Thread: How rich should a lather be?

Agree with you on the wetter lather. Find that if it's 'Santa' like it drys faster and limits the razors glide and I have a rougher shave.

Keep experimenting until you find what you like, every soap and shaver is different. Have fun!

Originally Posted by Nuntits

Yeah I'm with you, once my lather starts to stick really good and begins to shine, that's the way I like it.

Wow, someone else notices that shine! Cool. Yeah, I think mine is done at that point too. It starts to look like mother of pearl.

Bread dough, when you're kneading it, also developes that shine. I think it's some optical effect caused by bubble size, but don't have any physics to back it up. It's just the only thing I can think of that dough and lather would have in common.

I lather and shave in an environment of about 15% relative humidity, so have to run my lather fairly wet. Good advice I received here was to add about 5 drops of glycerin to my shaving cream; that helps it stay moister a little longer. Search the forum for "uberlather" or "glycerin" for more info on that front.

For your neck irritation, consider doing a cold-water shave. That's much gentler on the skin. Also, make sure you're getting good stretches of your neck skin. That's a little tricky, but another hint I read here was to use your nonshaving hand to put a chokehold along your collar line, pull down a little, and lift your chin a little. That puts a pretty good stretch over the whole realm.

Good luck, have fun, and best wishes to you.

As thick or as thin as you like.

For me it is too thick if it does not rinse off under
hot water.

A thin lather will dry then not rinse well. A
goober thick lather will not rinse well.

I personally adjust the lather adding soap or
adding water as I go -- I tend to be a face lathering
guy so that just works for me.

A good lather seems to like a lot of water
dribble by dribble when well worked in a
lathering bowl or on the face. So I think
thick and wet works best.

Lathering does take practice. About half
of the way through a puck of Williams ($1.50)
and you will have learned something. Practicing
never touching the face or a razor can be time
well spent.

I like to do things exactly the same each time I prepare, to remove as many variables as possible. I always soak the brush in the bowl (filled with water) slightly less than just about floating in the sink of hot water as I shower. I then always, empty the bowl and sink, wring the brush with my hand, and then re-fill sink and bowl with hot water; re-soaking the brush. I then empty the bowl, flick the water from the brush five times, stand brush on sink; add cream from tube (I normally use cream in a tube, maybe once a week soap) and start to make the lather. Normally I need to add water (dribbles from my hand; a few dribbles at a time) several times. I like the lather to be thick; but I can shave with a really thin lather, too. I think the richer or thicker a lather gets, the more likely it'll dry; and also, it can actually be a bother having too much cream; it can obstruct your view.

I like a lot of cushion and good glide, but the scent is also important for me. Sometimes, the scent will outweigh the actual performance....

I'd rather have it a little thicker than runny, but too thick is drier & it tends to flake off during the shave. There's a happy medium there somewhere, experimentation is the key.

Lots of great advice being put forward here, thanks to all that have had some input. I think i'v found a good consistency with my lathers which is what some have described as nearing whipped cream, like a thick foam that holds its shape, i have added a bit more water to my normal mix and found that this solves the problem of the lather drying out too quickly.

Morty, thanks for the information on the scuttle,maybe sometime down the track i might try one out, it is quite an interesting piece of art.

I still find that lathering on my face provides a better result at the moment but i have tried using a bowl a few more times and just cant seem to get the consistency that i want. Anyone else having the same problem or do i just need to stick at it?

Originally Posted by issimonete

Lots of great advice being put forward here, thanks to all that have had some input. I think i'v found a good consistency with my lathers which is what some have described as nearing whipped cream, like a thick foam that holds its shape, i have added a bit more water to my normal mix and found that this solves the problem of the lather drying out too quickly.

Morty, thanks for the information on the scuttle,maybe sometime down the track i might try one out, it is quite an interesting piece of art.

I still find that lathering on my face provides a better result at the moment but i have tried using a bowl a few more times and just cant seem to get the consistency that i want. Anyone else having the same problem or do i just need to stick at it?

You need to stick at it. A while ago I decided to teach myself to cook omelettes really, really well. I figured they are adaptable, I can always keep chickens where I live, and they're good for you. I made omelette after omelette and perfected the method. But, once in a while, I still make a bad omelette.

Also, I understand life is like a box of chocolates...

What is the foam circle in the video? Does it do anything besides give you a way to wipe off the foam/wiskers?

J