Bowl Lathering: Boy, did I have it wrong!

[Goblin]

I have absolutely mastered face lathering any soap, but cannot get bowl lathering to produce similar results. I always have to put the lather on my face and sweep back and forth to take it from fluffy to dense. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but there are no effective lathering guides online that are sufficiently thorough.

This sounds like my early experiences of bowl lathering back when I was a beginner, which resulted in me forming an early prejudice.

Obviously, I have been working on my own bowl lathering technique the past few days and have lathered up several soaps about eight times purely as practice exercises. I have two suggestions based on what I learned:

- Try a synth. I find synths make denser lathers with certain soaps.
- Load that brush good. Too much soap is better than too little.
- Just like on the face, add that water slowly. If you start with a totally squeezed out brush, a 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon of water is enough to get you started. Problems can arise if the brush isn't as squeezed out as you thought it was.
- Don't add more water until you reach the point where additional whipping isn't increasing the volume of lather. I just dribble a few drops at a time onto my brush then go back to work the lather. If you have enough lather but the consistency is too dry, you can fold in additional water to get it where you need it.

That ended up being four suggestions. I regret nothing.

@ewk: It sounds like my approach is the same as the "Foolproof" method. Starting with a lot of water never works for me - I just end up with foam.

 

[Lockback]

I like elegance.
I also like utility.
And I'm cheap.
So I use this converted dog bowl. It has nubs on the bottom that help create lather. It works beautifully.
Having said that, I am looking at replacing it with something a bit more ... sophisticated.
And, yes, elegant.

 

[bbobbdd]

I use the Captains Choice (heavyweight) Cooper Shave bowl. There are some for sale on Ebay.

 

[emwolf]

The Kitchen bowl will work but a Captains Choice or TRC bowl work a little faster IMO.

I second the Captain's Choice bowl. I use my heavyweight copper lather bowl almost exclusively these days.

 

[Happy Jack]

Collapsible silicone slow feed pet bowls work really well, cost very little and are virtually indestructibe. The small size fits nicely in one hand while lathering. They aren't very ornamental, but perfect if you value function over form.

 

[The Coffee Bandit]

This sounds like my early experiences of bowl lathering back when I was a beginner, which resulted in me forming an early prejudice.

Obviously, I have been working on my own bowl lathering technique the past few days and have lathered up several soaps about eight times purely as practice exercises. I have two suggestions based on what I learned:

- Try a synth. I find synths make denser lathers with certain soaps.
- Load that brush good. Too much soap is better than too little.
- Just like on the face, add that water slowly. If you start with a totally squeezed out brush, a 1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon of water is enough to get you started. Problems can arise if the brush isn't as squeezed out as you thought it was.
- Don't add more water until you reach the point where additional whipping isn't increasing the volume of lather. I just dribble a few drops at a time onto my brush then go back to work the lather. If you have enough lather but the consistency is too dry, you can fold in additional water to get it where you need it.

That ended up being four suggestions. I regret nothing.

@ewk: It sounds like my approach is the same as the "Foolproof" method. Starting with a lot of water never works for me - I just end up with foam.

I use something similar to foolproof for face lathering. How much pressure do you apply while bowl lathering? I'm try not adding any water until volume plateaus.

I pretty much always use synthetic brushes these days.

 

[Doc Dan]

I bowl leathered for years and then finally decided to palm leather and then from that I got into face lathering. I have never considered bowl lathering to be inferior and in fact for some soaps, it's a lot better than trying to do it on your face. Paul blathering is about the same as bowl lathering. If your skin is very sensitive, a very soft brush and a good bowl make good sense. I am not overly sensitive to sensitive soaps, but some do bother me and I don't use them. Some that I like the whole lot actually bother me. I don't wear colognes for that reason. But there are some scented soaps that I like quite well and don't bother me at all, and in fact, I thrive on them. My favorite unscented soap that I've ever tried so far is Stirling Beeswax.

