Thread: Uberlather Question

I wanted to try uberlather. I picked up some glycerin at Whole Foods. It is pure vegetable glycerin. Is this the right product for my lather?

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

I wanted to try uberlather. I picked up some glycerin at Whole Foods. It is pure vegetable glycerin. Is this the right product for my lather?

my bottle i have from RITE AID says skin protectant glycerin. Maybe someone else will chime in about the vegan glycerin????Or maybe they are one in the same??

Bill,
what you have should work fine.

Thanks, Stefan. I appreciate the advice!

A couple of things:

Vegetable glycerin is extracted from plants (biodiesel or saponification) as opposed to synthetic (from petroleum). The chemical is exactly the same but the impurities can be different. Likely your glycerin is of cosmetic or food grade as you bought it at a grocery store, it is the grade and not the source what it is important to asses the quality of chemicals.

It is always good to make the distinction of "pure" when it comes to chemicals, and this applies to any and every chemical. In fact, glycerin is not the name of a chemical, glycerol is. Also, there is no such thing as a "pure" chemical, even the purest of chemicals always has impurities. Chemicals are manufactured in "grades", which means that a set of standards is used to ensure that they conform with certain regulations. it is important to have the word "grade" as reference. I always suggest that people use USP grade for cosmetics or food applications. Perhaps this link would help to understand what I mean with grades:

Glycerin Specifications, Crude Glycerin, Technical Grade Glycerin, USP Grade Glycerin

As you can see, the word glycerin, has not purity attached, the grade, determines the purity and no all "glycerins" are created equal. Low grade synthetic glycerin can contain, among other things, methanol. This link also explains why one may want to buy USP grade:

www.cleaning101.com/oleo/USPGlycerin.pdf

I hope that this brief explanations help to clarify the issue of purity in chemicals, particularly of glycerol.

Al raz.

Thanks Alraz. The glycerin I purchased does appear to be food grade as the bottle indicates it can be used to sweeten herbal mixtures. The important question is, will this work for my uberlather...

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

Thanks Alraz. The glycerin I purchased does appear to be food grade as the bottle indicates it can be used to sweeten herbal mixtures. The important question is, will this work for my uberlather...

What soap & cream combination(s) are you planning on using? Some play better with others....

Originally Posted by Ryan82

What soap & cream combination(s) are you planning on using? Some play better with others....

I've got two in mind. The first is Proraso White Soap and C.O. Bigelow branded Proraso. The other is Benton Clay Lime Bergamot SS with Trumper's Limes Cream...

Hmmm, never tried the Benton, but either combo will likely work. All you can do is try them out and see if they work. Easy on the glycerin as too much will kill your lather.

Rite Aid brand glycerin works well for me. Whatever brand of glycerin you find in a drugstore or a grocery store will work fine.

I use either Williams Shaving Soap or Van der Hagen Shaving Soap in my über lather. In combination with Proraso cream, Art of Shaving cream or a brand of cream called Waleda that I found in Whole Foods Market all produce a rich, long lasting lather. I've not yet tried a more expensive soap because I'm not currently interested in exploring soaps and the cheap soaps make awesome über lather.

What I found works best for me is to work lots of soap from the puck into my brush. Not sudsy lather, but soap worked into the brush after the brush has soaked in hot water. Then five drops of glycerin and a squeeze of cream into the bowl. I make it a point to thoroughly mix all three ingredients into the brush, forming a rather stiff, compact lather before adding water. I like to dribble additional hot water into the brush near the knot rather than into the bowl. That seems to help build the über lather in the brush, rather than in the bowl. I end up adding about a tablespoon of water, maybe more.

Watch some über lather videos. Search out what other members say in the forums. Then experiment to find out what works best for you.

Good luck and let us know how you're doing!
Namaste,
Morty -_-