The Perfect Lather

I wasn't sure where to post this so hopefully this fits in alright. I think I've just perfected my lather routine which I wanted to share with others here, in the hope that others will benefit and that it may even be improved. :D

The recipe stems from an old post on the B&B forum.

1. Fill sink with very hot water (my hot tap does the job fine) and a few drops of EO (if you want a little luxury).
2. Submerge shaving brush and a clean (soapless) mug in the hot water. Leave these for at least 5 minutes.
3. I found a shaving soap gives better results than cream. I should also mention that results are better with soft water: swirl 1tsp of hot water over the surface of the shaving soap, and then allow to drain off and leave for at least 1 min.
4. Drain out the sink and replenish the hot water, empty the mug and sit it in the hot water.
5. Ensure there is no standing water on the surface of the soap.
6. Shake out all the water from the brush. It should be almost completely dry.
7. Load the shaving brush DRY. You should just see a slight patina of soap coating the bristles but certainly no lather.
8. Add 4 tsp of skin food to your shaving mug and start building lather. If you haven't got any skin food, you can use glycerine. Continue to build the lather with water until the consistency is right.
9. That's it - enjoy the finest lather you've ever experienced. If you keep the mug submerged in the hot water for a second pass, it might be worth adding a little more water as the foam will dry quite fast with all that heat around.

4 tsp of skin food seems like a lot to me.:thinking:

It is! And you'd be surprised at how little soap is used too! YMMV but it seems to work for me, leaving me with a very light, slick lather.

I'll give it a try. Thanks.

Don't have any skin food to try, but when I experimented with adding more than a few drops of glycerin it gave me some crazy irritation. :confused:

I wouldn't use that much pure glycerine. Just a few drops.

3-5 drops of glycerin is amazing for whipping up lather. I use it every single time I shave and it just makes the razor's edge glaze over your skin without catching and forming burn as much as it would otherwise.

I'm gonna have to ask -- what is skin food?

ssfone, have a look at

Geo F Trumper - Skin Food - Extract of Limes Skin Food travel bottle 100ml

it's got the texture of glycerine. I find it's far better pre than post-shave!

Personally, I use the skin food in place of an aftershave and it works great for me. Really reduces any burn or irritation there might be.

Thanks a lot !!!... keeping the lather warm during the whole process seems like a very interesting idea specially because it gets cold from the second pass on....

Interesting!
I'm going to try this. The technique will probably benefit from the use of a scuttle, so I'm going to try it that way and report back...

Skin food, however, isn't free... and this technique would probably go through a lot. On the other hand, I've never had much use for Trumper's skin food... I just don't agree with it, so hopefully this will give me an excuse to use it. I've always used it as ASB before. I've never heard of using it as a lather base.

Filling the sink two times seems like a big waste of a natural resource to me. Got excellent lather with less than lets say... 100ml of water, maybe less. Just a little reminder that it's not infinite. :)

So.....

That sink that you're floating your lovely shave brush in....is that the same sink that the family uses to spit in after brushing their teeth? Or wash their hands in after taking care of business on the throne?

I have never taken to the idea of making use of the sink as a hot water recepticle for the above reasons.

Actually I suppose it's the same sink that I wash my hands and brush my teeth in. However, I do usually give it a good wipe down and rinse before shaving. To each their own I guess. Anyway, my hands stay fairly clean!

Initially, I was using a small bowl in a big bowl of hot water but that only kept the lather warm. This way, with a big sink full of hot water and a smallish mug, the lather actually gets hot between shaves - it's great in winter!

" Fill sink with very hot water (my hot tap does the job fine) and a few drops of EO (if you want a little luxury)."

I've been trying to figure out what EO refers to, without success, so I'm just going to have to ask -- What is EO? Please enlighten me.

EO is Essential Oil.

You can buy scented oils derived from various things, like coconut, sandalwood, rose etc... and you can add these to lathers or to hot water in order to release the scent of that particular thing.

People who make soaps (and there are several on this forum) add EO to their soaps to give the soap a scent.

It's worth also saying that the EO adds nothing but a nice smell - but I find that shave soaps often don't have as strong a smell as creams.

This method seems really interesting and certainly novel to me, I admire your creativity.

I would advice not to use 4 tsp of glycerin to build your lather as your skin may dry out, moderation is key here. A few drops should be more than enough.

What is wrong with using a good soap/cream along with good lathering skill to build your lather? or if you like it, some uberlather? One thing you did not mention is what soap you use for your routine. A good soap/cream or uberlather would certainly not dry out on you during a shave. Perhaps you may want to check scuttles to keep the lather warm more efficiently. I like the way you load your brush, which I never soak for so long, but I would add the water you used to soften the soap to your bowl. You asked for improvements, right?


