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A question for bowl latherers...

Hi everyone. I am wondering just how much lather you have left over at the end of a shave. I find that to get the correct ratio of water to soap means that I end up wasting more lather than I would care to. Using creams this problem is greatly diminished.

What is your experience?
 
I usually have enough lather left over to do a few more passes if I wanted to but I really don't worry about it at all. Most of the soaps that I use will last a very long time even if I were to use more lather than what is required and I don't feel that I'm wasting lather or money when I'm washing it down the sink at an end of a shave.

As long as I enjoy my time and get a great shave, I'm happy. 😁
 
Hi everyone. I am wondering just how much lather you have left over at the end of a shave. I find that to get the correct ratio of water to soap means that I end up wasting more lather than I would care to. Using creams this problem is greatly diminished.

What is your experience?
Use a smaller brush, problem solved!

Seriously, you can just load a bit less soap. The soap:water ratio is pretty much constant. So, less soap equals less lather in the end. Still, you are not wasting much soap. If you let the lather dry out you will see.
 
I have it dialed in to where I whip enough for 2 passes and I have extra in case I have some areas that need buffing, after that, whatever is left is really almost nothing so I just rinse my brush and done.

There are times were laziness gets the best of me and I leave the brush hang out inside the soap bowl so next shave I just splash some water into the bowl and brush and lather up again, then it seems like the leftover lather from the past shave explodes out of the brush so really not waste at all.
 
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ERS4

My exploding razor knows secrets
Depression-era folks opted to let the lather dry on the brush and in the bowl, and reactivate it directly with water the next time you shave.
I don't do it myself, but I've seen a few gentlemen in B&Bs do the same experiment.


If you care about this problem, "don't add water too greedily" is the key, so as to reduce the chance of repeatedly adding soap.
I have been trained in art painting for a long time; art and design students also control paint and moisture with similar concepts.
 
Depression-era folks opted to let the lather dry on the brush and in the bowl, and reactivate it directly with water the next time you shave.
I don't do it myself, but I've seen a few gentlemen in B&Bs do the same experiment.


If you care about this problem, "don't add water too greedily" is the key, so as to reduce the chance of repeatedly adding soap.
I have been trained in art painting for a long time; art and design students also control paint and moisture with similar concepts.
I normally load my brush on the puck (in a mug) and build the lather on my face, until the puck has dwindled to near nothing. Then I lather in the mug, leaving the brush in the mug and reactivating it next shave. I always think I'll get two or three shaves out of what's left but I get a dozen or more.

Some have said this is harmful to the brush, but I have an inexpensive Semogue boar brush that is basically bulletproof. Its ends wouldn't split if you lathered a brick wall.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Hi everyone. I am wondering just how much lather you have left over at the end of a shave. I find that to get the correct ratio of water to soap means that I end up wasting more lather than I would care to. Using creams this problem is greatly diminished.

What is your experience?

Hello Cameron!

I use a bouillon spoon to scoop up soap from my soap puck. I fill the spoon, but not over-heaping!

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I then use my finger wet by water, and I place that soap from the spoon, into my shave bowl. I use my shaving brush to get the remaining soap residue off the spoon, then I rinse the spoon and put a couple teaspoons of water into my lather bowl to start with. I then begin working up a lather with my shave brush. As it begins to start getting pasty, I put another couple teaspoons of water into the bowl, and continue working the lather until it looks like this.

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That is what is known as a yogurt consistency. Its creamy, its slick, and its moisturizing deliciousness. By the time I am done with a 3-pass shave, I will usually have a tiny bit remaining. Since its such a tiny amount however, its of no consequence, and I just rinse out my bowl in the sink and be done with it.

Additionally, you can also use a Flairisol ultra fine mister bottle to wet your lather with...

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This is also good for wetting the lather on your face as well, if lather is a little too dry, its the quickest less messy way, of re-moisturizing the lather. So ya, thats how I do it as a bowl lather.
 
More frequently I don't use enough soap which results in a disappointing shave. I'd much prefer to waste soap and end up with a great shave. If you have a collection of vastly different soaps it can be more difficult to get the loading right. With MdC, 15 seconds of loading can be wasteful. With WK or B&M, the same load will be disappointing.

Unless you stick with a single soap you'll never get it exactly right. Much better to waste soap and enjoy your shave.
 
Hello Cameron!

