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When make my lather it takes like 10-15 minutes until i can get a good sturdy but moist lather. Is this right? In case it helps, this is my process:
Let brush sit in hot water in my lather bowl while I take shower
When ready to make lather, empty bowl, shake brush out
Use an almond-sized amount of cream and start whipping/pumping
That's it! The whipping and pumping takes about 10-15 minutes to get a good lather. This seems too long.
Nope, that does not sound right.
When I use cream, it takes about a minute to have my scuttle filled to the brim with good lather.
You didn't mention adding any water? If you didn't add water, then that is what you need to do.
A brush, all shaken out, will not have enough water to make good lather.
Add a few drops at the time and see how that goes.
It is called wet shaving, and for a good reason:)
That is what this sounds like to me anyway!
Also, do you have "hard water"? If you do, that may be killing your lather. I have hard water in my area and I now use distilled water. That fixed my lather problems with even the most finicky of soaps and creams. Just my 2 cents, give it a try.
Glenn
Nope that doesn't sound right, but your prep does sound good. I only take a minute or two to get a great lather directly on my face with enough in the brush to last for several more passes. If you are beating on that lather for 15 minutes you have probably beat it completely past goodness.
You did not say what cream you are using. There have been some creams that were very poor performers, but for most creams and soaps regardless of water wherever I am I don't usually have any issues. I do not soak my brush but just a few minutes. I never have and cannot see an advantage to doing it now.
Try this - Take that dab of cream and pat it all over your face (after that hot towel or out of the shower), then shake out that brush just a couple of times and start whipping up a lathergoing all over your face. If it doesn't come up quickly and feels a little sticky then dip the tips of your brush in warm water and keep on going.
You should be picking up the cream by scrubbing all around your face and build lather as you go. There is no bowl to wash and you get to use all of the lather that you make.
I hope this helps a little. The water could be your problem, but my bet is not enough of your water first and maybe the cream.
Will N.
i have VERY hard water, and it still only takes a minute to whip up some bigelo or razorock.
i soak the brush while i shower. then i give it 2 light shakes. then i take 1/2" to 1" of bigelo and put it in my mug, then 'load' the brush in the mug for about 10 seconds, then take the brush to my face and lather for 3 minutes. by that time i normally have rich thick foam pouring down my arm.
Good of you to ask the question, and you are right do do so, the making of lather in a bowl should take no more than a few minutes so there is something going on there, could be you are not using enough water. Try addind a fwe drops at a time or leave some more on your brush as you start. See how that goes for you.
Sam
I 'soak' the bowl in hot water in the sink, use the brush to lather up in the shower with some 'cheap' (Palmolive) cream, put brush in bowl, finish shower, get out of shower, dry, lather up with Proraso, strop.
It only takes about a minute to make a lather (I use a small mortar and pestle (mortar) bowl). I lather up, then I then place bowl with brush into the hot water in the sink; with the water coming 2/3 up the side of the bowl, while I strop and then shave first pass (WTG) thereby keeping the lather warm for the second pass (XTG). I have noticed the difference in the warmness of the lather, esp now that it's cold (1 deg C at night). Only thing is I need to make sure I don't flick or splash more water in the bowl.
If it took me 15 minutes to make a lather I think I'd give up, that's about three times longer than SEX!!!!
All I can think of is hard water plus maybe new boar brush, plus maybe wrong soap water ratio.
I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP. I know we have fairly hard water here in Montréal, but A friend at work says he gets his lather up just fine, so to speak.
Like aramirez626, I fill my bowl with hot water and let my brush soak while I shower, then I pour out the water and shake out the brush slightly. Right now I'm using the tube Proraso. I put a dollop into the bowl and get to work. I have two brushes, an affordable Omega in... uh, boar, I guess, and a slightly smaller Rubberset whut I acquired when My poor old gramps passed, so I know nothing about it.
I *have* noticed that both brushes really suck up the soap as I go. I squeeze the bristles out agains the side of the bowl and continue, but the foam disappears up into the brush again.
Also, I still haven't worked out how much pressure I should be using, as in a heavy touch versus a light one. And I'm not sure what the OP mean by 'pumping.' Maybe something I should be looking into?
Here are some pics:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...l/IMG_0347.jpg
Here's my setup. The Omega brush is the wooden one. The other is the Rubberset. The bowl is just a clay bowl, which I'm now thinking might be a little too shallow. It's *quite* a shallow bowl.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...l/IMG_0348.jpg
The dollop size I typically use. The brush is wet from soaking.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...l/IMG_0349.jpg
Starting the lather. I typically wet the tips of the bristles as I go. Possibly not enough.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...l/IMG_0350.jpg
This is the most foam I've ever gotten. And that's after squeezing out the brush against the bowl.
that looks like it needs more water to me, i have some of the hot water in a separate bowl and i dip the brush (in maybe half a cm on the tips) and go pumping again
Even with very hard Thames Valley tapwater it only takes about 20-30 secs to produce good lather to shave with.Quote:
Originally Posted by aramirez626
It seems that many folk try to overcomplicate what is a very simple process. Simply use more or less water depending on individual preference and the type of soap.
