Thread: Lather problems

You, my good sir, have solved my problem! Thank you so much!

(For those who care to know, turns out I wasn't loading my brush properly with soap or water. The above solution worked for me wonderfully!)

I would have said pretty much what Christian told you.....thats what works best for me. Glad to see someone was able to help!

I'm glad we were able to help you out, I just wish all our problems were as easy to fix as this one!

Christian

I'm also going to try this technique, since I use William's Mug Soap, it's SO watery! I can't even get through a few strokes without it drying up and evaporating!

Is it just the soap as well?

To be honest, I can't get a decent shave out of a puck of Williams if I use a badger hair brush, unless I put a few drops of glycerin on it before I start to lather it up. I CAN get a decent shave if a use it as a shaving stick and simply lather with a wet hand... It seems that mixing lots of air into the soap/water mix with a dense badger hair brush simply dries the lather out unless you add a bit of glycerin. If I'm using Williams for a shave, I just wash my face with it twice, then rub it on my face like I was going to wash it a third time, lather it up with a wet hand and then shave. It's quite slick when done that way and I often use it for that last little touch up on a spot that I might have missed during my regular 3 pass shave.

By the way, I always have Williams on hand... some fool doctor in eastern Canada got me hooked on using it as a shower soap.... Now I just can't get enough of that "Yummy Lemon Verbena" scent.

Regards

Christian

One reason I love using soaps vs. creams is it is easier to tweak your lather to perfection. Lather too watery - give the brush a few swirls on the soap. Lather to dry - add a couple of drops of water. I'll frequently reload my brush on the soap puck for my third pass and then maybe add a few drops of water just to beef up the lather for the final pass. . .

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

As you can tell, everyone has their own way of making lather from soap and everyone has their own choice of soap and choice of brush. Having been where you are now and not knowing the soap that you are using, but having a good hunch about what's going wrong, I'm am going to say you have too little water in the brush.

<snip>

Christian

The above snipped post alone should probably be a sticky. While I was using just a coffee mug with the soap puck in the bottom of it - along with TGQ sample pucks - I had no problems creating a nice creamy lather. Once my Georgetown Pottery scuttle got in and I attempted to make lather in it's base, I just could not get the technique down. Christian's post is an excellent description of the technique and the reasons behind the technique.

Thanks again Christian!

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

As you can tell, everyone has their own way of making lather from soap and everyone has their own choice of soap and choice of brush. Having been where you are now and not knowing the soap that you are using, but having a good hunch about what's going wrong, I'm am going to say you have too little water in the brush.

Try this the next time you go to make lather... I am going to possibly cause you to make more lather than you will know what to do with, but at least you will have made sufficient amounts of thick lather to get you through your 3+ pass shave and that should make for a nice change from what you have gotten so far.

1. Soak your brush for several minutes in quite warm tap water. I stand my brush in a mug and gently press the bristles against the inside of the mug a few times to release all the trapped air in the bristles. Do not put any water on your soap, it won't be needed.

2. After the brush has soaked in the water for a few minutes (mine will sit for maybe 5 minutes or more but 3 minutes should be sufficient) lift it out of the water and let it drain by itself until it stops running... it's ok if there is a drip or two coming from the brush. Now, *gently* flick the brush ONCE to remove some excess water... there may still be too much but it won't matter this time around as we're looking for MORE than enough lather.

3. Swirl the brush on top of your soap and pump the brush up and down to release the water from within the knot and to allow the brush to soak up some soap with that water as brush comes back up. Keep swirling/pumping until it's starting to look like decent lather, it needn't be ready to use, just that it's no longer runny and there aren't any large bubbles... By the way, no need to swirl like a madman, nor should you be particularly gentle, just swirl at something like 2 beats a second or so. Now that the soap/water is holding together on your brush can now begin to build the lather in a bowl or on your face. If water starts dribbling down your face, you didn't pump the brush enough while on the soap and thus there is just water deeper in the knot instead of a soap/water mix... that's ok, just go back on the soap and do a few more swirls while pumping.

You should be rewarded with ample amounts of lather if you do it this way. I have found that many times we try to rely on the brush abrading the soap and try to pick up enough soap that way instead of using enough water to dissolve the soap and pumping the brush to mix the soap and water together inside the brush.

Too little water in the brush to start means not enough soap dissolved, Adding water to the mug when you're trying to build the lather will just further dilute the already too little soap and you'll end up with a thin lather that just seems to evaporate in seconds on your skin.

