Brush overloading vs. Re-lathering

[speedwell]

If you gotta load or unload, go to the white zone. It's a way of life.

Ok, sorry. I'm a little out of control lately. I don't like to reload so I make up tons of lather for a 3 pass plus touchup shave. But I also try to make sure that there is little left in the bowl when I am done. The brush probably still has enough for another full pass at least when I'm done. So a little wasteful. But I doubt it equates to much from a dollars and cents standpoint.

While I don't like to "waste" either, it's less about the dollars and cent of that and more about poor lather quality after my initial brush load/soap activation. I mostly face lather and what I find is that no matter how much product I load onto the brush initially, it invariably dries out (usually during the 2nd application), and when I add some supplemental water to the brush (always with my finger tips, a few drops at a time), the revived lather never reaches the same level of quality as the first application - which is what caused me to experiment with "re-loading".

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Another aspect is that I face lather. If I've got enough soap on the brush to do three passes, I'm just blathering soap everywhere on the first go, and it just gets very messy. I can understand people bowl lathering enough for three passes, but not face lathering. Not with my brush anyway. As I'm partially bearded, I like to have control of where the lather is going, and not just splurge it all over my face.

 

[MntnMan62]

While I don't like to "waste" either, it's less about the dollars and cent of that and more about poor lather quality after my initial brush load/soap activation. I mostly face lather and what I find is that no matter how much product I load onto the brush initially, it invariably dries out (usually during the 2nd application), and when I add some supplemental water to the brush (always with my finger tips, a few drops at a time), the revived lather never reaches the same level of quality as the first application - which is what caused me to experiment with "re-loading".

Ah. I hear you. I bowl lather. So I don't have the issue of the lather on the brush drying out. After I lather my face, the brush goes into the bowl where it sits until I'm ready for the next pass. And before I lather up my face, I re-stir or work up the lather in the bowl which further loads up the brush. By the time I do my touch up I'm scooping up as much lather as I can that is left in the bowl to put onto my brush to put on my face. I haven't face lathered so I'm not really familiar with the issues that present themselves for that process.

 

[Cal]

These days, knock on wood, I'm getting great lathers. I both face and bowl lather, but my method is different for each.

Face lather: load as you go
Bowl lather: mix for the complete shave

I also treat myself to a post-shave lather while I'm clearing up (before my final rinse).

Like @MntnMan62 I'll stir my bowl lather between passes, but that (in my mind) is just to keep the consistency nice, nothing gets added. When I started out I used to get the lather drying out on me, but with continual experimentation and practice that hasn't happened for over a year. I'm betting that like me, the OP has to put up with hard tap water (great for a dry mix ).

 

[dotKomo]

I don't intentionally overload, but would rather overload than under-load.

That said, I use the excess cream in the brush either to do a clean up pass, or as extra aftershave product.

I squeeze the remaining cream from the brush and apply it. I picked this up from two wet shave YouTuber's - Nick Shaves and Kevy Shaves.

 

[Horse Face]

I bowl lather,and sometimes I have to re-lather,because I don't load a ton of soap into my brush. I know soap is not expensive,but I just hate any kind of waste.Sometimes I really load my brush heavy with a sample that I bought,that I'm not too crazy about,since I don't care if I use it up too fast.

 

[SoullessSingularity]

I tend to overload definitely. Whipping up the soap in the bowl is soothing and really gets the anger out!

 

[OtterLunacy]

I'd much rather have too much than too little. Having to go back to the puck always leaves a few pieces of stubble on top, which bothers me. Besides, that means I have to completely lather all over again, as opposed to adding a bit of water and briefly swirling it around.

 

[BigJ]

Guess you can put me in the 'over-loading' school here. I prefer not to go back to my puck.

 

[J---]

I over load. I've really enjoyed the Fine brand soap lately. Overloading for four to six months now using that soap average of 4 times a week and still have almost half a puck. But it does dry out after the second pass; so with an over loaded brush I'll simply dip the brush into the bowl of water for a few seconds and re-lather on my face for a good moist lather.

Jeff

 

[Horse Face]

I'd like to add,that I do load enough for three passes,and 95% of the time I have plenty of lather.
What I consider as loading way too much, was a video I watched of a guy showing how to load your brush when using Stirling soaps.He must have loaded his brush for 30 seconds.I found this not only to be overkill,but very wasteful.I guess if you have stock in Stirling,this is how you'd like people to use your products.
Another reason I don't like to over lather is that I don't like the idea of all that excess lather travelling through my plumbing.This is the same reason I never dump oil or fats left over from cooking down the drain.
Its probably not a big deal anyway,but I'd rather just limit the excess lather going down the drain.

