Thread: Lather for the second pass.

SOLITARYSOLDIER,

When you build the lather, test it often by rubbing between thumb and fingers - it should be slick and slippy, and should last like that for three or four 'rubs'.

With modern soaps and creams, they can stabilise far more water than is needed for a good lather - you will get a large volume of what looks like good lather, but you will find that it is not slippery enough.

The 'finger' progression sort of follows :

Too little water - sticky on the fingers

Goldilocks (Just right ) - slippy and cushioning fingers do not contact with 'rub'

Too much water - fingers contact through lather immediately, and appears sticky.

In addition, the lather when examined should be 'shiny', and with no large bubbles visible.

When you build the lather, make sure that all the water in the brush is worked in - if it is not, you can find that the second/third pass lather has gone 'flat'.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

I have more success bowl lathering for multiple passes, I can face lather but it isn't as good

Thanks guys I can't wait to try

I'm just the opposite of Ed.
I can face lather and get three passes, four if I want.
But, bowl lathering.....can't get it to work to save my life.

If the lather is drying out, especially with tallow soaps, then add more water to the lather even at the big bubble stage. If it is too wet and no glide, then there was too much water to start.
Lather should have time to properly absorb moisture and to let that moisture into your pore and soften the beard bristles, so a couple minutes stropping and admiring yourself in the mirror will make for a better shave.
Some soaps allow me a second and third pass with just passing my wet hand across the area. hey moisturize well.
YMMV
~Richard

Originally Posted by kkwk

I just re-hydrate my face between passes. The water on my face mixes with my lather and this seems to work for me but it all comes down to what works best for you.

+1 on this one. I don't need much and then let the lather work in for a few minutes.

Originally Posted by BobH

If you want to be able to lather for more than one pass, load enough soap/cream in the first place. With practice you should be able to load enough product to be able to make a good lather for each pass of a 3 pass shave. Either that or load some product and remake the lather each pass. If using shaving cream from a tube, by squeezing around a 3/4 inch long string onto the brush you should more than enough to do 3 passes. Normally, if I load enough soap/cream the first time I can get 3 passes in face lathering without adding more product in between passes. If I goof up and don't load enough in the first place I just go back and add a bit more product and carry on.

Bob

Your post describes what I do, which is make all the lather I need to begin with, and re - mix by wetting the brush if it begins to get a little dry.

The more you use one soap or cream the more you instinctively know how to get the most out of it.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

The more you use one soap or cream the more you instinctively know how to get the most out of it.

Yes, using one soap or cream and one brush at the beginning is key to learning how to do that. I use a different soap/cream/shave stick daily and that causes me to under-load occasionally compounded by a brush change too. Simply solved by adding more product.

Very few combos of soap/cream and brush will not do the job.

Bob

Try spending more time loading the soap onto the brush, that should do the trick.

Originally Posted by Sem520

+1 on this one. I don't need much and then let the lather work in for a few minutes.

Another +1. Plus while re hydrating my face I am doing a double check to see if there are any major spots I have missed or need to go WTG again before going XTG.