Thread: Soap economy

Only lately have I been getting a feel for "building the lather on my face," as a couple of respondents already described.

I first run the brush under the hot water until filled, then just work the tips of the bristles over the soap for a bit; once I see lather beginning to build in the cup, that's done. Now the brush hits my face and the lather still feels less than "all the way there." But I just keep doing circles on my cheeks and neck, and can soon feel the lather growing thicker and slicker on my face.

Even more important than the soap-economy factor is, that this keeps the brush on my face where it belongs, lifting and softening the hairs.

Somebody on these forums keeps separate cakes in individual Glad Ziplock tupperware cups. Whatever thread that was in, there were some soap-economy tips there as well.

Edit: The thread was Soap Storage. I've tried four times to insert the link here, though, and give up. Use the search function in the bars above.

Originally Posted by joshearl

My routine involves filling my mug with hot water and soaking the brush and soap while I shower.

There you go. You must have spent some time on BB or SMF forums. I never understood filling the mug with water or soaking the brush... Such a routine is completely unnecesary, and total waist of product. just load the brush with water, no soaking needed, swirl it ~10 times on the soap and lather away...

Nenad

I tend not to fill my mug or bowl with water. If I did, it wouldn't have anything to do with getting good lather--it would just be to take the chill off of it so the lather wouldn't be distinctly cold by the second pass,

Thanks for the hints, everyone. I quit soaking my soap and brush, and now I just wet the brush, do a few quick swirls, and build the lather on my face.

I started soaking the soap because at first I was having problems with the lather drying out. I've fixed that problem by rewetting my brush as needed and reworking the lather.

The 97 cents that a cheap piece of soap costs wouldn't really kill me. But it was alarming to see my soap disappear after a couple of weeks when I was expecting to get at least a couple of months out of it.

Thanks again,
Josh

It's easier to control the water if you generate the lather in a different bowl than you keep the soap in. Learned this back when I was playing with Williams, and kept it up when I switched to Harris.

I started out doing the same thing. The boar brush loads up soap fast even faster if you soak the soap. I use a badger brush that holds the heat much better and makes a better lather as well. You can pour some hot water over the soap, but soaking is a big waste.

Glen

Originally Posted by superfly

There you go. You must have spent some time on BB or SMF forums. I never understood filling the mug with water or soaking the brush... Such a routine is completely unnecesary, and total waist of product. just load the brush with water, no soaking needed, swirl it ~10 times on the soap and lather away...

Nenad

I always soak my brush. Why? It saves time. No, there is no more saturation, but soaking the brush while preparing my face for the shave is simple. Necessary? No, just convenient!

RT

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

I always soak my brush. Why? It saves time. No, there is no more saturation, but soaking the brush while preparing my face for the shave is simple. Necessary? No, just convenient!

RT

OK, but I have seen guys soaking the brush in boiling water during the shave, and then complain that the brush is loosing bristles...

Nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

OK, but I have seen guys soaking the brush in boiling water during the shave, and then complain that the brush is loosing bristles...

Nenad

Just remember, this, like many others, is a shaving forum. I believe the MENSA forum is elsewhere!

Randy

Just remember, this, like many others, is a shaving forum. I believe the MENSA forum is elsewhere!

... we meet on Wednesdays at 7:17 in my workshop.



Sorry... I had to use that smilie again.