Thread: Please help with forming lather

Hello. I'm really having issues with lathering my soap. I've watched a lot of vids including all of mantic59's vids and read several forum posts and tutorials and am not getting any better at it. I'm using west indie bay from SRD. When I try to form my lather, it starts out bubbly no matter how much or how little water I use, then when I'm finally able to get it looking a little latthery, it still is either very dry or very runny. Sometimes when I have a very thin layer on my face and I try to get more lather on, the brush which looks coated with lather just wipes what was on my face off leaving hardly any lather. When I try just a tad more water, then it just runs off my face. When I am able to get a semi thick lather on my face, it dries out really face leaving a lot of friction for my DE. The only success I've had is with my cheap cvs williams soap. Any suggestions?

I'm not familiar with the soap you have but in general lathering is a matter of the proper amount of water and the twirling of the brush and the pressure of the brush on the soap. You have to get the ratios correct. Maybe water quality issues?

I have several SRD soaps, and they're top performers, really..I have Rose Otto, Lime, Vanilla Bourbon and Patchouli. I've had trouble with some of the well respected artisan soaps, while other's rave about them, so it does happen. They just fall flat. The SRD glycerin based soaps are truly excellent. It does sound like your having water ratio issues, but the fact that you have no trouble with Williams is puzzling. Williams is tallow based, I believe, or it used to be....

I love the SRD soap, and the way I use it is put a little hot water on it and let my brush soak while I shower then when I go to whip it up, I shake almost all the water out of my brush, then have at it, kind of pumping my brush while I go, I all a very, very little bit of water at a time and keep going, once I have my brush totally loaded, I finish whipping it up in my lather bowl.

Are you soaking your brush before hand?
And what kind of brush are you using, I have great luck with some, but can't get more then bubbles with others.

What I do to create lather with soap is to soak my brush in a sink of warm water while I shower. Once I exist the shower, I dip the soap--container and all--in the sink, drain it, give my brush one vigorous shake to remove the excess water and then proceed to swirl the brush around in the soap for about 15-30 seconds. Once that step is completed I place the brush in my shaving scuttle and continue to swirl the brush and add few drops of water, if necessary, to develop a decent shaving soap lather.

Oh, and just to throw this out there.
Maybe go to walmart and pick up a puck of Van der Hagan soap and go to town with it to get some practice getting a good lather from soap (other then Williams).
It's about 2 bucks so no real loss, plus it works pretty well if you want to use it.

Thank for the replies. I'll give it another shot when I get home with the suggestions. I use a beufort (Not sure if that's spelled right) b4 badger hair brush

If it's the water, then simply use distilled water to make lather...go to your local supermarket and pick up 1 or 2 gallons for $2 or so and experiment using it...warm it up and see if lather forms...If so, then it's your water...if not, then it's your technique (since others have had good luck with SRD soaps)

Success!! Thanks for all the suggestions! My issue was too much water and too little soap. I let the brush sit in hot water for a few minutes and shook the water out, lathered the soap directly on the soap tub for about 20 seconds until the brush looked coated, then moved to the empty mug and lathered for a minute adding a little bit of hot water until it seemed right. I got a nice thick lather, much better than I've ever had! My only issue is that when my face it lathered with the soap, it kind of burns. Not the good kind of burn (like I get with a good aftershave, I love that!) but the kind that makes the bristles of the brush kind of sting. It seems to make my face kind of red and swollen after shaving. I don't get that with the cheapo soap so I'm wondering if I'm alergic to the west indie bay. I sure hope not, I love the smell of that stuff and I got such a great lather with it, I'd hate to have to go back to the williams while waiting for another shipment of different soap. :/

A long time ago Lynn gave me some great advice that I still use every shave. After loading your brush, if more water needs to be added, add it to the back of the brush knot. That way the water works itself down the badger hairs and into the soap at the end of your brush. I hope this helps someone.