Am I the only person who can't lather Cella?

[DrAwkward]

I am on an extended business trip (1 week), which is unusual for me. Rarely am I ever away from the bat cave (on business) for more than 1 shave. This time, I have had to shave and put on a tie for 6 straight days. The only shave soap I brought with me was Cella. Ordinarily, I make super lather with MWF (or Arko) and a shave cream. I thought, I'll just pack the Cella, what could go wrong?
Everything!
I can't lather Cella! (I think that qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act).
Using a Simpson's Chubby 1 (Best) - aka Jackhammer -, I finally produced a modestly acceptable lather after 90 seconds of tearing at the soap.
Why can't I get a decent lather? Is it because I am using a badger hair brush? I thought about using a dead rat to see if that would work any better, but this hotel has only bed bugs (no rats).
What is the problem? It can't be my brush. The water here is VERY soft. Might that have an effect?
What am I doing wrong? Marcoooooooo -- what is the deal???

 

[OldSaw]

Am I the only person who can't lather Cella?

Probably...

 

[OldSaw]

I am on an extended business trip (1 week), which is unusual for me. Rarely am I ever away from the bat cave (on business) for more than 1 shave. This time, I have had to shave and put on a tie for 6 straight days. The only shave soap I brought with me was Cella. Ordinarily, I make super lather with MWF (or Arko) and a shave cream. I thought, I'll just pack the Cella, what could go wrong?
Everything!
I can't lather Cella! (I think that qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act).
Using a Simpson's Chubby 1 (Best) - aka Jackhammer -, I finally produced a modestly acceptable lather after 90 seconds of tearing at the soap.
Why can't I get a decent lather? Is it because I am using a badger hair brush? I thought about using a dead rat to see if that would work any better, but this hotel has only bed bugs (no rats).
What is the problem? It can't be my brush. The water here is VERY soft. Might that have an effect?
What am I doing wrong? Marcoooooooo -- what is the deal???

My first guess is water, but it could be the brush. Try cleaning your brush with some shampoo and see what happens.

 

[TBoner]

What specifically is wrong with your lather? Too thin? Too bubbly?

When I travel to my in-laws, I adjust to the very soft water by loading with a drier brush, or else the lather comes so easily that I wind up whipping excess air in and get something bubbly, fluffy, and not dense or concentrated enough.

You're using a brush that holds a lot of water, and if there's too much in the knot when you start lathering, the very soft water will generate a very bubbly lather unless you build slowly at the outset...or shake a bit more water out of the brush.

If the lather is too thin or runny, your problem lies elsewhere.

Cella has lathered for me in some very tough situations...

 

[The Shaver]

I can't lather any of these either. I literally load MWF for 2 minutes and add a few, like 3 drops and it's too wet. The lather is watery and weak. I lathered for 5 solid minutes and still nothing. I can get Cella to lather, but after burrowing a hole into the soap. Once again, add ANY amount of water and it's too wet. I don't get it. I have watched every youtube video on the subject regarding hard water and these two soaps...I'm probably going to sell the remains or PIF them.

 

[Marco]

Sir, how are you proceeding? Any pic of the lather? The only thing I can say now that it's certainly not the brush. No matter if boar or badger, Cella can be lathered up beautifully with both. And the Chubby 1 is superb.

 

[DrAwkward]

My first attempt was in the shower, because, well, I shave in the shower. The lather was runny and thin. Next, (day 2) I tried to shave at the sink. The lather was both thin and dry (I was under an A/C vent that dried out the thin lather in seconds). The next day (3), I shut off the A/C and loaded the brush for a longer period. Modest improvement. On day 4, I used slightly more water, loaded for 90 seconds upside down. More modest improvement; the lather was still a bit thin, but it was acceptable. For the final 2 days, I put a bit of bar soap on my face before my usual face lather after loading the brush for 2 minutes. Lather still not great, but it was good enough.
I head home in a few hours, back to my hard water and my super lather routine.

 

[VWGTI]

I face lather cella. I soak the brush in warm water for a couple minutes and shake out the water 3 times no more! (Crucial) Then I go to work loading for about 30-45 seconds. The lather will start over flowing in the cella bowl but keep at it. Then go directly to your face. Took me a while to figure it out.

 

[mikelz777]

I just lathered some Cella yesterday after not using it for months. I've been concentrating on creams lately.

I covered the soap with warm water and let it soak for about 5 minutes. I shook the water out of my brush (but not excessively), dumped the water covering the Cella and then proceeded to load my brush until the whole end of the brush was covered in soap. As I lathered in my bowl, I had to dip the tip of my brush in water several times to add water. I got a nice, thick, rich lather out of it which left me wondering why I haven't been using this more. Perhaps it's because I'm using a VDH badger brush which sheds a lot more hairs when I use soaps with this method. I probably lost at least 8.

 

[galopede]

Do you face lather or bowl lather? I never have much luck bowl lathering soaps and I eventually stopped and only face lather these days. Cella gives and excellent lather that way and I don't do too long at the soap either so not using too much product.

Gareth

 

[demaro]

Cella will work with any brush , but a boar brush will work a lot better and a lot faster than a badger brush..

 

[Kostas_Greece]

I second all of the above, but i will insisit on face lathering and try to start drier on that Chubby. I get tons of lather with my Cella and today was 39C (Greece).

 

[Deltaboy]

Nope I can lather it but it leaves red faced.

 

[bassopotamus]

I don't get a pretty lather with cella, but I get a nice slick lather and awesome shaves

 

[Toothpick]

soak your brush for a few minutes. then give the brush one or two gentle shakes, pretty much just enough so the water isn't dripping out of the brush, but you want water to still remain in the brush. swirl the wet brush around the soap in circles while you slowly count to 30, you can even go to 45 if you want. soap will overflow, it will be a little messy but that's good. load that brush with soap!

then proceed to face lather. when you think you have a decent lather keep on working the brush around.

That's my routine with Cella and it has never let me down. WET brush, LOAD LOAD LOAD, face lather a lot.

it gives me a really slick lather and enough for 3 passes no problem.

 

[Mandina]

I had a WONDERFUL shave this morning with Cella--thick, rich, creamy, slick, moisturizing, and nicely scented lather--face lathering with a merely damp Muhle HJM black fibre brush, gradually adding water to the brush tips and loading for more than 60 seconds (as, with my water, I have to do with every soap except RR XXX). I ended up with enough lather for 5 passes, even after squeezing some ultra thick lather from the brush not once but twice. So not wanting to commit the sin of wasting Cella, I engaged in endless Sunday-morning blade buffing. I don't find Cella to be brush dependent or dependent on wetter versus drier brush, but I do need to load it for 60+ seconds.

 

[DrAwkward]

After a few days, I will try it again at home with my usual hard water. I love the almond scent ...

 

[alpster]

I shaved with Cella last night. Wonderful lather and an exceptional shave. I think hard water is your issue. Try it with some bottled water.

Ronnie

 

[DrAwkward]

I tried Cella again this morning. No problems at all. It must have been the water. I would have thought soft water would help lather, but not in this case ...

 

[JamesBlades]

I used to have problems lathering Cella as well. Ironically, and against all advice, I found that the best trick to lathering it was LESS load time.

I start by soaking my badger brush as I shower. Before I start loading, I give the brush 3 or 4 good shakes so that it's relatively dry. I then load for about 10 seconds without putting too much pressure on the soap. I then palm lather with a very wet palm and have a great lather in about 30 seconds.

The palm lathering part is totally personal preference. I prefer it over a bowl because it's easier to control and prefer it over the face because I have very sensitive skin and can end up irritating my face just with the brush if it takes too long to build a good lather.