Thread: Am I doing something wrong here

I have a slight problem but it seems to be more of a newbie problem than anything else.

There were two cakes of soap that I got from classicshaving.com (bayrum and coconut, if it matters) that was their particular brand sold on the site. I have been using them for the first week of my straight razor shaving and encountered a problem with the amound of soap left in the bottom. To be blunt about, after only seven shaves or so, the soap is almost gone. Before I continue, allow me a moment to explain some things...

The mug, which I got from the same place has an elevated indentation on it which makes the center of the mug about 1/3" above the sides. I got the mug because it is almost 4" wide at the mouth, which I figured I needed for the swirling action on the brush. The brush is a medium size Vulfix with best badger, not silvertip. It works well, almost too well as a lot of lather gets stuck in the bristles and I end up washing a lot of lather out of the bristles when I am done.

When I initially got the soap, I melted it in the microwave and stirred it while it was cooling to help keep the clays suspended. Colleen recommended this on TGQ, although she uses Rhassoul (SP?) clay versus Betonite clay which was in the cs.com soaps. The main reason I did this was because I thought it better to have the soap cover the entire width of the mug and would have more area to get a good lather from.

When I first started using it, I was filling the entire mug up with really hot water to soften the soap and soak the brush, and put the whole mug in a sink full of hot water. After a few shaves, I decided that I might be losing too much soap this way (when I emptied it before agitation), so started to just cover the soap with a minimal amount, maybe 1/8" to 1/4" of water. Soaked the brush in the sink.

After a few shaves, I got the hang of making the soap look like the custard on top of a meringue pie, adding small drops of water as I needed to, so I pretty much thought that was the height of making lather and have continued to use the same method.

Now to be fair, I was using one of the cakes with my eletric razor, to get the hang of using soap & brush before my razor arrived, so it would be better to say that I probably got about 14-18 shaves total out of that particular cake.

Now after only 7 straight razor shaves the cake is pretty much gone, and I am wondering if I am doing something wrong in the soap conservation department.

To caveat this, I do not know what kind of water out here in this BFE camp. All I know is the water gets trucked in here, as we have no means of getting out water from the ground (desert). I only know it is suitable to brush teeth and take a shower with. I think I am going to use the bottled water from here on out for a while to see if that works, keeping in mind the bottled water is from the Kuwaiti's. Who knows how good it might work? Not I... Also, I have no means to boil the water, or else I would, trust me... Gonna start looking into something like that online.

I have some Tabac coming in the mail, so any ideas and suggestions would be welcome, considering I do not want to waste a $15.00 soap + shipping. Man, I need to get my paypal account set up and just order some stuff from Colleen or something, this is ridiculous.

Jimmy,

The CS soaps, being glycerin, will not last as long as triple-milled soaps do. I think you exacerbated the erosion of the soap by soaking it so much. The glycerin soaps will literlly melt into the water! Even with a small pool on top, it probably led to pouring some of the soap down the drain. Also, when you melted it into the wider area of the mug, the thickness became less, so the bottom of the mug appearing will be sooner.

If you're not already, I'd recommend building the lather directly on your face instead of in the mug. Get your brush just wet enough to allow it to get the soap into the bristle; you don't want meringue in the mug, but a drier stickier lather that starts to coat the soap cake. Start working that on your WET face to build up the lather. As needed, wet the brush (either wet the tips slightly, or drip water into the base of the hair -- experiment to find which works best for you) to increase the lather's volume, and get it worked into the shaving brush for repeat latherings.

Finally, send me a PM with your APO address -- I'm gonna MPS some stuff to you.

Sounds like your pushing the soaps way too hard. You can simply dip your brush and rub the brush over the soap. Some guys even recommend a light touch on the soap (in which case I'd rub for a little longer, but thats just me) then apply to your face.

When you add hot water, it has to be the "right" temperature. You may be using water thats too hot.

If your not getting a lather that is difficult to see through you might need to add more soap. You can do this by just using a dab or pressure on the swirling stage as you build up the lather.

So, in summary, the things that tear down soap are: too hot water, too much action, creating too much lather in general. Additionally, don't play too much with the soap and microwaves.

You just need to back off on the soap, a lot. A cake lasts me about 5 months.

Kuwaiti bottled water is simply refiltered drinking water. A little less quality than U.S. bottled water. It should be soft enough to create a good lather.

I too, would appreciate your address via PM.

Oh, one more thing . . . don't boil the water.

Well, I took your suggestions last night and it seemed to work out well. While doing what you both said, it was easy to see how keeping the bristles a little stiff, and not so wet, worked to my benefit when using it on the face, swirling it about on the face. Although I won't swear to it yet, the shave seemed to go a little faster. It was just as comfortable as the other shaves, no significant difference other than the fact that I did not use anywhere near as much soap. I did like the idea of making the lather on my face, it seemed to give better feeling specifically with regards to me feeling as if though I was really working the lather into my beard versus wiping it on. Thanks, guys.