Now, if you ended up with enough lather to shave ten men, I apologize and humbly suggest you perhaps flick the brush a little bit more next time. It's easier to shoot for the middle when you know what the boundaries are.

My two cents worth, and I find the instructions above will build lather from any type of of shaving soap with no soaking of the soap required.


Regards

Christian

This post *really really* needs to be a sticky. I've always been impressed with Tabac soap, but it's like using a totally different, way way way more improved product when you build the lather as the good Kaptain suggests. I made my Tabac lather his way tonight, and was rewarded with the finest lather I have ever made. The resulting shave was wonderful.

Yesterday, I made my face miserable. I used a very sharp shavette blade with Pen's blenheim bouqet cream, and ended up with huge razor burn and more weepers than I've ever seen. Without the Kaptain's soap technique, I would have had to skip shaving today all together since my face was so hammered. Yeah, his technique makes *that* much difference.

Edit: maybe I'll take a stab at putting his post in the wiki if that's ok?

Originally Posted by kasperitis

Alright... after a good many shaves I still can't get a decent lather going, and I'm asking for help.

I'm using TGQ soap, a Silvertip handmade brush, and I can NOT get lather the way it should be. Every lather I whip up is either not enough for for more than one pass, or literally disappears on my face. Saturday, during my shave, I lathered up only the right side of my face, and the lather on my neck was all but gone by the time I finished my cheek and chin, which didn't take long at all. I have had this problem with almost all of my shaves.

What am I doing wrong? Too much water? Not enough water? Not enough soap? I don't use much water...maybe a teaspoon or two. And that water is what I pour over the soap while I strop and pour into my lather bowl before I load my brush.

Ideas?

This very clearly says "not enough soap." Load your brush more, and then load it again. Especially with a silvertip, which is probably soft as heck, it's darn near impossible to "overload" a brush with soap. Also, too much water. The water should mostly be in your brush.

Try watching Mantic59's videos on Youtube.

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

As you can tell, everyone has their own way of making lather from soap and everyone has their own choice of soap and choice of brush. Having been where you are now and not knowing the soap that you are using, but having a good hunch about what's going wrong, I'm am going to say you have too little water in the brush.

Try this the next time you go to make lather... I am going to possibly cause you to make more lather than you will know what to do with, but at least you will have made sufficient amounts of thick lather to get you through your 3+ pass shave and that should make for a nice change from what you have gotten so far.

1. Soak your brush for several minutes in quite warm tap water. I stand my brush in a mug and gently press the bristles against the inside of the mug a few times to release all the trapped air in the bristles. Do not put any water on your soap, it won't be needed.

2. After the brush has soaked in the water for a few minutes (mine will sit for maybe 5 minutes or more but 3 minutes should be sufficient) lift it out of the water and let it drain by itself until it stops running... it's ok if there is a drip or two coming from the brush. Now, *gently* flick the brush ONCE to remove some excess water... there may still be too much but it won't matter this time around as we're looking for MORE than enough lather.

3. Swirl the brush on top of your soap and pump the brush up and down to release the water from within the knot and to allow the brush to soak up some soap with that water as brush comes back up. Keep swirling/pumping until it's starting to look like decent lather, it needn't be ready to use, just that it's no longer runny and there aren't any large bubbles... By the way, no need to swirl like a madman, nor should you be particularly gentle, just swirl at something like 2 beats a second or so. Now that the soap/water is holding together on your brush can now begin to build the lather in a bowl or on your face. If water starts dribbling down your face, you didn't pump the brush enough while on the soap and thus there is just water deeper in the knot instead of a soap/water mix... that's ok, just go back on the soap and do a few more swirls while pumping.

You should be rewarded with ample amounts of lather if you do it this way. I have found that many times we try to rely on the brush abrading the soap and try to pick up enough soap that way instead of using enough water to dissolve the soap and pumping the brush to mix the soap and water together inside the brush.

Too little water in the brush to start means not enough soap dissolved, Adding water to the mug when you're trying to build the lather will just further dilute the already too little soap and you'll end up with a thin lather that just seems to evaporate in seconds on your skin.

Now, if you ended up with enough lather to shave ten men, I apologize and humbly suggest you perhaps flick the brush a little bit more next time. It's easier to shoot for the middle when you know what the boundaries are.

My two cents worth, and I find the instructions above will build lather from any type of of shaving soap with no soaking of the soap required.


Regards

Christian

This worked perfectly. However, it only worked on my Van Der Hagen soap. Maybe my Ugly Mug soap is just cheap stuff lol.

Thanks for the help Christian

KWood34