Thread: Maybe I'm missing something

Originally Posted by BobH

Most all soaps will produce a decent enough lather to shave with but some are better than others and some are easier to lather too. You just have to learn how to make a lather. If there is a member in your area, you could see if they would get together with you for some one on one lessons in lathering.

Failing that if Edge Gel works for you why not use it.

Bob

+1

However, if you get an opportunity to try a better soap, you may feel differently. There are numerous videos on Youtube illustrating how to use good soaps.
Good luck.

Well a funny thing about personal preferences, they can all be rather individual. I think maybe you should try more than one soap, and more than one lather technique. I am terrible at getting a bowl lather to work right, and even when it looks good in the bowl, it does not seem to shave that well. I face lather, i have been through a lot of different soaps, some I bought others were gifts, some exchanged. I ten to buy small pieces of soap, they are cheap and you can try many for little. I like Tabac, Volobra, LaToja, Razor Rock, and many others. There has also been a list of soaps that I did not like to shave with and those ones became shower soaps. If you don't like your soap move one. If you want to, you can find people to trade soaps with and places that sell samples. With there being so many soaps on the market I say don't settle for what is ok, find one you love.

Originally Posted by RezDog

With there being so many soaps on the market I say don't settle for what is ok, find one you love.

100% yes. You can spend as little or as much as you want with soaps or creams that will perform exceptionally well.

I think the company is great on the whole, but if you look back a couple of years in my posts, you'll see that I had so much trouble with Classic Shaving Soap that I almost hung up wet shaving. I found it to be terrible. When I finally got my hands on a tub of Catie's Bubbles, all the sudden my face was drowning in amazing lather. Since then, I have more amazing soaps than I know what to do with, but Classic Shaving Soap is not one of them.

Use what works best on your face. The point of this whole exercise is getting the best shave you possibly can. Getting the best shave possible doesn't always mean it's fashionable. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by Tonysmjc

I get a good lather the brush is always Nicely loaded

And i work it in well

Just doesn't seem to shave or feel as good as the gel

I've watched the videos and if anything my lather may be a
Bit to thick and a little to wet

I'm going to try drying it out a bit
I'm only 54 and shave daily so time to make a proper comparison ,I should have.

I'm not sure I buy your comparison though
No method or product is meant for everyone
There's an ---- ( buttocks) for every seat.

I'm fairly proficient with a straight I've gone back and forth beteeen it a safty razor
a shavete and cartridges for over 20 years.
Truthfully I've gotten great shaves from them all at different times

if its too thick it aint too wet Tc

There is nothing wrong with using Edge if you like it. Part of what I like about wet shaving is that it requires building skills. It took me a while to learn how to whip up a good lather.

There have been a lot of good suggestions in this thread if you want to do that.

Here is a link to a thread that lists many great soaps.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...ps-creams.html

If you look at the ingredient listing for most canned foams and gels, you will find a lot of synthetic detergents and other chemicals that may not react well with your skin. Even if your skin is not sensitive to the other ingredients, the propellants used to create foam will dry out your skin. Also, they are not good for the environment. If you must use a canned shaving product, try Barbasol; it contains fewer synthetic chemicals than most.

One thing many people forget when giving instructions about generating a lather is the importance of the water being used. The best lather will be generated using water purified by distillation, deionization, or reverse osmosis. All soaps react with the calcium, magnesium, iron and other metallic ions in your water to form insoluble salts that interfere with the lathering process. If you water is naturally soft, or if you have an ion exchange water softener, the level of troublesome metallic ions might not be high enough to cause a problem. If you have hard water, you may have trouble getting a good lather with soaps. Some soaps, like Mitchell's Wool Fat soap, are notoriously difficult to lather in hard water. The foams and gels that are primarily detergent based are not affected by hard water the same way as soaps.

Some shaving creams will contain EDTA, citric acid or other chelating agents to react with the troublesome metallic ions before they have a chance to react with the primary soap ingredients. If you have hard water from the tap, you can generate your lather using bottled water, install a water softener, or you can look for a shaving cream that has a chelating agent.

A good cream, as opposed to a shaving soap, may be easier to start with. There are many goods ones.

Taylor of Old Bond Street or Baum.be are hard to beat. Baum.be is currently my top soap/cream. The 250ml size is the best deal.

The way I see it is that it is your face, and whatever you wanna smear on it is fine by me. But only trying that brand of soap and saying gel is a better option, is like eating your first ever piece of fish at Long John Silver's and saying seafood is no good because an omelet from Denny's tastes better.

If you don't want to bother with it don't. If you really do, buy yourself a better soap. There are dozens of excellent soaps in multitudes of price ranges. I am sure people would be willing to make suggestions if you wanted to ask that question. Samples are available for many of them: Stirling, Soap Commander, Barrister and Mann, Route 66, Mickey Lee Soap Works, L and L Grooming....... If you tried a couple of those and still said you preferred gel in a can, then I would say you gave it a college try.