im telling you there is a conspiracy going on to trick consumers into believing shaving soaps and creams are slicker than they really are. there are some brands out there that are worse than other but on a whole there is a conspiracy. even with the artisans ive tried. there is no sweet spot for cushion and slickness. you either sacrifice one for the other, no exceptions. i gust did an experiment. i used a soap and swirld the brush for 30 seconds and then i went to a bowl and kept adding water till i was convinced it couldent hold anymore without being totally uneusable. I COULDENT GET AN EVEN LAYER FOR CUSHION! the **** started dripping off my brush while i was applying it and you could very distinctly see skin under it. not just a hint but enough that ion places where i actually tried to paint it on the strokes put most of it where the painting stoke started and ended. could barely even tell there was any inbetween. i tried even using the bare minimum of contact with my face from the brush and even that was too much. the slickness was markedly better. much better in fact. but anything below this point i would get cushion and very reduced slickness. and i mean litterally everything below it holding the max water it could i only got cushion to greater degrees the less water i added. even just a tiny amount down from maximum water capacity the slickness dropped dramatically. what the **** gives here? are there no kind of compariotive tests these makers can do to give a general rating about slickness without using false advertising. in my history of all the soaps ive used to lather with. it all goes the same way as i mentioned above. oh and noit only that the less water i add not only does it feel less slick it starts to feel sticky. like its holing the blade to my face even at a spine widths. what am i doing wrong here, if its supposed to be that watery how in the **** do you all spread it evenly oin your face, sorry for all the cursing im just irritated beyond belief that after 2-3 years of using stragight razors im STILL getting as much irritation as i do. i know its not my razors b efore anyone chimes in with that garbage they pass every test i put them through with flying colors. and i dont think itsd the pressure cause i havent found a prtessure range where it doesnt jitter when shaving. this is all crap and im really starting to think i should just go back to a dispoasble and canned cream at least then i got a predictable shave
a vast conspiracy against us wetshavers!
- Thread starter Staggers and Jags
- Start date
lasta
Blade Biter
You are missing a very important factor, amount of lubricant.
30 seconds is not enough.
Getting good lather is easy when you use enough soap.
30 seconds is not enough.
Getting good lather is easy when you use enough soap.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Zero cushion and maximum slickness? Sounds like perfect lather to me. 
I've been able to shave with all of the two dozen (or so) soaps and creams I've used...even Arko!
Sure, there are differences, just not enough to impact my shaves significantly.
Sure, there are differences, just not enough to impact my shaves significantly.
Best advice I can give:
1.Damp brush, load lots. As much as the brush will hold. Then more. If the soap won't load well add a tiny bit of water to the tips.
2. If you're using a bowl, take your loaded brush and start working the it around. After 20 or 30 seconds, wet the tips (A LITTLE, flick off the excess) and work some more. Don't add too much water at this point.
3. Apply it to your face. It should be a little sticky. Wet the tips again and work the water into the soap on your face. Add water gradually. You should be able to feel when it's nice and slick. Shave. I like mine wet but not quite drippy or runny.
4. Use carriage returns.
Making lather is like mixing sack-crete. Start dry and add water gradually. You can always add more water but you can't take it out. Once you get it nailed down you can do it without loading as much soap initially.
1.Damp brush, load lots. As much as the brush will hold. Then more. If the soap won't load well add a tiny bit of water to the tips.
2. If you're using a bowl, take your loaded brush and start working the it around. After 20 or 30 seconds, wet the tips (A LITTLE, flick off the excess) and work some more. Don't add too much water at this point.
3. Apply it to your face. It should be a little sticky. Wet the tips again and work the water into the soap on your face. Add water gradually. You should be able to feel when it's nice and slick. Shave. I like mine wet but not quite drippy or runny.
4. Use carriage returns.
Making lather is like mixing sack-crete. Start dry and add water gradually. You can always add more water but you can't take it out. Once you get it nailed down you can do it without loading as much soap initially.
^^ that sounds like a problem right there.
The amount of water needs to be adjusted based on which soap you are using and how much you loaded in your brush.
Add too much water to any soap and it will be useless. Some soaps are more tolerant than others.
- Thread starter
- #8
again ive experiemented with ALL my soaps at various times through out my time wetshaving. this i a recurring pattern out of at least 80 percent of the soaps i have and have tried there either is slickness or cushion but not both
- Thread starter
- #9
ok sso even the times that ive swirld and loaded soap for over a minute isnt enough either cause i have done that and same results. i have also tried the opposite of that
I can't ride a bicycle, therefore bicycles are unrideable I tell you!
- Thread starter
- #11
thats why im saying there is some kind of scheme going on a social experiment or something where they say they are all different often enough that people believe them . in terms of lubrication and cushion factor
Dude, see a therapist. It's just shave soap.
- Thread starter
- #13
ive been at this for 3-4 years now shaving every day the likelyhood if it being a problem with me is so low that its almost negligable there is absolutely no way through odds alone that in the last 3-4 years of shaving 7 days a week only missing when im sick which is very infrequently maybe once or twice a year. there are better odds of me getting struck by lighning thant it to be me doing it exactly wrong every single time. maybe once or twice i can ad mit that but im am almost 100 percent certain that by this point its an issue with the soaps and not me
- Thread starter
- #15
this might sound like a joke but im being totally honest when i say this. i just had a call with my psychaiatrist thursday and tshe raised my anti-psychotic but the pharmacy didnt deliver it. schizoaffective disorder is a scourge on men. its very frustrating for me when things i do during my hobbies consistently dont work out because of one of the items used in it
lasta
Blade Biter
I'm sorry to hear about your shaving woes.
IMO, there is nothing wrong with canned foam, I use them regularly. If anything, they come out of the can the same every time.
IMO, there is nothing wrong with canned foam, I use them regularly. If anything, they come out of the can the same every time.
- Thread starter
- #17
yeah yeah, im not saying i9m smarter than i am im saying through experience there is something wrong with the soaps
Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
- Thread starter
- #18
i might just go back to gel at least with that i have a predictable repeatable outcome
- Thread starter
- #19
really dude your going to insult me like that. get real. you have no jsutification to say what kind of skill I have based on your internal assumptions. you cannot in any way say that i have low skill. i could even say that the same thing applies to you but that doesnt make it true. be mature about thisDunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia
Did you read the page? People of all levels of intelligence are susceptible. The fact that you have been doing something for a long time is no guarantee you will automatically be good at it; especially if you are doing it incorrectly. Which, based on your wall of text, you are. Rather than rant about social experiments, try acknowledging the fact that you still have something to learn, and go about improving your situation, rather than blaming Big Soap™.
