Getting a good shave from a good pre-shave...

Ok, so Im realizing how important the pre-shave is especially with a straight razor. When I was using my DE, just a good lather was all that was really necessary to get a good shave. But not so much anymore now that I've switched over to the straight.

I always shave straight out of the shower. Last shave I had, I tried getting a good lather and doing a hot towel on my face then putting down some more soap but I still had problems with the soap drying and causing the blade to not move smoothly.

Right now Im using a Dovo Shavette and a synthetic bristled brush. Im about to step up to a true straight razor as soon as it gets here, and I guess I will probably end up having to go on to a real badger bristled brush.

But can anyone suggest some tips and tricks to getting a better shave through adjusting my preshave? What are some other things I can try to get my face prepped better?

Of course everyone is different but I usually shave after a shower. I just lather up and shave. If I don't shower I just wash my face really good. Some like pre shave oils and some do hot towels. You have to experiment. Also try different soaps. No tricks here really.

I like to put udder cream on my face prior to the shower, then have a nice long shower. When I get out I put a pre shave oil on while I mix up my lather. That seems to work the best for me.

I don't know, but I suspect that the reason this works better is that the stearic acid in the udder cream softens my beard enough that it absorbs more water and gets softer in the shower than it would otherwise.

I could be totally off base, but it does seem to work better for me to do it that way.

Well Im not having much of a problem cutting the hair. The hair seems relatively soft and easy to shave. The biggest problem I am having is that the blade seems to stick and not slide very smoothly across my face. It may be my lather, and Im leaning toward that being the cause. It seems like no matter what I do, whether I use more water or less water, it still dries out before I get half way through a pass. I end up applying lather two to three times per pass.

I found out today that instead of my brush being synthetic bristled, its boars hair which seems to really suck. Will a badger hair brush make enough of a difference to help out in this situation? What can I do to get a better lather that doesnt try out as fast?

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Originally Posted by TexasShaver

Well Im not having much of a problem cutting the hair. The hair seems relatively soft and easy to shave. The biggest problem I am having is that the blade seems to stick and not slide very smoothly across my face. It may be my lather, and Im leaning toward that being the cause. It seems like no matter what I do, whether I use more water or less water, it still dries out before I get half way through a pass. I end up applying lather two to three times per pass.

I found out today that instead of my brush being synthetic bristled, its boars hair which seems to really suck. Will a badger hair brush make enough of a difference to help out in this situation? What can I do to get a better lather that doesnt try out as fast?

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The brush shouldn't make any difference to that at all. I've got both kinds and use them both routinely.

It sounds a bit like you're not having enough water in the lather to me honestly. What kind of soap or cream are you using and how are you mixing it up?

Right now I am using Van Der Hagen soap. I've used it, Williams, and Col Conk before and I like all three. Of course the Col Conk one I had smelled better, but sent aside they all seem to work pretty well. I've been running a sink full of straight hot water and leaving my brush in the sink to soak while I shower. It usually soaks for about 10 minutes or so. While I shower I make sure to get my face really clean and let alot of hot water run over my face. Then when I get ready to shave after I get out of the shower, I take the brush out of the sink and shake about half the water out, then try to churn a good thick lather. I splash my face with hot water again, and then brush on the lather. It goes on and seems a little thin and watery, but then it dries out before I even finish one side of my face. I leave the brush soaking in a sink full of hot water during my entire shave that way when I need to reapply lather, the brush is still soaked in hot water.

Yeah ok. Try running enough hot water to juuust cover your soap puck and let that soak while you shower as well. Then do like you're doing after the shower with shaking the brush out.

If you're face lathering, make sure the brush is well loaded before you start lathering too. It may take a bit longer than you think.

You might also look up Mantic's video on making lather, it's very helpful.

I'm betting that you're making mostly foam and not really lather to speak of, so you're getting the pulling because you don't have much there to cushion the blade or give it glide. I'd start by soaking the puck like that and loading the brush much longer than you are.

Fwiw, I've used all of those soaps and never got a really satisfying lather or a great shave from any of them. If you have a L'occitane store near you, consider picking up a puck of their Cade soap. It's really excellent and head and shoulders above the soaps you've been using.

Hope that's of some help.

Yea, it does sound a bit like it is a lather problem. I am a relatively slow shaver so sometimes I have to re lather parts of my face. Also like has been suggested your lather is a bit low in water content. Last but not least it might be your water itself if it is on the hard side.

On the pre shave angle, I just wet my face, lather up and shave, basically. I have tried different pre shave methods but none really did anything for me so I stopped. OTH others claim it helps.

Bob

So I've watched some videos about lather building, and from the looks of things, I havent been building as good of a lather as I could have been. I have been trying the method of building the lather on my face but apparently I havent been working it long enough to get a good lather. I watched a video on YouTube from Lynn about lather building on your face and Im going to try the techniques that were shown there and see how it goes. I feel I was rushing the process a little bit and not getting the desired results. If that doesnt work I will try using a second bowl to build a better lather that way.

Well keep at it and you'll get there. Remember that you will likely need more water than you think.