I use a bouillon spoon to scoop up soap from my soap puck. I fill the spoon, but not over-heaping!

proxy.php


I then use my finger wet by water, and I place that soap from the spoon, into my shave bowl. I use my shaving brush to get the remaining soap residue off the spoon, then I rinse the spoon and put a couple teaspoons of water into my lather bowl to start with. I then begin working up a lather with my shave brush. As it begins to start getting pasty, I put another couple teaspoons of water into the bowl, and continue working the lather until it looks like this.

proxy.php


That is what is known as a yogurt consistency. Its creamy, its slick, and its moisturizing deliciousness. By the time I am done with a 3-pass shave, I will usually have a tiny bit remaining. Since its such a tiny amount however, its of no consequence, and I just rinse out my bowl in the sink and be done with it.

Additionally, you can also use a Flairisol ultra fine mister bottle to wet your lather with...

proxy.php


This is also good for wetting the lather on your face as well, if lather is a little too dry, its the quickest less messy way, of re-moisturizing the lather. So ya, thats how I do it as a bowl lather.
Wow this sounds like a lot of work. I am thinking maybe you should do a video as it would be easier to follow. I just load my brush straight from the puck.
 
I leave the my-over lather in the bowl, and squeegee as much lather out of the brush as I can. I cover the bowl with the Buckee's lid. The next morning, I 'lather-up' using one small scoop of nuked rain water on the small measuring cup
 
Wow this sounds like a lot of work. I am thinking maybe you should do a video as it would be easier to follow. I just load my brush straight from the puck.
Creams and soft soaps are easier to use if measured out using a small spoon or spatula; a large almond size is about right for a three pass shave. Adust the quantity depending on the water quality.
There is a little lather left over in the brush knot but it amounts to a tiny quantity of soap/cream; nothing left in the bowl though.
If you are loading from a puck, just time your loading for consistency.
 
I have soaps in my rotation that I have been using for a very, very long time, and still aren't gone, especially the hard pucks. So I don't worry too much if there is lather left over after my 3 passes. :wink:
 
If you end up with lots of lather, try doing one or two pre shave lathers on your face and rinse before shaving. Less waste and it it is a wonderful preshave routine I learned here.
 
I don't always bowl lather, but as I've gotten to know my soaps and brushes I usually end up with just a little left over. If I miss the mark, I load more soap for the last pass, or I run the excess down the drain when I'm done. It's just soap.
 
I usually have enough for more passes.

Funny enough when I face lather I usually load for the same amount of time. I don't consider the leftover at all a waste.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Not much lather left over in my bowl and when brush lather is squeezed out I usually have enough for another pass if needed.
I have come to the conclusion years ago that bowl lathering is best for myself and my base soap condition is like new and scents are still great. I still face lather once in a while with my shave soap stick if out of town, but I still cut slivers of my soap stick and press in bowl and bowl lather also.
 
I always bowl lather as face lathering irritates my skin.

My procedure calls for adding 1 Tablespoon of water to the soap tub and swirling it for 10 seconds. I then dump the bloom water in my shave bowl.

I presoak my brush unless I am using a synthetic brush. I then squeeze out as much water as I can and then shake the brush 5-6 times to remove as much water as I can. I then swirl the brush for 10 seconds ( 2 swirls per second) in the soap tub to load the brush. That gives me around 1.5 grams of soap. My brushes are in the 24-26mm range. For a smaller brush, it might take a longer load time.

I then take my brush and dip it in the lather bowl into which I had added the bloom water. That gives me a water to soap ratio around 10:1. With the better soaps in my den, it takes about 30 seconds of lathering to produce a smooth lather free of large bubbles. Some small bubbles might remain. If the lather seems a little dry, add a couple of drops of water. If the lather is a little thin, take the brush back to the tub and do a couple of additional swirls.

That normally produces enough lather for about six passes. I typically do a four-pass shave (WTG, XTG, ATG, and clean-up pass). Then I apply a 5th bonus lather and allow it to soak into my face while I clean my shaving gear. That helps with skin conditioning/moisturizing. I sometimes end up with enough lather left over that I could do another pass.

I realize that most people do not do as many passes as I do. If you cut back the water to 2 teaspoons (10 ml), you then only need about 1 gram of soap. That should take about 7 seconds of load time with a 24 mm brush or 10 seconds with a 20 mm brush. Please note that hard pucks often take much longer than 10 seconds to bloom and may take longer than 10 seconds to load.
 
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