 

[SGWB]

I load for a 3 pass shave every time. Most days I'm only doing 2 passes, but I value consistency over frugality. Also, loading more soap makes it easier for me to hit the ideal water:soap ratio. I don't have a set load time. I load untill it looks like enough soap. That might be 15 seconds, it might be 90. It depends on which soap and which brush I'm using.

No don't get me wrong, to me what you put on the brush has to come back off. So to me I don't want soap in the knot as it rots the hair or burns it so you end up with a brush that sheds, that's why I reload hell yeah soap is cheap but the brush aint lol if you see what I'm on about....


But that's just my view I could be wrong.

I don't understand. Don't you rinse and dry the brush after shaving?

 

[Ethan365]

I overload. If I don't go through the soap faster then how will I justify purchasing more soaps?

 

[OtterLunacy]

@Horse Face I'm guessing you have pretty soft water, because I've found that I usually need far more than 30 seconds to load the brush with more than a pass or so of decent lather (for any soap). Granted, I think I'm a bit gentler on the brush than the average guy.

I'm not sure why lather in the drain would be an issue. I suppose if you overfat a homemade soap to a crazy degree and then make a literal bucket of lather every day it might then become an issue, but otherwise there's very little lipids in the lather, and they're already swept up in soap. Unless you're talking about the septic system and not the pipes themselves?

 

[MntnMan62]

@Horse Face I'm guessing you have pretty soft water, because I've found that I usually need far more than 30 seconds to load the brush with more than a pass or so of decent lather (for any soap). Granted, I think I'm a bit gentler on the brush than the average guy.

+1. I usually count to a full minute when loading my brush.

 

[Ice-Man]

I load for a 3 pass shave every time. Most days I'm only doing 2 passes, but I value consistency over frugality. Also, loading more soap makes it easier for me to hit the ideal water:soap ratio. I don't have a set load time. I load untill it looks like enough soap. That might be 15 seconds, it might be 90. It depends on which soap and which brush I'm using.
I don't understand. Don't you rinse and dry the brush after shaving?

Yes I do Sir!!!

But what you put on the brush has to come back off so if your forcing soap into the knot, then its going to take you longer to wash the brush out.
One thing I have found in the last 3 years Yes soap is cheap, water is free, shaving bowl cheap, brush expensive. I see videos where they mash the brush knot down into the bowl to make lather, and force the soap up into the centre of the knot.
I see videos of people forcing the brush onto the face and splaying the bristles outwards why???
you don't apply the lather with the handle or the bulb of the knot do you, would you force a 24mm knot into a 10mm hole if you did what would happen to the bristles.

you only need to use the last half of the brush near the tips so why force soap into the centre, where you cannot get it out and in turn the soap stays there and rots the bristles. So your now expensive brush is getting near to the end as you wont use it because it's shedding hair.... And the brush maker is soon going to sell you a new brush that should last a lifetime,

You can make a lather with just the tips of the brush and you can make a super lather with just the tips, so why overload a brush you don't make the lather with the bulb or the knot of the handle.

I can make a super lather with MWF I live in a very hard water area surrounded by limestone, with just the tips of the brush hell if your going to overload soap into the brush, your better off just rubbing the puck on your face and shaving as that's all your doing with overloading a brush.

Just think about it and try it and the brush will love ya for it.

 

[OtterLunacy]

Personally, I can make about 3 passes worth of lather without mashing the brush handle down to the puck or my face. YMMV, I guess.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I do tend to be a little heavy handed with the brush on the face, but when it wears out, I'll just get another cheapo boar. I find that even when just loading the tips, the rest of the loft wicks it up anyway, and if I don't use the full brush on my face, a good percentage of the lather stays out of reach within the knot. Tips to load, full brush to lather. YMMV

 

[speedwell]

I don't think you have to "mash" the brush into either the puck or your face to get good results. However, when you have a nice brush to use, it's hard not to put it through some paces - kinda like owning a sports car but never driving above the speed limit. My favorite form of expression for this is extended face lathering.

 

[RayClem]

I like a nice warm lather, so going back to the puck definitely destroys that part of the experience. I normally try to make sufficient lather in a heated bowl for a 4 pass shave, although I only do three passes. The only time I go back to the puck is if I put too much water in the bowl.