D.R. Harris: Speed Lather.

[auk1124]

I've been shaving with a puck of Harris Almond for a few days now and this soap is really growing on me. The lather is kinda thin actually, certainly no mountain-of-marshmellow-cream like Tabac. I would describe it as thin but adequate; seems protective enough to my face and slick enough (though just barely). I won't even talk about the scent, which is weird and sour-ish but dissipates quickly.

What blows me away is not the quality of the lather, but the SPEED of making a lather with this soap. 9 or 10 swirls of a wet brush on top of the puck, then a minute or so of grinding the brush into a wet bowl = good lather. Half the time I don't even bother adding any water to the mix, just twirling that brush around for a minute or so in a wet bowl does the job.

I find this lather quicker to whip up than a cream, and even easier. What's more, the puck is hard as a rock and looks like it will last me forever, since all I have to do is wave a brush at it to make lather. Since the lather is thin I'm not sure if it's the best choice for a new wetshaver but I sure do appreciate the speed and ease of lathering.

I give it the thumbs up.

 

[jsrdrnr]

havent tried the soap yet but the cream is awesome!!! It also produces a quick lather.

 

[nav]

Half the time I don't even bother adding any water to the mix, just twirling that brush around for a minute or so in a wet bowl does the job.
QUOTE]

Maybe this is the reason you are not finding it to be very slick?

I find my DRH arlington to be extremely slick.

 

[AJ72]

Half the time I don't even bother adding any water to the mix, just twirling that brush around for a minute or so in a wet bowl does the job.
QUOTE]

Maybe this is the reason you are not finding it to be very slick?

I find my DRH arlington to be extremely slick.

I also do not find DR Harris to be very slick and I use plenty of water and get mounds of lather. A slick soap to me is when the skin is slippery after the first stroke when the soap comes off. Two highly rated soaps on this forum, DR Harris and AOS, both disappoint me in this regard. To thicken the lather, I recommend superlathering this soap with Prairie Creations unscented. 10 seconds of PC after a normal load of DR Harris or MWF creates a stable lather while getting all of the performance and scent of the original soap. I highly recommend this superlather.

 

[SiBurning]

Might be easy to get a thin lather quickly, but that way you miss out on getting the luxuriant and rich lather Harris is capable of. Nice to know it can go either way.

 

[SiBurning]

I also do not find DR Harris to be very slick and I use plenty of water and get mounds of lather. A slick soap to me is when the skin is slippery after the first stroke when the soap comes off. Two highly rated soaps on this forum, DR Harris and AOS, both disappoint me in this regard. To thicken the lather, I recommend superlathering this soap with Prairie Creations unscented. 10 seconds of PC after a normal load of DR Harris or MWF creates a stable lather while getting all of the performance and scent of the original soap. I highly recommend this superlather.

The lack of slippery usually goes hand in hand with protective qualities some of us prefer. I like both AoS and Harris, although they're on different ends of my list of really good soaps. I personally wouldn't bother making a superlather, since there are products in the middle that give good protection and good slip, but none end up amazing in either quality. Then again, I can certainly understand the desire to do this by people that care more about scent than I do, or to just have fun mixing and tweaking things.

 

[Seraphim]

Why do guys on this board seem to limit themselves to a ridiculously low number of brush swirls?

9-10 swirls???

Why even bother?

Load that sucker up. Swirl away for a full 30 seconds. You aren't going to use up all of your soap within a week, let me assure you. I load my brush direct on the puck and face lather. And with a good triple milled soap (Tabac is my longest standing soap in the rotation), you will not make much of a dent in it even with laborious soap loading (my Tabac is over two years old, and is still going quite strong). You will however enjoy the rich lather each and every time.

"3 swirls and the lather exploded out of the brush" is pretty much a wetshavers tall tale. Soap needs to, and should be loaded heavily onto the brush for best results.

Do you really not have the extra 15-30 seconds before the shave to load it up? If not, it's time to get an electric!

EDIT: I just re-read your post. you swirl 9-10 times, and then spend a full minute whipping in the bowl. I say, spend the first 30 seconds loading, the second 30 whipping, and see how that does you.

 

[SiBurning]

Why do guys on this board seem to limit themselves to a ridiculously low number of brush swirls?

9-10 swirls???

Why even bother?

Load that sucker up. Swirl away for a full 30 seconds. You aren't going to use up all of your soap within a week, let me assure you. I load my brush direct on the puck and face lather. And with a good triple milled soap (Tabac is my longest standing soap in the rotation), you will not make much of a dent in it even with laborious soap loading (my Tabac is over two years old, and is still going quite strong). You will however enjoy the rich lather each and every time.

"3 swirls and the lather exploded out of the brush" is pretty much a wetshavers tall tale. Soap needs to, and should be loaded heavily onto the brush for best results.

