Beginners Magic: Disappearing Lather

[TheBurgh]

Brush novice here, so ignorance is a defensible shield! For now.

To date, have tried inexpensive boar, horse and synthetic brushes. Soaked the boar and horse in shampoo water for a day, then cold water soaked for 2 days. The shaving results have been the same.

Tried a pre-shave cream lather with a moist brush. What little was there, it disappeared. Then a cream lather on the face with a moist brush. It disappeared. Luckily, a slick-enough film was left on my facial surface to complete a DFS shave, but no lather.

Pulled out an old can of Edge gel, hand-lathered it up to a thick cloud, then brushed. It disappeared.

*** (WHERE'S THE FOAM)?

Help. Please.

 

[nemo]

Use more product is the usual answer for this complaint.

Tried a pre-shave cream lather with a moist brush.

Not sure what you mean by this.

What cream are you using? Have you tried any soaps yet?

 

[Lane101]

Brush novice here, so ignorance is a defensible shield! For now.

To date, have tried inexpensive boar, horse and synthetic brushes. Soaked the boar and horse in shampoo water for a day, then cold water soaked for 2 days. The shaving results have been the same.

Tried a pre-shave cream lather with a moist brush. What little was there, it disappeared. Then a cream lather on the face with a moist brush. It disappeared. Luckily, a slick-enough film was left on my facial surface to complete a DFS shave, but no lather.

Pulled out an old can of Edge gel, hand-lathered it up to a thick cloud, then brushed. It disappeared.

*** (WHERE'S THE FOAM)?

Help. Please.

Probably swept up into the brush. Product is designed to to be hand lathered quickly. Could also be that reworking the Edge lather with a brush somehow degrades it or perhaps the canned product degraded over time (old can of Edge). That said others have had success using canned product, including Edge, with a brush per the link below so clearly YMMV. Note that a natural hair boar brush will "eat" a lot more soap than a synthetic.

Recommend trying the brushes with some shave soap. Since you are in the U.S. some Van Der Hagen Luxury soap will work well with your brushes (works well with my synthetic) and is reasonably priced at typically under $5. Easily builds good lather with lots of slickness thanks to the glycerin and often sold in regular grocery and pharmacy stores. If you enjoy the results from that you can then explore the many other soap options out there with plenty in a budget range like Van Der Hagen.

shave gels with brushes???

I love jack black beard lube during the warmer months. Especially because its on the average +100 degrees during summer in So Cal. I love nice warm lather of creams but not during summer. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone lathers with beard lube or any other kind of shave gel with a brush...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[TheBurgh]

Use more product is the usual answer for this complaint.


Not sure what you mean by this.

What cream are you using? Have you tried any soaps yet?

Proraso Red Pre-shave Cream as a first coat. Only doing this first layer until the jar empties. Cremo after that.

 

[SydneyShaver]

Brushless product doesn't work with a brush. Thats why its brushless. You are meant to smear it on your face not mix it up with air. If you are using a product designed to lather, then yes a brush can work well.

 

[musicman1951]

You need to start with a different product. Decide if you want to try a cream or a soap and then go to the appropriate forum and read a few "favorite cream (or soap) posts. You'll find two things:

1. There are a lot of good ones out there.
2. A handful will keep appearing on many shaver's lists. I'd start with one of those.

Moist brush is a fine start. Load it like you hate it - especially the first time - and then add water until you're happy.

 

[muzichead]

Proraso Red Pre-shave Cream as a first coat. Only doing this first layer until the jar empties. Cremo after that.

This might be your 1st problem as pre-shave cream "is not" shaving cream!! It's a cream used to moisen your beard and prep it to be shaved.... I stopped using Proraso pre-shave cream as it interfered with my lather and always turned out too thin.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

As it's been said, a pre-shave is made to be put on by hand. Think of it as a lotion to soften your whiskers. After a few minutes rinse it off. Then apply real shave soap or cream that is made to be used with a brush.

Now my opinion is if you take a warm shower before shaving then any pre-shave is not needed as your whiskers are prepared. Clean whiskers cut better than oily whiskers. I gave up on pre-shave after the first couple of weeks as I saw no difference. But, To each their own. It's not your brush! But learn to use your brush with proper soap. Canned goo is not made to be used with a brush either.

 

[NoahYoung860]

Have you tried Williams Mug Shaving Soap?

 

[Multum in parvo]

Have you tried Williams Mug Shaving Soap?

Which is discontinued and might only be found in some dusty nook of a brick and mortar nowadays. I think online it is picked clean at the regular price by now as well.

After an initial soak and used frequently Williams is not hard to lather. New boar and fresh puck might give you some troubles though.

 

[NoahYoung860]

Which is discontinued and might only be found in some dusty nook of a brick and mortar nowadays. I think online it is picked clean at the regular price by now as well.

After an initial soak and used frequently Williams is not hard to lather. New boar and fresh puck might give you some troubles though.

Suggesting Williams was a not-so-inside joke on my part.

Williams is not hard to lather. The lather produced, however, is not suitable for shaving, IMHO.
I've been trying to get it to work for about 8 years. For once I'd like to see a video where someone lathers it and then actually shaves with it. I've shaved with it, but regretted it afterwards. The only way I got it to work was by adding other ingredients to the lather, which defeats the purpose.

Home | williamsmugsoap - https://www.williamsmugsoap.com/

I heard it was discontinued, but their website doesn't mention anything. I know, people have posted responses from Williams confirming it.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Suggesting Williams was a not-so-inside joke on my part.

