Beginner having trouble with lather, tried everything

[lilayZee]

Hey everyone,

Pretty new to wet shaving, done about 5 shaves now. Used to use cartridges and got really bad razer burn due to senstiive skin. Made me quit shaving and went to an eletric trimmer for about 3 years. Bumped across wet shaving so I thought what better way to get back in to shaving. Bought a whole bunch of stuff,
- Merkur HD 34C
- Edwin jagger XL silvertip brush
- Anthony logistics pre shave oil
- Taylor of old bond street sandalwood shave soap
- Truefitt & hill grafton aftershave
- got a sample pack of razers (used merkur, astra and feathers to present)

I Feel like my technique has been improving since my first wet shave, pressure and strokes getting better. But I just can't get the lather down packed which is causing me to still get razer burn. I've read plenty online about it and watched a couple youtube videos and still no luck. Wondering if anyone could give any tips or anything with regards to my technique otherwise I'm going to buy another soap and try that out.

I've been soaking my brush in a bowl filled with warm water whilst I shower. When I get to the shaving I squeeze out the majority of the water from the base of the brush and give it a good flick. I load the brush with soap, tried everything in regards to this, used to do a good 30-60 seconds till the brush was obviously loaded then I tried doing around 20-30 seconds because I read somewhere to much soap could stop the lather from happening, still no luck. then I go to the bowl and swirl away. I've tried with no water to begin with, a bit of water to begin with, and a lot of water to begin with. Tried adding 2-3 drops at a time at different intervals and nothing. Pretty much when I load the brush a good amount of soap gets on and when I start swirling in the bowl it feels like its too soapy, and as soon as I add 2-3 drops all the soap just disappears literally, the brush and bowl become completely empty. I've tried directly on my face and the same thing happens. I can get the soap on my face and its just a really thick layer of soap caked on with no lather and when I add 2-3 drops of water it straight away thins out and just disappears completely. At a loss for why this keeps happening. Any help appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Accionmutante]

TOBS is really easy to lather, what do you mean by loading the brush? If you are rubbing the brush on the cream then maybe you are loading too much since this is mainly done when using soaps. Try putting a large almond size piece of cream on a wet worm mug and whisk away. Maybe you will need to add some more water, don't shy from it, a wet lather is better than dry and sticky lather. The good lather should be as fluffy as possible without it having large bubbles in it, if you make it too bubbly just whisk some more.

P.S. Welcome to B&B and congrats on your kit, it's all great stuff. Regarding the pre shave oil be mindful not to put more than 4-5 drops (literally). Too much of it will kill your lather and clog the razor.

 

[lilayZee]

Thanks for the reply. I've been using about 4 drops of the pre shave oil so thats good. But with regards to the TOBS, it's a soap not a cream, so not sure if what you said applies.

 

[Accionmutante]

Aaah. That changes everything. In that case pal, load it like you hate it, until you can squeeze the bristles on the brush and they feel mushy and lather on wet mug. The way you describe it though (layer of soap caked on and disappearing with 2-3 drops of water is indeed very odd. Maybe the water in your area is too hard? I know you can use an alum block to make it softer. Maybe try to build a lather with a bit of bottled water and see if that makes a difference. Also try a TOBS cream, they are really easy to lather.

Best of luck and sorry for the mistake.

 

[lilayZee]

Thats cool! I have loaded it up like I hate it plenty of times to try it haha yea the water in my city is extremely hard. I wasn't sure if that was really going to be a defining factor. I guess I'll try distilled water next time and see what happens. Are the creams less effective at lubricating the skin compared a soap when used correctly?

 

[BSAGuy]

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B. Wander on over to the Hall of Fame and introduce yourself more fully.

 

[Accionmutante]

let us know how it goes. It's interesting to see the difference water can make. I use TOBS creams (that's why I automatically assumed you do as well), the soaps I use are from other companies (mainly DR. Harris, OSP, Holly Black and of course the Fat). I am very happy with TOBS creams and the lubrication they provide and making a lather is much easier and faster.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Have you tried skipping the bowl and face lathering?

 

[lilayZee]

Yea I have tried going straight on the face. Same deal. Its either really soapy or it all just disappears with the addition of 2-3 drops of water. I think my water is to hard to lather properly. I checked out my area and the hardness of my water is almost double what is considered on very hard water on some link I found on badger and blade for concentration of water hardness. I'll try distilled water.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Welcome to the B&B forums. Great advice above. The distilled water could make a big difference if you have hard water.

