Thread: Lather?? help please!!!

Roughkype hit the nail on the head. It's the water!!!!! Bottled water is better but if you know someone with a softener, get a couple of gallons from them and you'll see an AMAZING difference in not only in your ability to make loads of foam in just seconds but your shave will feel 10X better without any nicks as the Na ions in the soft water create that slick, slippery feel that is great for wet shaving.

Like Jimmy, I've been doing this a while, and have many different soaps, creams, brushes, etc...One saying we have around here is "YMMV" (your mileage may vary) And lather making is certainly no exception. You mentioned trying some Truefitt and Hill shave cream. I highly recommend it, that or some Taylor of old Bond St. Taylor's may be a bit less expensive.

T&H is in my regular rotation of shave creams. Quite a few of our members like and use Van Der Hagen soap. Not me, I don't care for it. I bought it to try, used it once, now it's under the counter somewhere. Trying something different may be beneficial to you. T&H lather's great. You should have no trouble at all. Everyone winds up with one or two soaps or creams they don't like or don't work well for them.

Put an almond size dollop of shave cream in a scuttle, or bowl, soak your brush if you like, if not, wet it, then shake your wet brush good, once. Then begin building lather. At first it should look like a cream spread around the inside of the bowl, Add small amounts of water, slowly, like a teaspoon at a time until you get a feel for it. Don't be afraid to "push and swirl" your brush. This will help you build lather. You should have a bowl full of lather in no time.

Also, Check out youtube, "Mantic59" He has some great videos on lather building....

Good luck....

Originally Posted by bharner

I'm not a huge fan of the VDH brush and soap but other than my preferences there isn't anything wrong with them. They will make a good lather with hard water. The VDH soap is one of the few that will lather for me no matter what water I'm using.
Your use of free time to practice lather making is great. Practice makes perfect and I think most folks spend some time the first month or so just making bowls of lather until they get it right.

Since nobody has mentioned the pinch test yet, I will . It's an easy way to tell if your lather is in the ballpark. Once you've got your lather going just pinch a bit of it between your thumb and forefinger. Then sowly pull them apart. If it takes an inch or more of separation before the lather breaks apart you're in good shape. If it takes less than an inch figure out of it's too wet or dry and either add water or soap and mix it back up and test it again.

How do YOU figure out if there's too much or little water after you do that pinch test?

I also pay attention to the size of the suds/bubbles in my lather. Should they be nice and tiny? Or should I not see any bubbles/suds at all.

Im also going to try and not use pre-shave oil, see if that prevents it from drying on my face more.

If it won't pull apart far enough did the lather break because it is too stiff or because it slopped down my fingers because it is too wet? That's how I work it. If it was too stiff I add a couple more drops of water and whip it some more. If it slopped out I add soap or start over.

For the bubble part, some like it different ways but uniform size is most important. Lather is just soap and air with enough water to hold it all together. You definitely don't want dish soap sized bubbles in it.

Pre-shave oil can greatly impact your lather. I use T&H pres-have oil from time to time and it works well. However, I have tried a few other kinds and whatever oils or additives were in them had a tendency to "eat" my lather

Thanks bharner for the clarification. Very helpful! Will do some more practicing tonight

Good luck. Every water/soap combo is different. I have really hard water and have to use more soap than most folks would to get my lather to hold together. I often end up with a thinner lather but it holds together well and does the job.

Ideally you're looking for something along the lines of uncooked meringue or thick whipped cream but other consistencies will do the trick as some water and soap combos don't play nice.

I almost replied to this last night, but decided to wait for someone more knowledgeable to weigh in. bharner was the person in particular I was waiting for. I'll just add a little about bubble size.

I like to whip the lather until the bubbles are almost microscopic. The lather takes on a sheen at this point, almost pearlescent. If pressed, I could make up a mechanical/logical reason for this preference, but it'd probably be 90% BS. If nothing else, it's a consistent endpoint for me, and one I don't think I can reach if I've started with too much water.

Whip it good. Put about 4 or 5 drops glycirine on the puck. Add water by dipping the tips of your brush in it and going to the mug. Keep adding water in this manner and stir it unmercifully. Get it like you like it. Above all, avoid the soaking of the whole brush before use. If you soak anything, put the water 1/2 inch above the puck and set the brush in there. Only the tips! The shafts of the hairs sould not be soaked to retain their stiffness and ability to keep the shape of the brush. Otherwise, all you have is a wet mop! All there is to it! JMO

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Whip it good.

OK, I'll bite...



Someone had to post that

I would give bottled water a try, if your shower water is anything like we had in Iraq it is quite a pain to get great lather (but it can be done). The water in Iraq had some bleach like product to clean it, making it hard.