Thread: VDH Soap Experiment

Originally Posted by Vegita182

I'm having trouble lathering vdh. I get it to the cool whip/meringue consistency and it feels silky smooth between the fingers but it starts going transparent on my face before I can even get one cheek shaved.

What VDH are you using? Deluxe? Luxury? Glycerin?

What type of brush are you using? Boar? Badger?

It sounds like you're not getting enough soap on your brush. How long do you swirl the brush on the soap? With VDH Luxury you should try to swirl a badger brush on it for at least a minute. Otherwise, you may get a water-downed lather.

Originally Posted by henryconchile

What VDH are you using? Deluxe? Luxury? Glycerin?

What type of brush are you using? Boar? Badger?

It sounds like you're not getting enough soap on your brush. How long do you swirl the brush on the soap? With VDH Luxury you should try to swirl a badger brush on it for at least a minute. Otherwise, you may get a water-downed lather.

Its the select. I always seem to have too much Water but I've taken it to the dry side and it just isn't holding up. I'm using the vdh boar brush.

Originally Posted by Vegita182

Its the select. I always seem to have too much Water but I've taken it to the dry side and it just isn't holding up. I'm using the vdh boar brush.

The VDH boar brush was the first shave brush I ever used years ago. I always had problems lathering with it. It just didn't hold lather well enough for me. When I switched to a badger brush, I saw a huge improvement in my lather.

I think the problem is with the VDH brush's ability to hold water. I still have the boar brush, but I use it to strip bristles from it and do the HHT on my straight razors when I hone them. I will try lathering on a VDH soap tonight with my old VDH boar brush to see if I can get good results. I'll let you know what I find out.

Originally Posted by henryconchile

The VDH boar brush was the first shave brush I ever used years ago. I always had problems lathering with it. It just didn't hold lather well enough for me. When I switched to a badger brush, I saw a huge improvement in my lather.

I think the problem is with the VDH brush's ability to hold water. I still have the boar brush, but I use it to strip bristles from it and do the HHT on my straight razors when I hone them. I will try lathering on a VDH soap tonight with my old VDH boar brush to see if I can get good results. I'll let you know what I find out.

Thank you. I mean I get a great consistency but it just doesn't have staying power. I really want it to work for me as I'm partial to the deluxe scent.

Originally Posted by Vegita182

Thank you. I mean I get a great consistency but it just doesn't have staying power. I really want it to work for me as I'm partial to the deluxe scent.

I finished my test. Yeah, the problem is with the boar brush. The brush absorbed a lot of soap and I was able to get a decent face lather, but the lather was too thin. I did the following:
* Wet the brush under running warm water for 15 sec
* Swirled the brush on the soap, in its bowl, for 1 min
* Face lathered for 1 min

When I saw that the face had a thin lather, I squeezed the brush and noticed that it had a lot of lather in it. I collected the lather in my hand and applied it to my face. My hand did a better job at face lathering.

You may want to try a badger brush. You don't need an expensive one. Try a $15 badger brush as a starter. Target used to sell a VDH Luxury shave set in-store that included a badger brush. Otherwise, you may have to go online to get one.

Originally Posted by henryconchile

You may want to try a badger brush. You don't need an expensive one. Try a $15 badger brush as a starter. Target used to sell a VDH Luxury shave set in-store that included a badger brush. Otherwise, you may have to go online to get one.

Walgreens also carries the VDH stuff, though it depends on the store as to it being the Deluxe or Luxury. You can buy the Luxury badger brush for about $15 by itself, or for $30, you can get the badger brush, Luxury soap, apothecary mug and brush stand. I started with this kit, though for testing purposes bought the Deluxe kit with the boar brush and green/black bowl as well. I can get good lather with either soap or brush.

It may not be MDC or MWF or (insert high end soap of choice here), but it gets the job done and quite well, in my experience.