You can make as much lather as you want, and it is quite entertaining to lather on a thick coat of it. The fact, though, is that any lather that isn't touching skin or whiskers is superfluous and doesn't affect the shave. When I apply lather these days, I literally paint on a thin film of it and use only that. Any lather in addition to this just makes more work removing it and can get a bit sloppy. Maybe that's just the minimalist in me, but it's working fine for me.