Thread: Confused

Originally Posted by BobH

I think the skill is loading the brush with enough soap, with the right amount of water, from a hard puck. You want plenty of thick pasty proto lather loaded onto the brush before you go to either the bowl/scuttle or face to make the lather you shave with by adding more water as you go. It takes more work using a hard puck to load the brush so it is a little harder to do than with a cream or croap. It can be aggravating, same as learning to hone, in the beginning

Bob

+1, this would be my suggestion as well.

There are only so many variables in lather building. The brush, the soap and the water. So, what you need to figure out is the amount of soap and the amount of water and the motion of the brush. They all change with the brush you have and the soap you have and even the water you have.

Play with those and master them and you will have perfect lather.

Those are some awesome soaps you have started with (Wholly Kaw being my current favorite!), including the perennial stalwart MWF. Two things that helped me get those creamy, luxurious lathers with Mitchells:
1. Try grating it on a cheese grater, and then smushing it down in your mug or bowl.
2. Before getting in the shower pre-shave, drip about a tablespoon of very hot water on top of it and swirl it around to soften it up.
3. As another poster said, swirl and pump your (preferrably stiffer) brush like you are mad at the soap, though I have found this to be not nearly so crucial if you do steps #1 and 2.
4. MWF likes a fair amount of water. I face lather it, wetting the tips until I get the consistency I want.

These very easy techniques give me very dense, rich lather very easily, and that wonderful moisturizing post-shave that "The Fat" is famous for courtesy of the lanolin.

Oh, and this is just me, but I like a soap with a heavy scent, which Mitchell's doesn't have much of. I like to experiment with added scents. For example, I got a delightful lather just yesterday by adding two drops of Sweet Orange EO and two of menthol. Kind of a homemade orange chill, which I loved. You just have to be careful with those EO's-some people react to some of them pretty easily. Disregard this if you just want the lather, or have sensitive skin and don't care about the scent. Aaron

You have some of the best soaps there, and rest assured you can get excellent results from both D.R. Harris (easier) and Mitchell’s Wool Fat (a little bit trickier).

Getting the ratio between soap and water right is to me the key and if you start with a soap rich ratio and gradually increase the water ratio by wetting the tips of the brush one tiny amount of water at a time, you should eventually find the optimum ratio.

Often overlooked is water hardness; if you live in a region with hard water it will take more practice to find the optimum soap to water ratio, but eventually you will.


B.

Originally Posted by BobH

I think the skill is loading the brush with enough soap, with the right amount of water, from a hard puck. You want plenty of thick pasty proto lather loaded onto the brush before you go to either the bowl/scuttle or face to make the lather you shave with by adding more water as you go. It takes more work using a hard puck to load the brush so it is a little harder to do than with a cream or croap. It can be aggravating, same as learning to hone, in the beginning

Bob

Better late than never! It makes a lot more sense to me now.

Check out Mantic59's video on how to lather Michells Wool Fat. I highly recommend learning how to make "The Fat" work for you. It is a stellar performer for many guys.