Thread: Trouble building lather

I initially was having some of the problems you're describing, but things have greatly improved with practice and the tips here.

I will say I tried soaking the brush for the first time the other day and it made an amazing difference. The lather almost exploded out of the bowl! LOL

First of all, fill out your member information so that we know where you are from. If you are anywhere near me, PM me & we will get you through this hurdle. WIthout a good lather, you will NOT get a good shave.

Try building your lather with some bottled water, water hardness really effects how a soap lathers. What shave soap are you trying to build up a lather with?

Lots to catch up on, sorry for not being specific before I'll try to get all my information in here:
I am using just a coffee mug as a lather bowl, the brushes I use are a Edwin Jagger best badger and a Frank Shaving silvertip badger brush. I use an Edwin Jagger shave soap and Le Pere Lucien cream. My process is I soak my brush with hot water in my mug while I shower, then I dump the water out of the mug, shake out some of the water in my brush, take my brush to the soap or cream, swirl it around so the tip all has soap on it then go to my mug and try to make the lather. I will add a bit of water at a time and continue to swirl till i put too much and ruin it

owen88, I'll tell ya, I've never gotten a good lather from a coffee cup used as a shaving mug. Some people do. Some of us need a wider circle of motion to achieve the desired lather. Try a flat bottom soup type bowl, anything wider than a coffee mug. I've finally devised a bowl that whips up a great lather in no time at all. I'm getting ready to make some up and if you want to, PM me your name/address and I will send you one that will help you get the lather you want - no cost.

Originally Posted by owen88

Lots to catch up on, sorry for not being specific before I'll try to get all my information in here:
I am using just a coffee mug as a lather bowl, the brushes I use are a Edwin Jagger best badger and a Frank Shaving silvertip badger brush. I use an Edwin Jagger shave soap and Le Pere Lucien cream. My process is I soak my brush with hot water in my mug while I shower, then I dump the water out of the mug, shake out some of the water in my brush, take my brush to the soap or cream, swirl it around so the tip all has soap on it then go to my mug and try to make the lather. I will add a bit of water at a time and continue to swirl till i put too much and ruin it

I am not familiar with ether of those brushes personally but both are pretty well thought here so your good there.

The cream I am also not familiar with. Is it in a tub or a tube? The Edwin jagger soap I am familiar with and I have found it to be a some what hard soap to lather.

I have used coffee mugs to get lather but its never been the best lather. As has been suggested a wider shallower bowl is preferable if you want to bowl lather. Personally I prefer face lathering as you can feel how wet your lather. For practicing I palm lather.

So now for lathering...

Keep soaking the brush like you have been. However do not shake the brush when you remove it from the mug. Let some excess drip off then go to your puck.

Now when you go to the puck you want to use no downward pressure. You are just going to use the tips of the brush. If you have water gushing out of the brush your using to much pressure.

Swirl on top of the puck till you have a thick cream built up on the tips. It will look like cool whip.

After that you can go to your mug. Again using just the tips swirl them around the bottom of the mug. Once the bottom of the mug is coated and a dry lather has started to form you can use a little down ward pressure to add water from your brush to the mix.

Once you have some lather apply to your face. If you feel the lather is still dry wet your hand and literally add four to five drops of water to the tips of your brush then re work the lather on you face.

A final thought on this from me you mention a Frank shaving brush, I have a large Frank Silvertip which I still have trouble with holding a lather and I must have used it at least 50 times. I've tried soaking it, washing it with dish soap, soaking in a vinegar solution and a borax solution. It still refuses to hold enough lather for more than one pass whichever soap I use. Strange!

Owen88, I would try and experiment a bit with your water content and quality as well as the length of time you're building the lather in your mug.

I suspect that the culprit lies there.

I just recently posted a thread in the beginner's section titled "The Great Common Soap Experiment!" where I went through and built lather from locally obtained soaps. Many consider some of those brands of soap to be cheap, crappy and sub par to most of the soaps/creams on the market. However, I that thread you can see that a good, workable lather can be built, it just takes time and a bit of experimenting. Keep at it.... You'll get it!

Thanks to everyone for all the help

I second the "get out of the cup" motion. I use a heavy earthenware bowl* (in which salsa is usually served).

As the lather builds on my brush, I wipe it off into the bowl, get another sprinkle of water on the brush and whip up more. Repeat until my bowl is too full to continue (and I have enough lather 3 people).

Takes about as long to get all the soap out of the brush when done.

Yes also consider different water. You should be able to make a decent lather with any soap, any brush, and good water. Save all the fancy stuff until you get that worked out.



*because any sort of pottery-type container will absorb heat and stay warm for a good while. My woodstove plays in this game much of the year. Otherwise I do a couple of hot-water fill/soak/dumps to warm the bowl. Warm lather be good.

I had difficulties building a good lather from soaps at first too. Then I read the wiki and started adding a layer of hot water to the top of the puck and soaking it like everything else. The other thing that helped was adding a little bit of water at a time as I was building the lather. 8-10 drops at a time maybe. No problems from then on. I know this has all been suggested already. I just wanted to reiterate.