Brush overloading vs. Re-lathering

[paintflinger]

I guess I don't see the difference between the two methods.

1. You overload (is it really overloading if it is the correct amount?). For the second and third pass you need to add a bit of water and work the lather some more.

2. You underload. For the second and third pass you need to add a bit of soap/water and work the lather some more.

The only difference between the two is that you have the soap already added in one.

 

[SGWB]

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.

I see your point about splaying the knot. It could damage the brush if done too agressively. Still, I tend to splay the brush to some extent and in 25 years of wet shaving I've never worn one out.

 

[J---]

Best brush I have is an Omega $11 boar brush. I've got others, but this one can't be beat for my shaving habits. Had it for over two years now and in great shape still.

 

[EternalBachelor]

Overloading soap annoys me because it's wasteful, but I guess if other people do it, then it's none of my business.

 

[RazorPete]

In my never ending quest to find the best lather possible with every soap, cream and croap that I use - something that came up for me recently is whether brush "overloading" or "re-lathering" is a better strategy for obtaining the best lather. While I used to be fine with overloading the brush, over time, the wasting of so much product bothered me to the point where I began experimenting with "re-lathering" my brush. While it takes a little more time - what I have found is that it not only conserves product but also allows for better lather during the later stages of the shave whereas the lather from "overloading" generally leaves something to be desired. Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Overloading versus relathering?
I choose neither. I face lather and simply use a large enough brush to hold three plus passes. My two band chubby 2 for example does this wonderfully. For that last touchup if I need it, I just squeeze the last bit of great lather out of it and hand apply it to my face so there’s no waste. Problem solved.

 

[speedwell]

Overloading versus relathering?
I choose neither. I face lather and simply use a large enough brush to hold three plus passes. My two band chubby 2 for example does this wonderfully. For that last touchup if I need it, I just squeeze the last bit of great lather out of it and hand apply it to my face so there’s no waste. Problem solved.

I've done that as well, but to my second point, find the quality of the lather to be discernibly worse than if I "re-lather"

 

[Slipknot]

I over load as on my first pass I prefer a thicker lather for cushion then tend to water down for slickness with each additional pass

 

[RazorPete]

I've done that as well, but to my second point, find the quality of the lather to be discernibly worse than if I "re-lather"

I’ve found that the second and third lather passes can get a touch drier I suppose due to evaporation as the brush sits, but I’ve found if I just add a little water a few drops really, and then face lather it to mix it in well, using swirling then paint brush strokes, the quality of lather is pretty darn good whether I use soap or cream. I’m pretty happy with this process. A bit of extra brushing on the face to mix in the little bit of water takes less than a minute and I feel like it further softens the beard hairs.

 

[ZigZiglar]

I load that brush up like crazy and try never to go back for more. If I go back, I add a bit of water and make it wish I hadn't run out in the first place. Then I swim out of the explosion of cream and into the kitchen for breakfast.

 

[G-Dogg]

I prefer brushes on the smaller side, but usually manage to get enough lather for a three-pass shave with touch-ups, with little wastage. If I have to re-lather, it’s because the remaining lather has started to change consistency too much through time and being diluted with water on my face from subsequent passes. A re-lather doesn’t make any noticeable difference for me in the quality of the finished product.

 

[Jill Snoddon]

Being a female DE Wet Shaver, I have a lot of real estate to cover...I shave legs, arms and bikini line. so it's no big deal for me to re-lather, which I always have to do.

 

[ZigZiglar]

Being a female DE Wet Shaver, I have a lot of real estate to cover...I shave legs, arms and bikini line. so it's no big deal for me to re-lather, which I always have to do.

Funny, I thought surely, when I saw 'Jill' replied, that your vote would be for overloading. Shows what I know. Although, I suppose it does take longer to shave almost half of one's body than just ones face and/or head, so relathering is almost unavoidable. There is nothing as disappointing as dry, evaporated lather! Disappearing lather=sadface

 

[Jill Snoddon]

Funny, I thought surely, when I saw 'Jill' replied, that your vote would be for overloading. Shows what I know. Although, I suppose it does take longer to shave almost half of one's body than just ones face and/or head, so relathering is almost unavoidable. There is nothing as disappointing as dry, evaporated lather! Disappearing lather=sadface

I'm a buffing monster so I want rich, thick lather but most importantly consistency.

 

[paintflinger]

Is it really overloading if it is the correct amount of loading?

 

[MntnMan62]

I don’t understand how one can overload a brush.You can underload, but overload? Nope.

 

[primotenore]

I load it like there's no tomorrow. Period.

 

[Jill Snoddon]

I don’t understand how one can overload a brush.You can underload, but overload? Nope.

I agree

 

[Cal]

I don’t understand how one can overload a brush.You can underload, but overload? Nope.

IMO, when you have enough lather left on/in your brush for all the other shavers in your street, at the end of your shave, you've overloaded it.

 

[muzichead]

How have I missed this thread?

Lots of overloading, underloading, and justrightloading going on here. Myself, since I have been using a brush and soap I have never underloaded and always seem to have enough lather made for 4+ passes so I guess that would make me an overloader!! My norm is probably 3 passes but who cares, soap is cheap!! I use Stirling soaps now exclusively as I just found a few others that just don't load the same or as easily as Stirling. I have been using the same 4 tubs now since around Jan 2017 and don't see them emptying anytime before mid 2019 to early 2020 at the pace they have been on. I am usually a daily shaver and use synthetic brushes exclusively. I rotate my soaps daily, (usually), and I think that is why they have lasted so long so far but like many I have tried the occasional sample here and there so there's that too... I have pretty much been a bowl latherer since starting but in the past couple months have become a face latherer and find it has been more than efficient for me now so the bowl is getting lonely to say the least!! I'm all about the KISS method in every aspect of most everything I do in life.

 

[Ron R]

Bowl lathering has maybe a few advantages over face lathering in that you can just leave the soap lather in the bowl for the next shave. I will do this if the soap has a nice scent to let it linger in the bathroom, it seems like the old lather just mixes in with the new stuff as the brush swirls. (I only do this with nice scent soaps.)
I like to smear the rest of the brush soap into my facecloth to wash the cloth for the next shave so waste is really minimal I guess.