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Am I doing it all wrong?

as a relatively new wet shaver I am feeling my way through the soap/lather conundrum. I have been using fairly soft soaps up to this point but recently due to an extremely generous pif from another member I now have a few sticks and a hard pick or two. I have been placing a small amount of the soft soap in my bowl and then using it for making my lather. Should I be doing it differently or how would I go about using the sticks in my bowl and the pucks would seem to me that I would be stuck using the same one until it was gone this way.
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
Sticks are for face lathering, unless you grate the stick into a container and then treat it like a puck.

For the pucks, if they arent in a container you might want to get some inexpensive containers to store them in.

I almost always load my brush on the puck and then face lather.
 
as a relatively new wet shaver I am feeling my way through the soap/lather conundrum. I have been using fairly soft soaps up to this point but recently due to an extremely generous pif from another member I now have a few sticks and a hard pick or two. I have been placing a small amount of the soft soap in my bowl and then using it for making my lather. Should I be doing it differently or how would I go about using the sticks in my bowl and the pucks would seem to me that I would be stuck using the same one until it was gone this way.

There are a lot of ways to do this and as for wrong not necessarily if the lather has been working and your way has worked for you then it's fine.
The way I do it is
1. Take a semi wet brush and swirl it on the puck of soap until starts to lather shouldn't take but 15-30 seconds maybe a minute on some harder soaps.
2. Take the brush and swirl it around on a wet face until a thick foamy lather forms. 3.Add water as needed by dipping the tips of the brush in water
4. Paint the lather across the whole face

If you prefer bowl lathering to face lathering just do step 2 in a bowl.

As for the stick rub it on a wet face to create a very thin layer of soap then start building a lather with a brush on your face.


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Rub the stick on your wet face then face lather with your choice of a wet brush.
My pucks of soap I put in a Pyrex 1 cup bowl with a lid and then use in rotation. I both bowl and face lather but found in learning how to lather that bowl lathering you can see what a good lather should look and feel like.

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as a relatively new wet shaver I am feeling my way through the soap/lather conundrum. I have been using fairly soft soaps up to this point but recently due to an extremely generous pif from another member I now have a few sticks and a hard pick or two. I have been placing a small amount of the soft soap in my bowl and then using it for making my lather. Should I be doing it differently or how would I go about using the sticks in my bowl and the pucks would seem to me that I would be stuck using the same one until it was gone this way.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say sticks probably aren't the best thing for learning starting out. That being said I would suggest watching a lathering video on you tube, there's lots of them. That way you can get a visual and explanation at the same time.

A few general tips for non creams, make sure you load enough onto your brush, better to have more then you need than not enough. Swirl for 30 ish seconds, add water slowly and just work your lather up. Videos should help with the rest
 
All said above is good advice.

Also, watch some YouTube videos. There is a lot of very informative and entertaining shave videos out there.

There are also some people who don't know the first thing who pass themselves off as YouTube "experts," so take everything with a grain of salt.
 
Watching videos on how to lather is what caused me to question my methods. I saw nothing that said put the small chunk (for lack of a better word) of soap in my bowl then make my lather. Most all the videos show lathering only on the face that I found so far. My lather has been very functional and worked well I was just attempting to find out how my methods need to change when switching to the harder soaps and sticks
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
If you want to try a stick soap in a bowl, cut off several thin "coins" and stick them around the bottom of your lather bowl and lather right on top of them. Three, four, or five eighth-inch thick rounds ought to work fine for a week's test.

A little chunk won't give you enough surface area to pick up enough product.
 
If your approach is working for you, then you are doing fine, TJ. As others have said, sticks are typically wet, then rubbed right on your face in a circular way. I hate doing that because I end up with water dripping all down my arm. I take sticks and slice them like a salami and put them in an Old spice mug. Voila - instant puck.

For your soaps, I also recommend an Old spice mug or there are glass bowls at Walmart, Target, etc. Put the soap in those, cover it with water while you shower to soften, then load your brush right on the puck and complete the lather building on your face.
 