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[Graydog]

Welcome to B&B @lilayZee , I have heard that hard water is called that because it is "Hard" to make a good lather.
Try the distilled water and keep us posted .

 

[DCRIII]

Check this thread out. Supercharging, or as I call it the Jarick Method. It's what I do and it provides tons of lather!
New Lathering Concept: Supercharging!

 

[ackvil]

Try adding a tiny bit of cream to the mix. It's called superlather and should help.

 

[lilayZee]

Haha thats a good one gray dog. Will defiantly try using distilled water next time. Will be a couple days since i just shaved, but will report back if it helped. If that doesnt work ill give the supercharging concept a go, and my last bet will be to give up on soap and try a shaving cream out, or atleast mixing them together.

Thanks everyone for the replies! Been very helpful.

 

[BigJ]

Welcome! With soaps you really need to load more than you may think necessary, "Load it like you hate it!!" Use more product (and often more water) to get the lather you like. You might check out the wiki for more tips.

 

[Mitretnuh]

I have hard water, and use citric acid or lemme shine.

Try the Marco method

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[G-Dogg]

Try leaving out the shave oil and see if that makes a difference - PSO can be a complete lather-killer in some circumstances.

 

[Gman9537]

I'm gonna throw a curve at you. Go to Walmart or the drugstore. Pick up a $2 puck (or less in some stores) of Van der Hagen shave soap. If you can't lather with that, it's the water. If you can, it's the TOBS.

I've never used the TOBS soaps, but here's a how-to with a difficult lathering soap that I think works phenomenally

And what I do with other hard soaps that I think works pretty well is start with a pretty wet brush and a bloomed puck. Swirl it on the puck until foamy lather slops over the sides of the bowl. Catch this overflow and keep working it into the brush as you swirl. After about 90 seconds on the puck, you can take that to a bowl, you palm, or your face and work that into a dense creamy lather. You should have mounds of beautiful creamy lather when you're done.

Good luck!

 

[Mitretnuh]

And what I do with other hard soaps that I think works pretty well is start with a pretty wet brush and a bloomed puck. Swirl it on the puck until foamy lather slops over the sides of the bowl. Catch this overflow and keep working it into the brush as you swirl. After about 90 seconds on the puck, you can take that to a bowl, you palm, or your face and work that into a dense creamy lather. You should have mounds of beautiful creamy lather when you're done.

Good luck![/QUOTE]

+1
Try this.



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[gwsmallwood]

It's gonna take some time and some practice, but you've come to the right place.

First, TOBS is a triple-milled soap. That means it's REALLY dense and hard. Makes it a little trickier to lather than some, but you can do it.

1. "Bloom" the puck. That means pour a little bit of water on top of the soap and let it sit while your brush soaks. That will soften up the top of the soap a little bit. This technique can be a little controversial, and you'll eventually get to the point where this is optional, but I definitely recommend it while you're learning.
2. Load WAY more than you think you need. Looking back at my learning phase, my biggest problem was always that I didn't start with enough soap loaded. Load a TON of soap, then then add water VERY slowly, a tiny bit at a time.
3. Badger brushes are great for many, but I honestly had my biggest breakthrough with regards to lather quality when I switched to a synthetic brush. Way easier for me for some reason. If you can spare about $15 bucks, go to Italian Barber, Maggards, or Stirling and pick up one of their budget Plissoft style synthetics.
4. If you find the pre-shave oil helpful, make sure you go light on it and rub it in completely before attempting to lather. As some have mentioned, it can kill a soap's lathering ability.
5. Stay away from the bowl, especially if it doesn't have a grooved surface. To this day, I still can't quite get a good lather from a smooth-sided bowl.
6. You can try the distilled water, but I don't think it's going to make a huge difference. It didn't for me. The other items in this list made a much more significant impact for me.
7. Practice by palm lathering. Just load the brush and then try to lather it up on your palm. Do this a couple of times a day and it will speed up the learning curve.

Don't give up. My guess is that it will take you about 3 - 4 weeks to get it close to where you want it. If you want some other videos, Ruds Shaves has a pretty good one.

Good luck.