Finally success with face lather and soap...beginners might want to read

after about a year of shaving with a straight, i have always had trouble with face lathering, especially with soaps. bowl lathering was always easy to get mounds of lather, however whenever i tried to face lather i could never get it fluffy and it lacked cushion. UNTIL NOW. the only change i made was accidental, after wetting my brush, i stood the brush up on its end for a minute, while i went to feed the cat, then gently shook out the brush and BOOM the lather was exploding from the brush before i even got it on my face (i was using cella). i had so much lather i didnt even know what to do with it all. i think standing the brush on end saturated the badger hair deep to its roots, which allowed more water retention and thus, the lather was magnificent.

a small victory, but man it felt good to finally start to master a good face lather....

happy shaving

That's a very interesting method you do. I have never heard of that before.

I had a similar experience.

I moved to face lathering after a couple of successful weeks with a bowl and couldn’t get a good lather until I took a step back.

When using the bowl I would soak the brush, shake it out, soap the brush on the puck (held in my hand at about 45 degrees to retain the small amount of water in the brush) then invert the brush into the bowl to build a lather.

Once I learnt the balance of how much water to shake out of the brush so that it wouldn’t flood the bowl when inverted I had no trouble getting a lather.

When I moved to face lathering I used exactly the same technique. But as the brush is never truly inverted for any length of time when face lathering, not enough water was making its way out of the brush to build a good lather.

As it’s not practical (or comfortable) to try and face lather with the brush held inverted for long periods, I had to adjust the amount of water that I kept in the brush after shaking.

Having more water in the brush after shaking means I have to hold the puck a little differently* to stop the water coming out on the puck, but when I put the brush to my face I get the right combination of water and soap to make a good lather.

Finally getting the belter of the soap and water was a very satisfying personal victory.


Regards,

Neal.

*It must look odd to SWMBO when I shave as I soak the brush, shake it slightly, hold it with the bristles facing up and apply the soap by holding the puck upside down over the top of the brush. Thus I get water in the base of the brush, soap on the bristles and only when I apply it to my face do the two mix.

I might have to try that. I've been face lathering for quite a while but I've never been satisfied with the results. I get good cushion and glide but it dries out too fast.

Another route to try if your lather is too dry is just to dip the tips of the brush in water and keep building, repeat as necessary till you get the lather you want. I don't like an overly wet brush to start face lathering with as it throws soap all over the place. OTH whatever way works.

Bob

Everyone has their own way. I seem to remember we had a fella who stood on his head while lathering his face cause he thought it worked better that way. Now if he shaved that way it would have really been something. Har har.

In the end it's getting the right amount of lather mixed with the right amount of water and the right amount of twirling and the right amount of pressure. Unfortunately that all changes with the brush and the soap and your water quality.