Thread: Creating lather

If a lather is too dry, I know it can cause the razor to jump and push the skin. But does a too dry of a lather make more difficult for the razor to cut the whisker? How opaque or dense of a lather do you need to create a nice balance of lubrication and not too runny? Should the lather be so that you can still see some skin underneath when you apply it?

I treated myself to a nice long shave to get ready to go out to dinner with the wife, so I was really able to take my time and shave carefully. I showered and washed my face, by the way. My lather did get too dry and I reapply another layer that was a bit runny and it helped, but I still had "skips". My razor was stropped and it was sharp enough to cut a slither off a strand of hair (I actually did that to test the sharpness) so I know the razor was shave ready. But still had skips. I have been straight razor shaving since the beginning of this past May and I am using a Dovo Best Quality. Since I am a rookie with SR shaving, am I expecting too much too soon?

I started out today using the SRD 100% Essential Oil shaving soap and felt it got too dry, then I went back to my Van der Hagen. I am thinking maybe with the SRD shaving soap I didn't have enough water mixed in because I had a lather that looked like white paint and i thought that is what you want to achieve in lathering. I wanted to stick with the SRD brand, but I thought maybe it was too dry for me.

I will truly appreciate my fellow members' feedback/input/advice.
Thank you in advance!
Patrick

Does the skipping and jumping come from the first stroke on or after you get to areas that have had lather for a bit.

I know for me when my lather is dry it starts fine but my the time i get to the chin and upper lip i start to get the skips.

I am not familiar with either soap, but are you actually adding water at the start or just the wet brush? I am using Proaso and found a tsp or so of water in my bowl tos tart with then wet loaded brush and my lather has been far far better

I don't know whether you are expecting too much too soon, but there are a lot of things to get right in straight shaving, and they take time and practice to get right. Don't be too hard on yourself. Nobody just starts off and gets it all right by accident. It takes work and practice. One month in is not a long time. I'm six months in and learn something new with each shave. You have to deal with prep issues, lather, blade sharpness, technique, getting the angle right, learning how your whiskers grow on YOUR face, and that's not even mentioning stropping, honing, and blade maintenance (which I went ahead and mentioned anyway). Stay with it and soon you'll be the one telling Newbies to take their time and enjoy the journey. Good luck!

Hello Patrick.
If your lather is like paint, I take it it goes on thin and strong, with no "suddiness"? I would advice to add more water, the soap should foam up nicely when there is enough in there. When I get a new soap, I test it out by purposely making runny lather by adding too much water, in small increments, just so I can see what kind of lather it is capable of, and so I know when to stop for later. I load the brush well, then add a few drops, perhaps a small teaspoon of water and foam it up. Then I add another teaspoon and repeat. And repeat. As you keep doing this, your lather will go from thick and slick, then it will foam up, then it will take on a sheen (usually a good sign you are at the peak), then it will break again, becoming runny. I like for my lather to be sudsy, yet opaque, with a consistency of humm, whipped eggwhites perhaps. Sudsy, fluffy and soft.
Also, skipping might be due to too low an angle. Make sure your angle is correct, keep an eye at the blade or use the scales to measure your angle is the blade is hard to see.
Don't think you are expecting too much, better to ask one question too many and get it right than ask none and receive a cut as reward.
Best of luck.

Every soap has it's individual requirements. You might just want to practice and see how much water it takes and how much swirling it takes to make a good lather. As long as it provides lube and cushioning and is wet your OK. You can always add some water to refresh the soap if it starts to dry. You might not even have to add more soap. As you do it more and more you'll see what the ideal state is for each soap. it can vary tremendously.

Thank you for your reply. The skipping starts in areas that have been lathered for a bit. But sometimes at the start.

I was using a wet brush, but now I am adding water to the soap in the scuttle. There are some skips, but not as many, but what I found that helps is wetting the razor and that helps wet the lather.

Thank you for your reply. You are correct, this all takes time and I try not to be hard on myself. I am still with it of course and I continue to enjoy every shave no matter what. I just take my time, be careful, and watch my techniques.

Thank you for your reply. You described my lather exactly. I'll add more water as you suggest. I tend to go too low on the angle, it's more of being overly cautious since I am still new to SR shaving. Recently I have added more water, but I feel that I need to add some more. It'll all come together with time and experience.

Thank you for your reply. I am going to experiment with lathering to practice as you suggest. I think what happened was that I watched someone's You Tube video on SR shaving and he painted on a lather that looked like white paint and I thought that was what you want. It may have worked for him, but perhaps not me. I suppose the density of the lather varies from person to person.