A Few Questions/ Soaps,Water, Brush

[Foyle]

I have a few questions about hard soaps.

1. Is it acceptable to use the same badger brush for both soaps and creams? Will this affect the way the brush works with either product?

2. I'm most experienced with creams. I can make a rich meringue like lather with them easily but soap lather seems to be thinner and more bubbly. Is this normal? I haven't really mastered soap lathering yet. My only real soap is an Ogalla Bay Rum shave stick that I melted into a container. I'm thinking of picking up a C&E soap at the local mall soon.

3. The reason for question 1 is this. I live in a very hard water area. According to the city our water is somewhere around 18. A water softener is not an option as I live in an apartment but I think the building has one. I occasionally see a salt truck outside the building. I just don't know how well it works. All the faucets and the coffee maker always have scale build up so I doubt it does much at all. I have always had good results from creams. I don't get a lot of soap residue buildup on my razor or brush with creams but soaps seem to leave residue more readily. Is this normal in your experience?

Also, when I've used my badger brush on soap and then gone back to cream with it the cream seemed to leave instant heavy residue on everything. It was as though the soap residue interacted negatively with the cream. After cleaning all my gear in vinegar and water solution this problem would often go away. I'm not 100% sure that the soap and the cream interacted to cause this. Is this sort of reaction to be expected in your experience?

It's possible that our city's water quality changes from time to time. The city says that our water hardness can range from 18-24!!!! Water quality is the main topic of local politics around here. I can see a spike of harder water causing the instant residue build up. I just can't figure it out.

Anyhow, any help you can give would be appreciated.

For the record I have a Kent boar brush and a C&E pure badger. The boar I usually use for soaps but I like my badger and the lather it produces seems to be more dense.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Normally, hard water would a suspect in your lathering woes, but if you can lather creams but not soaps that suggests the problem is with your technique. I'd guess that you're not using enough soap. Charge the brush twice or three times as much as you're doing now.

 

[40boy]

Your badger brush will work for soaps and creams interchangably.
The thin bubbly lather is probably a result of not enough soap loaded on to your brush.

Hard water will somewhat hinder your lather-making with both creams ans soap, but if you can get a good lather with one, you can get it with the other.
You may just have to clean your brush more often.

Put a small amount of water on top of the puck of soap. A teaspoon maybe.
Soak brush.
Squeeze and shake excess water out of brush firmly.
Dump off water from the puck.
Load the brush vigorously until it looks like post 19 in this thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=184111

Take the loaded brush to the bowl or your face, adding water sparingly until the lather is shiny and slick.

 

[scaevola]

I'd recommend getting a pitcher like Brita with filters and using that for your shaving water. That will help get some of the Mg and Ca out of the water--trust me, I had to spend 3 hours in a lab during my chemistry class in college proving that filters do that.

 

[filedog]

1. Yes, one brush can work fine, most of us "shave nerds" have favorites for soap, or cream.

2. Creams ARE easier to lather, generally. Thin, bubbly lather usually means you need more product. You might want to try a soap known for ease of lathering, like Tabac, or Cella.

3. Hard water, and the mechanics of lathering (if you want funny looks try discussing this with a non-wet shaver) are an interesting subject.

"All the faucets and the coffee maker always have scale build up so I doubt it does much at all."

Bingo, classic signs of hard water.

"I don't get a lot of soap residue buildup on my razor or brush with creams but soaps seem to leave residue more readily. Is this normal in your experience?"

Yep, same here, soap leaves more of a "ring", I still love it though!

"Also, when I've used my badger brush on soap and then gone back to cream with it the cream seemed to leave instant heavy residue on everything. It was as though the soap residue interacted negatively with the cream."

Well, my gear DOES get a residue, from soap OR cream, I don't believe it is a REACTION between the two, just a by-product of hard water.

Water quality is something many of us deal with, but, you can get soaps to work fine, it may be more difficult to get good lather, but it can be done. Again, my advice is get one soap to start with that is known to be an easy latherer, use more product, and practice till you are getting it right, good luck!

 

[Hex]

Your badger brush will work for soaps and creams interchangably.
The thin bubbly lather is probably a result of not enough soap loaded on to your brush.

Hard water will somewhat hinder your lather-making with both creams ans soap, but if you can get a good lather with one, you can get it with the other.
You may just have to clean your brush more often.

Put a small amount of water on top of the puck of soap. A teaspoon maybe.
Soak brush.
Squeeze and shake excess water out of brush firmly.
Dump off water from the puck.
Load the brush vigorously until it looks like post 19 in this thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=184111

Take the loaded brush to the bowl or your face, adding water sparingly until the lather is shiny and slick.

Thank you 40boy for that link. Post 19 was very helpful and of course generated a question:

1) It looks like he really mashes his brush down when loading. I am just loading the tips. My brush never looks flattened out like that.
Do you or others mash your brush down like that ?

thanks

 

[cymric]

1) It looks like he really mashes his brush down when loading.

I'm ‘he’. Mashing is what you do when you make mashed potatoes. I don't even press the brush into the puck, but the brush should still make some contact with the surface of the soap otherwise it can't pick up the proto-lather. The brush’ own weight is already nearly sufficient. I only add a small extra push; you don't need more. I apply noticably more force while lathering up, really.

I am just loading the tips. My brush never looks flattened out like that. Do you or others mash your brush down like that ?

You can use a bit more force than that: I presume that when you apply the lather to your face you don't touch your face with just the tips of the brush either . My brush looked like that because when I applied it to the puck of Tabac it had a noticable breach caused by soaking it upside down. If you then put it on its head, it will fan out. Yesterday (while shaving for real) I put the brush on its side in the water to soak, and while loading turned it on its side to squeeze the breach shut now and then; this more or less did the trick in preventing the fan shape.

 

[CharlieTN]

I have found that when I've swirled on my soap as long as I think I should, and have as much protolather as I think I should, then I should double it. Seems to work everytime that way.

Charlie

 

[Sunburst]

I mentioned it in a thread yesterday, but it wasn't until I watched Michiganlover's VDH video that I realized just how loaded a brush needs to be. I've started loading to the point of having soap/protolather ooze out of the base of the knot. More lather than I could use in two days of shaving, but it beats the watery, airy crap I was getting.

Anywhere between cymric's level of loading and this will work nicely. Also, watch the boar lathering challenge videos for an idea of how much to load for face lathering. Spent way too much time watching those videos yesterday, but it has already given me some pointers to up my face lathering game.

Best of luck to you.

 

[mftoms59]

I live in Vegas, Hard Water here too, I keep a Gallon of Distilled water for soaking my brush & lathering. Any leftover water is stored in a 22oz microwaveable Mug, and my ceramic mortar acts as a cover. My contribution to saving/recycling water, you can refill your container at most Grocery Stores for ~25-30 cents.

I have no trouble lathering my soaps, both tallow based, or my creams. I do clean my brush with tap water after my shave, wrap a towel around the bristles and gently squeeze, then I do a few brush swirls on the towel and hang to dry.

I deep clean, distilled warm water & Vinegar ~6 months and let soak ~8 hours, rinse and dry. Flakes are normal around the base of the bristles, even with thorough rinsing, soap/cream residue does build up in hair. IMHO this doesn't seem to inhibit brush performance, if in doubt give it a quick water & vinegar bath.