 

[Goblin]

@Happy Jack & @Lockback I have seen those dog bowls. Unfortunately, my allotted cupboard in the bathroom (for some reason I only get one out of five - Lord knows what the others are full of) already overflows with brushes and soap, so even a collapsible bowl would be a squeeze. I need something that is ornamental enough to be left on the counter without attracting opprobrium from the domestic authorities!

How much pressure do you apply while bowl lathering?

Enough to splay the brush a bit. I have always liked brushes that splay relatively easily and that hasn't changed. My Yaqi Timberwolf is as much backbone as I want. I have encountered some synths that are like brooms - not my cup of tea.

 

[thombrogan]

Maybe I should start a journal for this kind of thing...

Highly recommended.

Your mention of taking extra exfoliation reminds me some folks; notably @Alum of Potash and @blade08 ; moving on to palm lathering.

I need something that is ornamental enough to be left on the counter without attracting opprobrium from the domestic authorities!

Never has a conundrum been more YMMV that this

 

[WThomas0814]

I've returned to full-time face lathering. For me, it is just better and more enjoyable. I didn't dislike bowl lathering, but, my whiskers prefer the additional stimulation of face lathering.

When I started bowl lathering, I found the link in my signature block (Foolproof Lather Discovery Process) to be immensely helpful. I very much liked the Captain's Choice and CaYuen bowls. I also purchased a Byron Lather Master, but never tried it. Fortunately, BST will assist me in finding them all loving new homes.

 

[Phoenixkh]

@Goblin , It does sound like we have similar skin issues. I started out bowl lathering. I ended up watching a YouTube video that suggested smearing the soap thin on the bottom of the shaving bowl.... Thankfully, I found that video after just a few shaves, so I learned to make good lather quickly.

I've used three different shaving bowls. One from ESC in Scotland... It was too small, ceramic and I ended up breaking my first one. Then I got the Timeless shaving bowl for travel. It worked well.... but I had seen the CaYuen bowls many times on YouTube videos and on a few forums besides this one, along with some FaceBook shaving groups. This was very early on (February 2020), before I found B&B, two weeks after I started wet shaving. I finally bought my first one in June of last year. I got the large size. I have to say.... They are not only beautiful but work up a lather in just a few swirls.

For the record, I've tried face lathering a few times, after I read so many people here who prefer face lathering to bowl lathering. I had the same skin reactions you did.... A completely ruddy face after the shave was completed... This was after I had changed to all unscented soaps. I'm sure you remember why I had to make that switch.

I do use a Captain's Choice Soap Locker. I have two of them: PAA Cube 2 Pre-Shave is melted into one of them; Stirling Pre-Shave into the other. I do load a shaving brush with pre-shave and apply it to my face. I don't have to make a "lather", exactly.... but perhaps that could qualify as face lathering. I put it on pretty wet, so I don't "work" it to make it lather.

On another sort of silly note: I have 4 Captain's Choice copper shaving bowls. I've never used one to make lather...... We use them around the house as accent pieces. Originally, I bought the Aquamarine bowl for my car keys... but my wife "borrowed" it as an accent piece. i bought another one for myself... Then added the Obsidian for the same purpose. The last one I bought to use it for its intended purpose. Unfortunately.... though perhaps not... I followed @SgtCrppls 's example and polished the regular heavy weight copper bowl to a bright finish.... It was too pretty to use for lathering... for me, at least. I have it next to "my" chair in the TV room, sitting on the end table. I keep a few odds and ends in there that I use regularly.... Heart monitor, etc.

In the end, though this post has gone on far too long.... There are many ways to make good lather. I bowl lather because my skin can't take the repeated brush strokes needed to get the lather where I want it to be. It turns out, because I use the lathering bowl to clean my brushes, there is no additional time needed for clean up. But for people who don't have skin issues, face lathering is a viable, and for them, preferable lathering method.