Watching videos on how to lather is what caused me to question my methods. I saw nothing that said put the small chunk (for lack of a better word) of soap in my bowl then make my lather. Most all the videos show lathering only on the face that I found so far. My lather has been very functional and worked well I was just attempting to find out how my methods need to change when switching to the harder soaps and sticks
Ok, hard soaps (pucks) triple milled, slightly softer like Stirling, Mickey Lee, Mike's, etc.

-Soak your brush for a few minutes
- optional, put some water on top of puck to soften top up
-squeeze out most, not all of the water from the brush
-load the brush on the puck for 30-45 seconds
-I am a bowl latherer so start swirling brush in your bowl
-keep swirling and add water a bit at a time to build your lather

Same instructions for soft soaps/creams like Cella except don't load off the tub just put about an almond sized dollop in your bowl, all else is the same
 
I believe the part I'm missing is the loading the brush part. I guess I am loading the brush and building the lather in one step by putting the soft soap in the bottom of my bowl and then swirling the brush til I get what looks like whip cream
 
I believe the part I'm missing is the loading the brush part. I guess I am loading the brush and building the lather in one step by putting the soft soap in the bottom of my bowl and then swirling the brush til I get what looks like whip cream

You're close then do the same thing you're doing like that on the puck then swirl it for a lather you've pretty much already got it man


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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say sticks probably aren't the best thing for learning starting out.
With all due respect, and I'm not saying that you are wrong, I feel the opposite about sticks. To me the advantages, especially for someone new are 1. It is very easy to see how much soap is on your face and adjust that to the previous day's experience. 2. When adding water and building the lather it is already on your face, so when it's right, it is right, and it is right where it belongs. The first time I used a soap as a stick was also the last time I used a bowl for anything other than soaking a brush. As they say YMMV.
 
I guess I am having difficulty understanding how you see the amount of soap on your face when you lather that way. Will have to try it and see it for myself


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I guess I am having difficulty understanding how you see the amount of soap on your face when you lather that way. Will have to try it and see it for myself


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Just curious, what type of brush do you use? I have had harder times loading a synthetic off harder pucks, just takes me longer than my badgers.
When I use a shave stick I wet my face, wet the end of the stick and rub all over. I have grated hard pucks and made my own sticks with old deodorant containers. Good luck

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Bowl lathering you have better control over every aspect of building your lather. Plus it's easier to see your volume, any air bubbles, control water, etc. Also operating under the assumption your face can take the trial and error of building the lather, mine can't, I get red all over face lathering so I nixed it long ago. Bowl lather and just paint in on
 
Some great advice above! All I would add is to be sure you use enough product, "Load it like you hate it!"
 
I get where you are coming from, as with my softer soaps, I smear a pea sized chunk in the bottom of my lather bowl.
For harder soaps, you will load the soap onto the brush directly from the container - I use a wet, well shaken brush, put about a teaspoon or so of water on top of the soap, then load for 20 sec or so (swirl the brush around on top of the soap) - until it gets pasty on the brush.
Then add a little water to the lather bowl and build the lather there.
Good luck!
 
There are a lot of ways to do this and as for wrong not necessarily if the lather has been working and your way has worked for you then it's fine.
The way I do it is
1. Take a semi wet brush and swirl it on the puck of soap until starts to lather shouldn't take but 15-30 seconds maybe a minute on some harder soaps.
2. Take the brush and swirl it around on a wet face until a thick foamy lather forms. 3.Add water as needed by dipping the tips of the brush in water
4. Paint the lather across the whole face

If you prefer bowl lathering to face lathering just do step 2 in a bowl.

As for the stick rub it on a wet face to create a very thin layer of soap then start building a lather with a brush on your face.


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Excellent advice. You may have to play with the water/product ratio to get it right. Generally, I think it's best to use less water and add as necessary.It's easier to add water than starting out with too much.
 
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