Thread: Tabac too runny

Hi folks!
I have seen a lot of rave reviews of Tabac here, but I have to say that I'm not that impressed. I have some other soaps (Mama Bear's, Trumper's, even Williams) that produce a much thicker lather. Tabac tends to be runnier and stay that way. Today it flowed down the blade and on to the scales. I could be using too much water, but when I used just a little, it collected a lot of hairs from the brush that got stuck. It actually seems a bit 'thixotropic' : the more you whip it the more fluid it gets. Weird.

One good thing though; it is certainly mild and I like that. Smell is OK. Any suggestions?

Yep, defo too much water. I find Tabac one of the easiest soaps to build a lather with my hard water as it doesn't need much hydration.
Id try going back to basics. Soak your brush then flick off excess water so it's damp. I find 10 seconds loading is enough for a 3 passes if I so wish, then start building your lather, keep going it may take longer than other soaps, if needed just dip the tips in to add more water.
A good tip to see whether a lather is hydrated enough is to get some on your finger and gently swirl it in some water, if it dissipates easily your spot on, if it doesn't dissipate it needs more water and if just slides off your finger it's too runny.

Hope this helps

Surprised to hear you are not getting along with Tabac, one of the best ever tallow soaps on the market never fails to impress.

Sometimes soaps can be a bit tricky the first few times you use them. I'd go with what Mark said, cut the water down and I know you'll be very impressed. Tabac is a staple in most shave dens, has been for decades because it's just so dang good

Tabac is certainly not as easy to lather as most of the artisan soaps, but once lathered, performance is pretty good. Soaps like MWF, Tabac, WMF, etc. seem to work better if they are used every day and are not allowed to dry out between uses. Since I have a lot of soaps in rotation, they dry out completely between uses, so I have difficulty lathering them.

If you are not blooming Tabac before use, you might try that. Add a Tablespoon of hot water to the puck and allow it to sit for 1/2 hour or even overnight. Then as Tony Esposito would say "load it like you hate it". Thus, start off with plenty of soap to generate a thick lather. Then keep adding water until you dial it in.

By the way, a good shaving lather IS "thixotropic". That allows the lather to flow smoothly as you apply it to your face, but then stay there after you remove the brush. It begins to flow again as your blade passes across your face, but once again firms up to stick to your razor until you rinse or wipe off the lather.

OK, I will try using a damp but not wet brush. Some of my other soaps are the exact opposite so I might have gotten into the habit of using too much water.