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

On another sort of silly note: I have 4 Captain's Choice copper shaving bowls. I've never used one to make lather...... We use them around the house as accent pieces. Originally, I bought the Aquamarine bowl for my car keys... but my wife "borrowed" it as an accent piece. i bought another one for myself... Then added the Obsidian for the same purpose. The last one I bought to use it for its intended purpose. Unfortunately.... though perhaps not... I followed @SgtCrppls 's example and polished the regular heavy weight copper bowl to a bright finish.... It was too pretty to use for lathering... for me, at least. I have it next to "my" chair in the TV room, sitting on the end table. I keep a few odds and ends in there that I use regularly.... Heart monitor, etc.

Please forward contact information for any and all of your relatives.

 

[Goblin]

It does sound like we have similar skin issues.

I don't think mine are anywhere near as bad as yours - I've read in your journal about one particular reaction you had when you started out that lasted 3 weeks. My worst case scenario so far was being puffy and sore for about 48hrs, but I frequently get lesser reactions from other soaps.

CaYuen bowls

I have seen these on Etsy but the price is a bit rich for my blood - it would cost about $130 to land one of these in Blighty and I can't really justify that at the moment. If I do drop that kind of sum on anything this year, it'll probably be a Stando or a DX kami.

Please forward contact information for any and all of your relatives.

I can see that you have a UK distributor for your bowls but they don't have any in stock at the moment. Do you know if there are plans for them to restock? I can get the Chinese knock-offs of your design from Amazon UK, but I would much rather go for the real thing and support a small business than putting money in the pocket of the CCP (or Amazon for that matter - they're nearly as bad).

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Hello Jim,

Will send you a PM @Goblin.

 

[nemo]

I used to always "mug" lather before I joined B&B. Straight on top of the puck.
I found all the "cool" guys here were simply face lathering and I figured I'd switch.
After a few years I found myself back using the mug often with a bowl for final lather creation.

 

[Rob72]

I like elegance.
I also like utility.
And I'm cheap.
So I use this converted dog bowl. It has nubs on the bottom that help create lather. It works beautifully.
Having said that, I am looking at replacing it with something a bit more ... sophisticated.
And, yes, elegant.

I suspect it may lather better too...

 

[rockviper]

It looks..... *ahem* .... purr-fect!

 

[Lockback]

View attachment 1928684
I suspect it may lather better too...

Hello Kitty!

 

[bmiller3230]

I also started to notice that face lathering was (is) more harsh and exfoliating to the skin than it seemed.

Some of my post shave irritations were mostly because of brush burn. It took some time to realize that.

But don’t give up on it, a good soft boar and a painting motion is all it takes for an irritation free face lathering.

Drop the swirling and mashing, it adds nothing to the lather other than air.

A good floppy boar painting is as gentle as it can be.

I've had a similar experience with badger too. I was convinced I needed lots of "backbone". That is until I set a few soft silvertips with too much loft. Not sure I want to set them deeper now, because they lather well but are so easy on the face, even with my usual scrubbing and swirling motions.

Some might consider them floppy, but sometimes that's the ticket...

 

[Doc Dan]

I bowl leathered for years and then finally decided to palm leather and then from that I got into face lathering. I have never considered bowl lathering to be inferior and in fact for some soaps, it's a lot better than trying to do it on your face. Paul blathering is about the same as bowl lathering. If your skin is very sensitive, a very soft brush and a good bowl make good sense. I am not overly sensitive to sensitive soaps, but some do bother me and I don't use them. Some that I like the whole lot actually bother me. I don't wear colognes for that reason. But there are some scented soaps that I like quite well and don't bother me at all, and in fact, I thrive on them. My favorite unscented soap that I've ever tried so far is Stirling Beeswax.

Ha ha ha ha! I promise I wasn't drunk when I posted this. I have an injured hand so I'm having to let the computer type as I talk and it auto corrects itself to sometimes nonsense.