Hello, aramirez626:
As all these gentlemen have noted, a good lather should take no more than a minute or so to produce, especially with cream.
Try this: Place the small dollop of cream in your bowl, drizzle a little warm water in the mug (about half a tea spoon) and start making your lather, varying the direction in which you swirl the brush. When all the big bubbles are gone, now begin to perfect the lather. If you feel you need more water, drizzle a little more — run your hand under the tap and drizzle the few drop into your bowl. You should be ready in a maximum of two minutes.
Finally, wet your face with warm water and begin lathering, about a minute or two maximum. Before each pass, wet your face and re-apply the lather.
Regards,
Obie
I don't think I saw the temperature of the water mentioned. I've noticed that when I use very hot water the lather will not puff up as easily, it remains foamy and the cream texture just doesn't show up. So you could try using luke warm or cold water to whip up your lather as well to see if it helps.
I have hard water myself and I've found that it takes more soap or cream. Looking at the picture, I use about 3 times more cream than you started with. When I started I tried to use the almond size dab as a guideline. My hands started to cramp from whipping so much. So my advice is to use more cream and more water. There is one more big advantage to using more cream. If you use more you get to buy more. It's a win win situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jes
I actually don't agree with this.. sorry mate, but if it works for you thats what counts. Myself i like hot hot water to make lather with, the bowl has basically boiling water in it, which is then tipped out so that the bowl is heated up before lathering beginsQuote:
Originally Posted by TwistedOak
Jes, when we say pumping, it;s like a churning motion, there's also an "explosion point" with most soaps and creams, it a point in the churning where the resistance in the lather suddenly increases and all this thick gooey lather appears. At that point i add a little more water, churn it in, then whip it quickly, just like an omlette
Big +1. After enough practice and experience it no longer becomes a question of lather time or over-thinking your process; rather, you just make your lather and proceed to shave. It does happen in time.Quote:
Originally Posted by welshwizard
Be well,
Ryan
Okay, that's good to know. I'll definitely try that, then.Quote:
Originally Posted by newb
Hm. I think I've recently started pumping, then. Or something like it, what I've been doing sounds like what you're describing. I'll try this out to-morrow morning and let you know how it goes.Quote:
Originally Posted by tekbow
Quote:
Originally Posted by welshwizard
Very very true.
First let me say, that having lots of lather is completely unnecessary. It's fun, but beyond a certain point, it serves no functional purpose. People talk about lather providing "cushion" for the blade; this is nonsense.
I've been wet shaving (wet face and soap or good creme on a brush) since I was 15 years old, which was 15 years ago, and I've been using a straight for about 3 years I think.
Here's my advice.
Option 1: Forget about big lather. You don't need it. If you're getting a close & comfortable shave, leave well enough alone.
Option 2: (if you just really feel the need to look like Santa every morning) It's the amount of water. It's always the water. Start with 1/4 the amount of water you would normally use. Try like heck to get lather. If you don't have a good lather started within 30-45 seconds, stop, and add a TINY bit of water. Repeat until all the sudden you've go tons of lather, paying close attention to the way your attempted lather looks at each point. Then, keep adding more water, a TINY bit at a time, until your lather collapses and looks lame and milky. Once again, paying close attention to the look and feel of the lather along the way. What this will do, is help you to understand what too wet and too dry really look like.
Option 3: Face lather. I lather right on my face 95% of the time. It's faster, and IMO, easier. Put your dollop of creme in a bowl. Wet your brush. Work the brush in a twisting/pumping motion in the bowl. (or over your puck of soap if you decide to go that route) No whipping. The goal is to create as little lather at this point as possible. You're trying to force the creme or soap up into the brush. This is "loading" the brush. Then swirl it over your face, as if your face was an inside-out lathering bowl. You'll know whether it's too dry or wet because it's on your face. Too wet feels, well, wet. Too dry feels sticky. If it's too wet, just load a little more creme into the brush. To dry, dip the tip of the brush into hot water. You don't need buckets of lather running down your arm. You just need thick enough lather that you can't see skin.
Regardless, the whole process, from opening your tube or tub of shave creme to setting the brush down to grab your razor shouldn't take more than 1 minute. (or two if you insist on the Santa look)
I definitely know what he means, though. I've noticed a significant change in lather consistency when my scuttle is filled with boiling water. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the piping hot feeling when I re-lather, but there is a considerable difference in lather thickness and slickness when I use boiling water in the lower chamber of my scuttle.Quote:
Originally Posted by tekbow