Printable View
I got a nice badge brush, that is working out well. Got some the SRD soap, but its hard to keep the lather on the brush until the soap is about gone. Then it works pretty well. Got the ship mug, but it is too tall and cant get my fingers down there to use it. Scuttle looks cool, but as I understand you dont use a soap puck in it.
Looking for a better solution for good lather.
Joe
Check out mantic59's videos on youtube here: mantic59 latherign - YouTube. He goes over every aspect of lathering. When using soaps, Most guys start building lather from the tub the soap came in. Make sure the brush is wet, and the soap is wet. Swirl your brush for a good 10 seconds or longer (until the brush is loaded with lather) I normally hold the soap tub upside down so the lather seeps into the bristles.
You then transfer the brush loaded with soap to your scuttle, add a small bit of water, maybe two tablespoons? I just eyeball it. Then start swirling....
It should take a minute or two to produce lather...SRD makes great soaps. You shouldn't have too much trouble. Also, You may try a bowl. I find, in the beginning, bigger and wider is better. For some reason, it's easier to build lather in a wide bowl. Try it, it works.
Thanks. I think a bowl would work better. My bristles are staying pretty conical after 6 months of use. I was trying to make lather on the top of the soap.
I've been troubled by the same sort of problem a while back. I always try to keep in mind that "less is more" and I try not to complicate too much something that, in essence, is simple. I used mugs, bowls and improvised scuttles.
It took me a while to get good lather and a good soap or cream is very important. However, this setup was always too complicated and I found that face lathering was best for me. Wet face, very damp brush, load with soap or drop a dollop of cream on the brush and lather away until satisfied with the thickness of the lather. That's it for me. Sure, I enjoy lathering in a bowl (better than mugs, for me) but it takes time. Face lathering is effective and simple. Maybe you could give it a try and see if it suits you.
I use a Straight Razor Designs Bulldog Mug and it works great.
I use a cereal bowl. Cheap & dirty but hey it works!
there are many things you can use to build lather, your face, your hand, any type of bowl/dish..I would check out the videos on youtube. its much easier for you to see with your own eyes through a video than it is for us to explain it to you. Let us know if your still having trouble after the mantic videos and I will gladly walk you through it. keep in mind, you are not trying to build lather on the soap puck. just load the brush, then move to face,bowl,hand to build the lather. :)
I personally use a $2 (hard-)plastic bowl whose bottom I intentionally scratched (with knife and fork).
I cannot back it up by any explanations, just personal experience:
lathering on a rough surface (like my scratched bowl) makes lathering easier and quicker.
I just face lather. Load the brush with soap and then work it up on my face. I have an Oskar scuttle and it works great to keep the lather warm when I use it but it's optional for me.
1st i soak my brush in really hot water and add some hot water to my soap and let it sit while i strop or wash my face with hot water. that is usally a few minutes. then i poor the water out of my bowl and gently squeeze my brush of the extra water. ((not all the water)) i poor the water out of the soap and i work the soap with the brush until i get a lot of suds. then i move the brush to the bowl. i work it fast in the bowl and you can get a feel for if its a little dry or not, if it feels dry add a little water to it. im talking like a table spoon. not much at all. and work it scraping the sides every now and then. it takes a couple of minutes to get a good lather.
i hope this helps. im most definatly not as knollegeable as the guys on here and still new to this myelf. hope that you get that lather going really soon!!
good luck my friend,
cody
This is one of the things I love about wet shaving - everyone slowly develops their own system and rituals that work for them, but may not at all for anyone else! My $.02:
I usually wet my face then lather up using hot water, letting that do its thing while stropping. Then after stropping I'll lather again before starting my shave. I honestly have no idea why I started doing that, but it seems to work. My second pre-shave lather tends to be richer, presumably because the water has had a bit of a chance to soften the soap. I get a much nicer shave with this system than if I don't wet my face or don't 'double-lather' before starting.
As for what I'm lathering in, for me it's just a big dollar-store cereal bowl. The soap I use comes in bars which really doesn't fit at all well into a bowl, so I shred it up, melt it a bit in the microwave, then pack it down into the bottom of the bowl. I have shared the experience mentioned above of not particularly liking using a mug because of the narrow, steep sides, so I like the wide, flared sides of the bowl. Of course once I finally break down and get a scuttle, this will no doubt all change...
Also, I do work up a bit of a lather in the bowl for 10-15 seconds before transferring it to my face and really working at it there.
I got a nice badge brush, that is working out well. Got some the SRD soap, but its hard to keep the lather on the brush until the soap is about gone. Then it works pretty well. Got the ship mug, but it is too tall and cant get my fingers down there to use it. Scuttle looks cool, but as I understand you dont use a soap puck in it.
Looking for a better solution for good lather.
Joe
Joe: In my personal opinion when I started years ago I was suffering for about the same problem. Not the lathering portion but for the scuttle one. I use more than ones per week soaps and just have a scuttle. It works, I have a texan moss scuttle from Sara Bonnimam and due to how big the opening and how deep the cup is I use D.R. Harris, Truefitt & Hill, MWF ones and creams also. Try it, you will be very happy.
thanks
K