Soap Problem

**0livia** · 07-06-2009, 01:56 PM

Shaving Soaps, Creams, Lotions & Toiletries

Classic Brand Shaving Soap

**Kaspar** · 07-06-2009, 03:16 PM

I am using the classic brand shave soap right now but I ordered some of this today to give it a try

Shaving Lather Mugs and Bowls

**TexasBob** · 07-06-2009, 04:02 PM

Any lather will dry out if left to sit long enough. And typically a straight shave takes longer than a safety razor shave, at least for newbies (and that includes me).

I just lather up and don't worry about it. If it gets a little dry I tap the tip of the brush on the surface of the water in the sink and re-lather. No big deal.

Now you do want to be sure your lather is wet enough to begin with and this is just a matter of getting familiar with your soap, brush, technique, etc.. No rocket science involved! Experiment.

But for starters this is what works for me: Start with a thoroughly wet face. Sometimes I even use the brush wet without soap to be sure my face is wet. The brush gets soaked then shook out pretty good, gets loaded with soap from the puck then lathered on the face. The wet face and damp brush are usually just right to make a nice lather. If I am off a bit with this it is usually on the dry side so I can fine tune by tapping the tip of the brush on the water in the sink.

P.S. I threw out my Classic Brand puck. Soaps I like are: MWF, Tabac, and Cella. The Cella in particular seems to be an easy latherer but all three perform well for me. I'm sure there are plenty of other fine soaps but I haven't the time to try them all. Those three look like they are going to last a long time.

P.P.S. That T&H Soap looks mighty expensive!

**Alraz** · 07-07-2009, 03:56 AM

Truefitt and Hill makes excellent products, you should not have problems with any of them. As Ray says, lathering is a skill, which is often overlooked among wet shavers (he did not say this part ;-) ). This process can be divided into 3 stages:

1) loading the brush; 2) building the lather; and 3) hydrating the lather. It is important to pay careful attention to each stage.

When lathering, the most important thing is to be sure of finding the peak of the soap/cream (the point where no more lather can be produced). Both dry (before reaching the peak) and too wet (over the peak) lather can be problematic. Dry lather looks similar to cake frosting and can easily be detected by passing your brush over. If the brush leaves grooves, the lather is too dry. Lather has been obtained with too much water (past the peak) vanishes almost immediately after it touches the skin and can appear dry. These are very common problems among new and seasoned users. There is a good section in the wiki about lathering, if you have not done so already, a visit is in order:

Category:Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Also, I think this that you may find this video useful:

YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather

**Gunner777** · 07-07-2009, 04:06 AM

Straight Razor Place Wiki - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Reference the Wiki page. Not only is a lot of info on shaving for new shavers but a topic for just about any question you can think of.

**Kaspar** · 07-07-2009, 08:11 AM

I have read all those lather areas in the wiki. I printed out the basic later making one and I am getting a bit better at making a lather now. I know it will just take time. thanks eveeryone for your help.

**loueedacat** · 07-07-2009, 01:33 PM

classicshaving.com brand soaps make a very thin lather but should be very wet and slick. I think the best way to use them is to face lather - ie get the brush wet and load it with soap rubbing it on the puck and then go straight to face (don't whip the soap in a bowl). You won't get classic pucks to give you cool whip lather though, but you can get a nice slick thin lather.

edited to be clear I meant classic shaving brand, not "classics"

**Hillie** · 07-07-2009, 01:44 PM

What I can recommend is to just take half an hour with a brush and a puck and start experimenting. You read a lot, so you've seen some approaches, and now start playing around a bit! With my very first puck I just started slowly and started adding more water (drops only!) until I thought the lather was good and then kept going (add drops, lather up, add drops, etcetera) to see what would happen and how the lather would develop and finally become useless.

edit: I can get most of my so called classics (Tabac, Cella, Harris, MWF) to give cool-whippish lather, but one shouldn't be afraid to experiment. I did notice that using a scuttle gives me not an end-product, but a half-product that I give a finishing whip on my wet face. Works very well too and it's nice and warm.

**loueedacat** · 07-07-2009, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Hillie

edit: I can get most of my so called classics (Tabac, Cella, Harris, MWF) to give cool-whippish lather, but one shouldn't be afraid to experiment. .

I think he said he had classic shaving brand soap, and that does not lather like tabac, cella, harris, mwf. ie I think he meant classicshaving.com soap, not soap that is classic.

**Kaspar** · 07-07-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by loueedacat

I think he said he had classic shaving brand soap, and that does not lather like tabac, cella, harris, mwf. ie I think he meant classicshaving.com soap, not soap that is classic.

That is correct but I did just order some T&H Soap and will be getting it in a week or so.

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