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Can someone spell out how to prepare shaving soap? My first couple of shaves I've been using cream and I just dispense it on the tip of my brush and wet it a little when I re-apply it. I do not have a bowl yet, but will probably buy soap instead of gel next (just to say I've tried it).:beer2:
Swirl the brush round the top of the soap till the brush is loaded. This can be anywhere between 15-60 rotations, depending how closely you wish to resemble Santa before you shave. It's a personal preference to some extent, so find what works for you. Don't try to see too much into it, remember it's just making lather, not rocket science.
Also, remember that the Wiki & search functions are valuable tools. Look here.
Here's a good Wiki article on it.Might help:
Making basic soap lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki
The trick with soap is knowing how much water you need with the brush soap combination and how much twirling you need to do. It's another skill like everything else involved with straights and wet shaving and depending on those variables the routine can vary by quite a bit.
GodRej shave soap from Men's Shaving, Grooming, Skin and Hair Care - West Coast Shaving
I swear this soap is REAL cheap and it's their 1st of its kind..you don't need to do anything other than (for me) cut into 1/4 pieces and lather away..it lathers amazingly well! (with water of course)
pcdad
Star of with a good soap. The amount of water makes a diffirence. Just add a little at a time until you get the results you are looking for
Making lather is like making cement, too much water and you got soup, not enough water,well you get the picture. After you soak your brush in water,remove brush and shake 3 times to get excess water out of brush,then swirl brush on top of soap puck 10- 15 times and then put it onto face with swirling action, if you find the lather a bit too dry just dip the tip of the brush in water and repeat. Hope this helps
Quote:
Originally Posted by matthiew
While you are hunting a lathering bowl.
You can build a lather in the palm of
your hand (or face).
Splash some clear water on your face.
Run some water on the brush and shake most of it off.
Leave the tap dripping a bit.
Put a small bit of shave cream in the brush or on the palm of
your other hand. Apply the brush and work
the lather up. You will need to add water in
small dribbles as you lather. When your hand
has a decent lather on it set the brush down
and then rub the handful of lather on your face.
A good lather is a bit slippery so
rinse your hands so you do not drop the razor.
Shave away. If you need more lather the
brush is full of lather.... and you can face lather
too: lather, dribble more water on the brush, lather
dribble more warm water, lather until it is lathered
to your liking. Use half as much cream if you are
face lathering.
Some folk use a lathering horn. If you are feeling
flush give this a look. I secretly want one....(^)
Shaving Lather Mugs and Bowls
But any hand size shallow dish from the cooking section
of the market or used stuff shop will do. A plastic or tin mug
that will not break is good... Running hot water on the outside of a tin
or pewter mug lets you warm the lather.
(^)Darn, I guess it is not a secret anymore.
Mama bear has a nice lather making video.
Handmade Shaving Soaps, Mama Bears Soaps
What I do is this:
- Put a teaspoon of hot water on the top of the soap to soften it.
- Fill my mug with hot water and put the brush in to soak.
- After a couple of minutes take the brush out of the mug, empty all the water away and dump that teaspoon of soapy water into the mug.
- Give the brush a quick flick so its not dripping wet.
- Swirl the brush on the soap to load the brush. This usually takes 20 seconds or so. I also grip the actual brush hairs just by the knot to make the brush easier to load.
- Start making lather in the soapy water.
- I usually end up adding a dab more water to the mix, but the key to adding water is to add it a little at a time until the lather explodes out of the mug.
Then just apply to face and shave..! :)
Hello, Matthew:
Here is what I do with soap:
On the way to the shower, I put a tiny bit of hot water in the soap mug, just enough to cover the soap and soften it. The brush goes in to my lather bowl to soak in hot water (not boiling).
After the shower, I gently squeeze and shake the water from the brush. The lather bowl is emptied. Then I add about a tea spoon of the water from the soap mug into the lather bowl and dump the rest. Swirling the brush into the soap mug to load the brush takes about 30 seconds. Once the brush is loaded with soap, I begin to make lather in the lather bowl.
You might want to try that method or create your own variations. Everyone does it differently.
Regards,
Obie
Is there a big difference between lathering in a bowl or directly into the face? As for now, I am lathering directly at my face and I get a nice leather, but I always wondered what benefits a lathering bowl give.
Hello, Hammett:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammett
I can make a rich and luxurious lather both ways, but I prefer to lather in a bowl. Using a bowl, I find my lather whips up better, with a richer texture. Not only that, I also enjoy the process by which the lather is made and find it therapeutic. Besides, I have two lovely and functional lather bowls, and I might as well use them, what?
Obviously, when traveling or at the gym, I lather directly onto the face.
Regards,
Obie
Lathering on the face helps to hydrate a bit better I would imagine, as you are applying moisture to the face and the scrubbing action preps the face pretty well.
Bowl lathering, however, is much more pleasant IMO because you will usually produce a quality cream that can be warm, thus pleasing upon application.
I use soap in the most simple way possible: Face lathering.
What I do is get ready for a shower, put water in a bowel for the brush to soak. Soak the brush, meanwhile the puck has some water covering the surface to soften it a bit. This is warm water of course.
When I get out of the shower I shake some water off the brush and whatever is left on the puck. I then swirl the brush (Omega Boar, btw) on the soap for about 30 seconds. I then face lather after rinsing my face with warm water after building soap on the brush. I keep my soap puck in a tupper ware with the screw on lid, it makes things easier than a fancy dish imo.
Done..
It's really that simple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammett
To me, and this is strictly my opinion, I think lathering in a bowl with a scuttle and stuff is a waster of time. I shave daily and I work at a bank so I get up pretty early. For me lathering up on my face has benefits, it really working the beard for a shave, and it saves me time.
I've recently moved to face lathering with MWF. When I use kissmyface it is easy to get a lather that lasts a long time, but I'm finding it a little harder to get consistantly good lather in a bowl with MWF. Its often a little runny or a little dry. When I face lather, however, I get a nice rich lather every time.
When using puck soaps, 30 seconds directly on the soap, then I lather on the face. For creams, a small bowl or scuttle does a nice job building up lathers. Sometimes, I just load up the brush a little with the cream and lather directly on the face and that works as well.
Whatever works for you and meets your preference is all good.
Pabster
I think its better with MWF to load up on a fairly or barely moist brush as much as you can applying with soap facing down brush up,after washing face apply,dont add water it will be too thick to shave thats what we want
keep lathering you face with this too dry to shave lather for a minute,do 60 passes with strop.go back to sink apply hot water in small amounts with brush until shaving consistency arrived at,i get good close shave doing this,i think the too dry to shave with lather sets the whiskers up somehow stripping grease maybe,anyhow this works for me
This. I find personally that with soap(at least the VdH stuff I'm using) face lathering is the way to go. If it's too dry(if you can push the brush against your face and it's sticky when you pull it away, you need more water, IMO) add a couple of drops of water to your brush and go back to face lathering. Too wet, go back to the bowl and load your brush some more.Quote:
Originally Posted by nessmuck
With most creams, I like to build the lather in a bowl and then apply to the face. YMMV.