupid, but I'd like to move away from canned shaving creams and generate my own lather from soap. I feel more accomplished and pure

I like to keep things simple. I just soak my brush, shake out the excess water and start twirling until the brush is loaded up with lather. With quality soap it just takes maybe 15 seconds. The trick is knowing how much water to have in your brush and some soaps take more than others. It's really a simple process.

Maybe my soap isn't "quality", or I've got the wrong amount of water, because I haven't gotten that to work. It would be nice to be able to leave my soap in the mug the whole time though, since having to remove it to build a lather like I described above is kind of a pain when I don't have anywhere else to store my soap.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I like to keep things simple. I just soak my brush, shake out the excess water and start twirling until the brush is loaded up with lather. With quality soap it just takes maybe 15 seconds. The trick is knowing how much water to have in your brush and some soaps take more than others. It's really a simple process.

I have heard that a big portion of the time it takes to lather also depends on the brush. Are you using a "top of the line" badger brush or do you find this works with just about any run of the mill brush?

Originally Posted by mscard

Maybe my soap isn't "quality", or I've got the wrong amount of water, because I haven't gotten that to work. It would be nice to be able to leave my soap in the mug the whole time though, since having to remove it to build a lather like I described above is kind of a pain when I don't have anywhere else to store my soap.

The simple solution to this problem is to buy two separate devices. I keep my soap in a soap dish/mug and I have a cheap lathering bowl I bought at wal-mart for less than $5. You should definitely take a trip to the Mart or Target and get a cheap lathering bowl.

i start by putting a little water on top of the soap and let it sit a while
then warming up my bowl and brush with hot running water
empty the bowl shake the brush well
i then poar the water from the soap to my lathering bowl
loading the brush with the soapdish sideways to drip into my bowl i just continue till i got a good dollop

after that i find that its usually pretty easy to get a good lather

These days I have good badger brushes but when I started I had pretty basic stuff and I don't think it took any longer. If you ask guys who use boar I think they'll tell you about the same. It's really a matter of your water quality and then the soap water mix.