Do you really not have the extra 15-30 seconds before the shave to load it up? If not, it's time to get an electric!

EDIT: I just re-read your post. you swirl 9-10 times, and then spend a full minute whipping in the bowl. I say, spend the first 30 seconds loading, the second 30 whipping, and see how that does you.

+30 (seconds, that is)

 

[richmondesi]

Personally, I count to 30 seconds and then just load some more until I'm tired of it... I get loads of lather and all of my soaps last a really long time.

 

[richmondesi]

I also do not find DR Harris to be very slick and I use plenty of water and get mounds of lather. A slick soap to me is when the skin is slippery after the first stroke when the soap comes off. Two highly rated soaps on this forum, DR Harris and AOS, both disappoint me in this regard. To thicken the lather, I recommend superlathering this soap with Prairie Creations unscented. 10 seconds of PC after a normal load of DR Harris or MWF creates a stable lather while getting all of the performance and scent of the original soap. I highly recommend this superlather.

I think you are confusing slick with that slimy, nasty film left by Tabac

Just kidding.. Don't Flame me Bro

 

[Zepher]

My preference is to use quite a dry brush, but warm. Swirl the brush into the soap.

I then take the brush to a hot WET face and make the lather on my face. The water on my face is enough to make a dense thick lather that sinks well into the brush to last for many passes.

 

[AJ72]

I think you are confusing slick with that slimy, nasty film left by Tabac

Just kidding.. Don't Flame me Bro

Ahhh Yes, that wonderfully scented, slimy Tabac can go on my face anytime! and yes, I like it nasty

 

[AJ72]

Why do guys on this board seem to limit themselves to a ridiculously low number of brush swirls?

9-10 swirls???

Why even bother?

Load that sucker up. Swirl away for a full 30 seconds. You aren't going to use up all of your soap within a week, let me assure you. I load my brush direct on the puck and face lather. And with a good triple milled soap (Tabac is my longest standing soap in the rotation), you will not make much of a dent in it even with laborious soap loading (my Tabac is over two years old, and is still going quite strong). You will however enjoy the rich lather each and every time.

"3 swirls and the lather exploded out of the brush" is pretty much a wetshavers tall tale. Soap needs to, and should be loaded heavily onto the brush for best results.

Do you really not have the extra 15-30 seconds before the shave to load it up? If not, it's time to get an electric!

EDIT: I just re-read your post. you swirl 9-10 times, and then spend a full minute whipping in the bowl. I say, spend the first 30 seconds loading, the second 30 whipping, and see how that does you.

+1. I dig my brush in really good and put a heavy load on my brush and I am rewarded with a thick and creamy lather. I have tried 10 swirls after reading some posts but it didn't cut it for me. I think anybody doing 10 swirls is really missing out.

 

[ctakim]

Lots of great advice in this thread. I like to load up generously and get a thick lather from my DR Harris soaps (almond and Arlington).

 

[auk1124]

Next time I use it I will take the time to glom a bunch of soap into my brush and grind on it for a while, see if that thickens the lather for me. But to be honest I enjoy the speed of whipping this stuff up, thin lather or no.

 

[Tricky]

Aren't we all looking for an excuse to buy more soap? If you answered yes, then LOAD THAT BABY UP! It makes every shaving experience better.

 

[ambrose]

Why do guys on this board seem to limit themselves to a ridiculously low number of brush swirls?

9-10 swirls???

Why even bother?

Load that sucker up. Swirl away for a full 30 seconds. You aren't going to use up all of your soap within a week, let me assure you. I load my brush direct on the puck and face lather. And with a good triple milled soap (Tabac is my longest standing soap in the rotation), you will not make much of a dent in it even with laborious soap loading (my Tabac is over two years old, and is still going quite strong). You will however enjoy the rich lather each and every time.

"3 swirls and the lather exploded out of the brush" is pretty much a wetshavers tall tale. Soap needs to, and should be loaded heavily onto the brush for best results.

Do you really not have the extra 15-30 seconds before the shave to load it up? If not, it's time to get an electric!

EDIT: I just re-read your post. you swirl 9-10 times, and then spend a full minute whipping in the bowl. I say, spend the first 30 seconds loading, the second 30 whipping, and see how that does you.

exactly

try a teaspoon of water on top and leave it to sit while you shower if you want some crazy explosions

 

[ginhud]

It's been bothering me I couldn't get good lather from my Harris Almond soap. So last night I tried the teaspon of water and it was gone somewhere this morning. Also shook all water out of my soc brush before going to the soap. Best lather yet. So looks like i've been using too much water, got good foam before but not good 'lather' per se. I think I'm onto it now!

 

[andrewinman]

personally, i count to 30 seconds and then just load some more until i'm tired of it... I get loads of lather and all of my soaps last a really long time.

+1

 

[OBXBBS]

SSAD kicking in...