Well this morning, I tried things a bit differently. I attempted the lather directly on my face method and it seemed to not work as well as I would like, so I loaded up my brush again and instead of running to look for another bowl, I worked the lather in the palm of my free hand and that seemed to work out alot better. I didnt use my straight this morning because that Shavette gives me a lot of irritation, so Im waiting for my real Dovo to get here, but using my DE it seemed to work alot better working the lather up that way. Only time will tell if it will work well with a real straight, but the lather did seem to be alot thicker then what I had been getting before. I may still have to adjust my technique and possibly even add to it instead of just using nothing but a soap puck, but we shall see. At least this morning, the lather wasnt drying out midway through my shave.

Well that's a good start eh! Did you soak the soap puck while you were in the shower? That should make a huge difference.

Yes I did. It made a world of difference in how well the brush loaded up. It seemed to even start to make a bit of lather in the bowl as I was loading up. I realize now though that one of my biggest problems was that I thought that when I saw bubbles coming up that that was good enough. I wasnt actually churning the soap into a good lather for shaving. I may try using another bowl next time and see how well that works out as it wasnt quite as thick or as slick as I would have liked this morning.

Just my 2 cents, but if you get any brand named cream and use enough of it you will be amazed at the improvement. I think soap is harder for a newbie to use. You don't have a thick enough lather . That is why it is drying out.

You are right, if you were stopping making lather when you saw bubbles that is way too thin and airy. Just keep going and maybe add a little water as you go. Good luck.

Bob

Well when I first started using a brush to apply shaving cream, I used the method I had always watched my old barber use by applying Barbasol with a brush. That worked great and I had thought about going back to it, but given that soap is the more traditional way, I really want to learn to use that and use it properly.

I have only seen Barbasol in a can. Do you mean he spread foam in a can with a brush?

Bob

I'm fortunate to be able to usually take as long as I want to shave. (Retired) I usually start with a warm water face rinse then a cream face soap that lathers well then on to the main soap. Today I used a new-to-me Kai captain and a TSD lanolin soap Desperado. This soap really would have been able to stand alone with out the pre wash but another tomorrow might not. As I like the pre wash I just do it for every soap.

Yeah Bob. My old barber always just used a regular can of Barbasol into something that warmed it up a bit and then used a brush to apply it to the face then put a hot towel over that, let it sit for a few minutes, then took it off and shaved. It was always a darn close shove and left my face very smooth, but I assume alot of that was from his 35+ years of using a straight.

Almost certainly it was. I think you'll find that a real soap or cream will give you way more protection and comfort than any kind of canned stuff. That's why they're still around after all these years.

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Originally Posted by TexasShaver

Yeah Bob. My old barber always just used a regular can of Barbasol into something that warmed it up a bit and then used a brush to apply it to the face then put a hot towel over that, let it sit for a few minutes, then took it off and shaved. It was always a darn close shove and left my face very smooth, but I assume alot of that was from his 35+ years of using a straight.

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Yea, I guess it must have been all that 35+ years of experience straight shaving that did the trick. That sure is a new one on me and being a beginner myself I would not care to try it. I can vaguely recall barbers around here using hot lather machines and applying the foam/lather by hand. You learn something new everyday around here.

Bob

I used to apply it that way when I was shaving with a DE. I dont know if there was any difference applying it with a brush from applying it by hand. I honestly couldnt tell any difference in the shave. But I didnt do a hot towel between applying the shaving cream and actually shaving so I dont know.

Well, I never had much love for the canned stuff and haven't used it for many, maybe 20, years nor have I ever used the hot towel either. I don't imagine that applying canned lather by hand or brush would make much of a difference though. If it works you can't argue success. Personally, I'll stick with a brush and soap/cream as I have had better luck with that method.

Bob

See my thing with the soap is the nostalgia of it. I remember seeing my grandpa use a soap puck and thats why I wanted to get into using them now. Maybe thats a weird reason, but its my main reason for learning that route.

Nothing wrong with nostalgia, I use my father in laws old straight and doing so brings back fond memories. You never know too, you may enjoy the results of using a puck of soap even better once you get your technique down pat.

Bob

I use the Williams and Conk occasionally too, here's what I've found.

1. Soak the puck and brush in hot tap water while showering.
2. Give the brush a few shakes (2-3) to get excess water out.
3. Drain water from puck and swirl the brush (don't press to hard, just enough to make firm contact).
4. Keep swirling until you're making lather in the bowl/mug the soap is in...then keep at it for another 20 seconds or so.
5. Wet face with hot water and start making lather on your face. About a minute or so.
6. You can gradually add water by dipping the "tips" of the bristles in the hot water the brush was soaking in.

I face lather mostly and find if I load the brush up really well in the mug, the hot water on my face mixing with the loaded up brush makes a good ratio for me. If its a bit too much soap, I dip the tips of the brush in the hot water and continue working the lather into my face. Trial and error really, but you should be able to use any of those soaps mentioned with success after some practice.

Remember, you don't have to shave to practice making lather :)

Cheers!

Awesome Zero, thanks! Thats actually going to be really helpful! I would much rather face lather instead of lathering on my palm before shaving. I'm going to have to try that out.