Thread: Need help with fact lathering

Can someone please help me learn to face lather with glycerin soaps and a boar brush. I cannot make good lather. I soak the brush during my shower then wring it out then shake out the remaining water. I work the brush on the soap until it becomes paste like then work it onto my face. When I do this it seems too thick. So lately I have been adding more water but it instantly goes from to thick to too wet. It is almost like the brush will not hold enough lather for more than one pass. I am OK with having to recharge the brush after each pass, but the quality of the later is either too thick or too wet with nothing in between.

I've been doing the exact opposite of that.. I soak the soap in hot water, discard most of it after my shower, then start with a damp/dry brush.. adding water as needed. I've been getting really thick lather that way.

I had the same problem.

Yesterday I loaded my hands with some soap and lathered on my face. I got a better lather that way than I ever got with my boar brush.

Needless to say, I am not a big fan of boar brushes. Also, I havent tried a badger hair for comparison.

YMMV

I'm really a badger hair brush advocate. Boar hair brushes just don't make the cut for me. It's near impossible to get a decent lather with boar hair. Badger hair works beautifully. Try filling your mug with hot water to soften up the soap cake. Might also try using very warm, but not hot water to build your lather.

I don't use glycerin soaps, but I have read that if you let the water sit long on the soap that it will dissolve alot of the soap, shortening the useful life.

I face lather with a badger brush. While your discreption of the first part of your lathering sounds about right, when you add a bit (small increments) of water there should be improvement in the lather, not too wet.

I seem to add water two times to the brush, in other words go over my face three times, before the lather is right. Some soaps may take more water.

Hows your water supply? If you have hard water try using bottled water.

First off your lather will be thinner that the stuff out of the can, sorry, without nasty chemicals it never gets that fluffy.

Here's what I do. Soak your brush for a couple of minutes, you don't need the entire shower, but it won't hurt anything if you do let it soak that long. Then give your brush one shake. Leave it so that it is just shy of dripping. Now whip your soap up on the cake until it is ready to drip out of the bowl. then I scrape my soap laden brush off into another empty lathering bowl and go back for more whipped soap. Once your brush is only getting thick foam but no real lather I take it back to the other bowl with my whipped lather in it. Then I whip this whole mix up into a consistent lather. Then I scrub it onto my face. This whole procedure take about a minute.

In fifteen years of using a boar brush I've found that with little variation this will whip most any soap into a good to great lather. Some soaps require a little harder shake of the brush, others need as much as a tablespoon more water, but in general this gives me enough lather for two to three passes. You will have to go back to your lather bowl for more lather from time to time as your brush empties but your won't have to go back to the cake.

By the way it might help if we knew which soap you are using, there are some that are reported to make poor lather while others will bubble up for anyone.

I am using an omega boar brush with soap from emsplace.com. I also am using well water run through a softener.
Thanks for the help so far, its getting better but it still needs improvement.

Usually glycerine soap will lather up pretty fast with minimal effort. The boar makes it a bit more challenging but you should still be able to get plenty of lather. You just need to experiment by adding more water to the mix until you get the result you are looking for.

I know there are plenty of guys who use boar with great success but for most of us a step up to a badger makes life alot easier and more enjoyable.

Thanks all. I have been practicing some today and noticed a huge improvement in making lather. While I still need help determining if I need more/less water, I am definitely getting better.