Bowl lathering question

[studdmstr]

When using a soap and bowl what is the right technique or usage?
1. Store the soap cake in the bowl and build lather on the soap
2. Keep the soap in another container, load up your wet brush with soap and then build lather in your shave bowl?

 

[dgtroy]

Check out the Shaving Clinic, I believe they will have a good answer there. As for myself I leave my soap puck in the bowl lather it up and put the lid on it when complete. I soften my beard with very hot water using a clean brush (repeating that a couple of times) hot rinse the brush, give it a shake and mix. Shaving On!!!

 

[stryker4526]

Either way works. It's really up to you. I personally order soaps that come in tubs or bowls and keep them in their own containers that way, but you can also just build lather directly on top of the soap if you want.

 

[ackvil]

It all a matter of personal preference but I prefer to load the soap on a brush and then take it to a mug or scuttle. I find that this uses less soap. If you face lather, however, you would just load the soap and then take it to your face to make lather.

Take a look at the wiki and this post for some ideas.

 

[Mike H]

Here is an excellent tutorial from Jim
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/21136

 

[studdmstr]

Thank you gentlemen these were very helpful. I guess next time I go soap shopping I will look into a variety that has a container of it's own with a lid and then use my bowl for generating lather and a place to keep the brush for the second and possibly third passes.

 

[Moondoggie]

Here is an excellent tutorial from Jim
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/21136

I bowl lather and face lather depending on my mood. My bowl later is done in a separate bowl after I load the brush. I am still learning both methods. Acvil and Mike H gave you good advice. 2 different methods, one starts with a wet brush and the other starts with a soaked brush that is wrung out, but try them both and see if one works for you. Personally, I use the method that Mike linked for my bowl lathers and face lathers but now that I have a whole 2 weeks or so of experience under my belt, I am going to re-try the wet brush method again just because I can... I have found that there are not too many "right" answers for "everyone", but there are lots and lots of ideas and info on this forum for everyone to try to see what they like or what works for them. I call it the "Ford vs Chevy" argument. Its a lot of personal opinion and experience, rarely does anyone win, it just comes down to what works best for you.

If you do find the Holy Grail of what works for everyone, please share it with me!

 

[Moondoggie]

Thank you gentlemen these were very helpful. I guess next time I go soap shopping I will look into a variety that has a container of it's own with a lid and then use my bowl for generating lather and a place to keep the brush for the second and possibly third passes.

There are some inexpensive aluminum tins with lids sold at some of the online shave shops. Not sure if I'm supposed to mention shave shop names but there is one here in So Cal that has them. They seem great to deal with and they ship incredibly fast!! Mitchells Wool Fat fits perfect.


Also, I found these stackable ceramic bowls at Tuesday Mornings for 99 cents each. I use one for bowl lathering and put my loose pucks of soap in the others. I haven't tried it yet but you could probably even use 2 of the bowls and make a poor mans scuttle?

 

[Badgerfat]

I too load my brush in 1 bowl and then transfer to another to build the lather. I have a couple of OS mugs that work great for me.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Its up to you how you do it, but I'd just keep it simple. Leave the soap in whatever container you're using and just load your brush each time. Leave any excess lather right on the soap and just keep using until its all gone.

 

[celestino]

Whatever you choose to do would be fine, but transferring to another bowl to lather is most common. Good luck.

 

[shave/brush]

For years I use to lather right on the soap but then about a year ago I started watching You-Tube videos on shaving. I noticed most people used a second bowl to build the lather in. I tried it and I found it does make more and better lather using a second bowl.

 

[studdmstr]

Update - So I received my new lather bowl last night and tried out the tutorial Mike H posted above. I used a super badger brush and let it sit in warm water while I showered and then squeezed it out and gave it a shake. I then loaded the brush using Proraso sensitive in it's own bowl and and proceeded to generate lather in the new bowl. One thing that I forgot to do (realized it afterwards) was to add the teaspoon or so of water to the lather bowl prior to generating lather. I was able to generate good later but not as good as I could have because I was apprehensive about adding too much water (a drip at a time). Overall it was enjoyable and I had a good shave. This was my first time using Proraso as well and I really enjoyed the scent and tingle. Next time I know how to improve and should be able to do it even better. I definitely think the two bowl system is the way to go for me. I feel like I'll make the soap last longer by not building lather directly on it and using excessive amounts, I'll be able to see my progress better and control the amount of water I need to add, will have less to clean up after shaving and face lathering doesn't seem like it's for me. Thanks for all the help and suggestions

 

[BlackBard]

It all a matter of personal preference but I prefer to load the soap on a brush and then take it to a mug or scuttle. I find that this uses less soap. If you face lather, however, you would just load the soap and then take it to your face to make lather.

Take a look at the wiki and this post for some ideas.

This.

 

[jmsodpc]

I load in one bowl and build lather in a separate bowl.

My lather bowl is a black $1.50 plastic Wal-Mart salsa bowl.