Al raz.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rupert87

I wasn't sure where to post this so hopefully this fits in alright. I think I've just perfected my lather routine which I wanted to share with others here, in the hope that others will benefit and that it may even be improved. :D

The recipe stems from an old post on the B&B forum.

1. Fill sink with very hot water (my hot tap does the job fine) and a few drops of EO (if you want a little luxury).
2. Submerge shaving brush and a clean (soapless) mug in the hot water. Leave these for at least 5 minutes.
3. I found a shaving soap gives better results than cream. I should also mention that results are better with soft water: swirl 1tsp of hot water over the surface of the shaving soap, and then allow to drain off and leave for at least 1 min.
4. Drain out the sink and replenish the hot water, empty the mug and sit it in the hot water.
5. Ensure there is no standing water on the surface of the soap.
6. Shake out all the water from the brush. It should be almost completely dry.
7. Load the shaving brush DRY. You should just see a slight patina of soap coating the bristles but certainly no lather.
8. Add 4 tsp of skin food to your shaving mug and start building lather. If you haven't got any skin food, you can use glycerine. Continue to build the lather with water until the consistency is right.
9. That's it - enjoy the finest lather you've ever experienced. If you keep the mug submerged in the hot water for a second pass, it might be worth adding a little more water as the foam will dry quite fast with all that heat around.

---

My soap is TOBS lavender.

A question, what is Uberlather?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rupert87

My soap is TOBS lavender.

A question, what is Uberlather?

---

Uberlather is a combination of both soap and cream, plus a few drops of glycerin.

This results in a really rich, thick lather that looks like whipped cream. Its also fun to make...!

Heres the Wiki link:

Making Überlather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Uberlather is the combination of soap, cream and a few drops of glycerin to produce an enhanced lather. This combination is aimed at obtaining the better cushion of creams with the better glide of soaps. It is generally used to improve the quality of products (cream/soap) that have low to mid performance but it could be used with high performance products as well. This is a link from the wiki on how to make it:

Making Überlather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

With good lathering skills, the soap you are currently using should give you great performance alone.

Al raz.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rupert87

My soap is TOBS lavender.

A question, what is Uberlather?

---

I'm with Craig on the use of the sink, and I agree that I'd rather use one quality product than mix up multiple products.

Quote:

---

A question, what is Uberlather?

---

It's my understanding that Uberlather is made from a combination of both soap and cream.

Although the Wiki is a great reference if you want the rest of the story go to the source

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...berlather.html

Way to many asked and answered questions are in the original threads...


The method you are referencing is usually called the "Safe Method" for lather making... There have been others that have tried the Skin Food, different oils, even shampoo to boost lathers...

The Safe Method, Super Lathers, and Uberlathers, seem to be the ones that have stuck around and caught on so far... Besides on course just simple lather on the face :)

Well, I did try this recipe and it made a nice slick lather.
I used GFT Coral Skin Food and AOS Lavender soap in a G-town scuttle. I mixed the lather using a Shavemac D01 19mm, which in my experience has been great for building lathers.

I followed it to a T, which was a little confusing, as there were instructions to build the lather, but no instructions to add water... so I didn't add water for the first pass.

It was pretty luxurious, as one would expect. Very slick and it held up well. But the consistency was not what I was used to. It certainly appeared hydrated... but it wasn't fluffing out like my lather usually does.

For the second pass, I sprinkled a little water in the lather as it didn't seem to give me the volume that I usually get with soaps and creams. I think adding water was a mistake. Fortunately I didn't use much, I just got my fingers wet and sprinkled the lather, but it did start to get a little runny after that. Still slick, but it wouldn't hold together as well after this and it threatened to start dripping during my shave.

No doubt about it, this is a very luxurious way to shave. It did leave my skin feeling moisturized and healthy - even without ASB or AS of any kind.

I'm certainly no expert on lathers, soaps, glycerine and the nuances of such. I've got my shaving technique down and I can get a really close shave, but this is graduate level stuff... Its a little beyond me to give an in-depth review on whether this was better than a dab of AdP. But it was kind of nice. I think I will experiement with adding a little glycerine (a few drops) to my lathers before I try this again so I can get a better idea of how glycerine is supposed to perform.

I'm pretty sure I did mention that water is needed. Sounds good using only Skin Food though, I might give it a go this evening! Remember, there's probably a quantity of water in skin food anyway.

I wonder if anyone's tried shaving off just skin food?