Williams is not hard to lather. The lather produced, however, is not suitable for shaving, IMHO.
I've been trying to get it to work for about 8 years. For once I'd like to see a video where someone lathers it and then actually shaves with it. I've shaved with it, but regretted it afterwards. The only way I got it to work was by adding other ingredients to the lather, which defeats the purpose.

Home | williamsmugsoap - https://www.williamsmugsoap.com/

I heard it was discontinued, but their website doesn't mention anything. I know, people have posted responses from Williams confirming it.

I used it to shave my head and sometimes my mug. Always used a boar brush and loaded heavily, this worked quite well. Arko is easier/quicker to lather and the scent is pretty similar. Being based in Europe makes buying Arko easier as well so now I’m down to 2 pucks of Williams vs 24 of Arko

 

[BigJ]

Great advice above (once you get past the satire)!
1. Use a product designed to work with a brush.
2. More product.

Stick with this and you will get the results you want!

 

[Ron R]

A couple of things I can think of that will improve you lathering possibly. I bowl lather and some of my early problems making nice lather was leaving to much water in the brush and then trying to make my lather with less bubbles. If your getting bubbles it usually indicates to much water and you have to keep stirring a lot to get that shiny cream texture.
I found to just add a few drops of water by hand is all that is needed, thicker lather should be better than thined out lather that dissipates on a person.
2nd important part for myself is adding enough soap or cream to the bowl at first to get the shave done with enough lather, if there is soap left in the bowl use on next shave to make some ubber lather possibly.
If adding just the right amount of water is a problem just use a mister and that will dial things in a lot better until you are happy with lather quality, my mister with 2 pumps is about 12 droplets of water what I estimated when spraying in the palm of my hand. Misting lather is superior to other methods I have found but I do not always use it because I'm in a hurry or more careful adding water with the tips of my brush.

Have some great shaves!

 

[RayClem]

What is you budget for a shaving soap?

I have tried well over 100 soap and cream formulations. With most of them, I can easily build a lather that will last for 5 shaving passes.

Some creams are designed to be used brushless. Some contain no ingredients that will even produce a lather. However, a few like Cremo will made a pseudo lather if you use a brush. Although Cremo is far from my best soap, it is my choice for travel. I carry a tube of Cremo and a cheap synthetic brush with me and build my lather in a coffee cup from the hotel room.

In my experience, there is a reasonable correlation between price and performance, but not always. I have yet to find an inexpensive soap that meets my expectations. However, that being said, I have tried a few expensive soaps that do not meet my expectations either. Most, but not all, of the better performing soaps in my collection fall in the $20-30 price range.

If you are interested in my recommendations, send me a PM.

 

[TheBurgh]

Must admit that I am a bit confused, not an unusual state of mine.

Do many hard soap users perceive most creams as "brushless?” I've seen plenty of credible videos which demonstrate using shaving creams in a bowl and/or face lather.

A better question (perhaps): Are shave bars, sticks, gels, creams and croaps designed to be "brushless?” Or is that a common perception? If not, how can a buyer know which is " brush friendly" and which is "brushless?”

Led Zeppelin "Dazed and Confused"

 

[Multum in parvo]

Must admit that I am a bit confused, not an unusual state of mine.

Do many hard soap users perceive most creams as "brushless?” I've seen plenty of credible videos which demonstrate using shaving creams in a bowl and/or face lather.

A better question (perhaps): Are shave bars, sticks, gels, creams and croaps designed to be "brushless?” Or is that a common perception? If not, how can a buyer know which is " brush friendly" and which is "brushless?”

Led Zeppelin "Dazed and Confused"

The vast majority of products discussed here are to be used with a brush. Brushless is a niche for special use cases.

Pre shave products and gels are not shaving creams. Look out for stuff like Proraso shaving cream (green, red, blue, white). La Toja, Speick, Lavanda, Omega, Lea etc.

There is so much stuff out there and so many threads on budget and high end creams that you will easily find something interesting for you.

Just use the right tools for the job.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Here you can find creams that will work with your brush.

Best Inexpensive Cream - IYHO

I was interested in getting a cream (just one), but I've spent quite a bit of money recently on straight razors, a new brush, a couple of soaps, so I'm looking for a budget-minded cream that is still a good one. That will give me two soaps and a cream.

www.badgerandblade.com

"Best" performing Cream?

Fitjar Island creams. You can get both creams and hard sops in the same scent. I get good results if I add some cream to my brush after I load the brush with soap. Tobs in a tube for sensitive skin. Better then the regular Tobs in my opinion.

www.badgerandblade.com

Palmolive Shaving Cream

Just want to give a shout out to the Palmolive shaving cream line. There are 3 that I like (I think that's the whole line): Classic, Sensitive Skin and Mentholated. All are equally good, nice dense lather, slick and protective but won't clog your razor and very, very creamy. The scents are...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[NoahYoung860]

In all seriousness, once I read the thread about well-hydrated lather-making with creams, (an acronym I can't remember now, something about dripping peaks), my lather and shaves have greatly improved. (There's always room for improvement, gents.) It has worked very well with the 2 creams I have been using recently.)

Another biggie for me was using a synthetic brush. I find it is easier to lather in general than the badger and boar that I had been using. Plus the synthetic dries much quicker, and doesn't start out with a smell. YMMV.

 

[TheBurgh]

Here you can find creams that will work with your brush.

Thank you kindly for these important references.

You are a Scholar and Gentleman!