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Finally made a decent looking lather in a bowl! It SUCKED!!!

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
So I finally made a decent looking lather in a bowl. It took about a full quarter of an Arko stick but it was thick and rich and man it looked GREAT!!

Lathered on my face and proceeded to shave. YIKES!!! Might just as well have used plain water, worst shave I have had in years. Plus most of the lather got flushed down the drain when I was done with a three pass! If I rub the stick on my wet face and lather it with a brush it is at least comparable to Barbasol, this was horrid.

Are you folks actually using a whole bunch of soap and washing most of it down the drain? I have watched the videos and read the tutorials and tried and tried, it seems to be less effective and WAY more wasteful of product than simply face lathering. I do not understand.
 
I’m far from an expert and for the life of me can’t make that whipped cream photogenic super lathers but usable lather in a bowl is achievable.

The pics below are just a test lather that I timed (30/60/90 secs) to see what happens.
1 broken in boar brush soaked approximately 2 minutes in warm water
Rather heavy load on a puck of Tabac approximately 45? seconds
a bowl and 1-2 tea spoons of water

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this here is a quick Arko (pressed in a mug) lather with a Synth and a Boar - I feel more comfortable with Boar
4606B913-4BF6-4794-90B8-1B346F5AC29C.jpeg
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
So I finally made a decent looking lather in a bowl. It took about a full quarter of an Arko stick but it was thick and rich and man it looked GREAT!!

Lathered on my face and proceeded to shave. YIKES!!! Might just as well have used plain water, worst shave I have had in years. Plus most of the lather got flushed down the drain when I was done with a three pass! If I rub the stick on my wet face and lather it with a brush it is at least comparable to Barbasol, this was horrid.

Are you folks actually using a whole bunch of soap and washing most of it down the drain? I have watched the videos and read the tutorials and tried and tried, it seems to be less effective and WAY more wasteful of product than simply face lathering. I do not understand.
Wow, you should not need that much for just making lather in a lathering bowl IMO. Not sure if you used it all and there is still hard cake at the bottom of the bowl(you did not mention). I have a stick of Arko that is 4 yrs old and more than likely half way down and have had at least 50+ shaves.
The amount you apply to your face is so small when using Arko that it is minuscule to what you used. I think you might of added to much water possibly and keep stirring until you figured it was reasonable and when applied it to face it was to thin.
The way I use it is press some in the bowl take my synthetic brush and run it under the tap to warm it up a little & squeeze most of the water out and start stirring. Then I dip the tips in some water and add a little more still stirring, I can make the lather thick or a little watery if I want so easily.
The lather bowl gives you complete control of the lather you want. I usually put enough in for 2 shaves and I still scrap some out for my next soap if using hard soaps. I only make what I need for one shave and leave the rest for next day, it works for myself.
Arko is not my favorite soap but it will kick up a beautiful lather & as good as most out there but it kind of dry's out my skin a little.
Lather bowl reduce skin irritation for some and is the only way I prefer to shave. Soap sticks are OK but I like to slice a little off with a pocket knife and then press it in the bowl.
I suggest squeeze most of the water out of brush(not all) and keep you lather pastier and then apply to the face and just add a little water to brush as needed to get what you like. You will get a rich lather in half the time as just apply the stick to the face with less irritation.
(this is all a person needs for 1 shave, I have done well over 1,000 +> daily shaves using my lather bowls)
Shaving bowl 2 (2).jpg
Shaving bowl 1 (2).jpg

Have some great shaves!
 
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1cm of Arko that took me over 3 weeks to finish

you either load it here and build lather on your face or load it here and build it in a lather bowl to that silky smooth shiny merengue though I prefer it a bit more wet.
if you used half a stick rofl 🤪 you were making some croap hmmm or maybe mortar
 

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Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
The nice thing about bowl lathering is I can have warm lather anytime, winter months beats any goo any time with =>lather qualities.
All I do is press a little soap in the bottom of the bowl at first turn the bowl upside down & run hot water to warm up my ceramic bowl for 20+ seconds and then with my warm wet brush make some nice warm lather. You can not get that out of a can of goo.
Shaving bowl 3 (2).jpg

Have some great shaves!
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
The nice thing about bowl lathering is I can have warm lather anytime, winter months beats any goo any time with =>lather qualities.
All I do is press a little soap in the bottom of the bowl at first turn the bowl upside down & run hot water to warm up my ceramic bowl for 20+ seconds and then with my warm wet brush make some nice warm lather. You can not get that out of a can of goo.
View attachment 1323229
Have some great shaves!
Oh yes! This is what I was hoping to do! I will just set the goo can on the wood stove for a few minutes, that should do it!
 
Yep....I quit...Barbasol is good enough....this is becoming too much like work

I feel the same way about bowl lathering. I have a nice synthetic brush that I load from the puck or tube and then face lather. It takes literally 30 seconds to make a very nice lather. Ive never used Arko so I'm not sure if that adds some degree of difficulty. I'm using a tub of Proraso which is cheap and lathers perfectly every time. The only other thing I can think of is maybe you have really hard water that makes lathering much more difficult. Maybe try some bottled water. All I know is that the brushing the lather on your face is a big part of getting a comfortable shave.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Another thing I forgot to mention about lather bowls is you do not add water to the base soap container(loading brush) before every shave and then you have to dry your puck out before putting the lid back one. If you use a different soap every day like lots do you should dry out your soap and container to prevent soap from deteriorating fragrance and spoilage. By pressing a little into a bowl you prevent this step thus enjoying your soaps longer possibly.
 
Adding 2-3 teaspoons sounds like a whole lot of water to me. I load fairly heavily with a damp brush (squeeze most of the soak water out, then shake once or twice, then load). While building the lather I add less than 1/2 a teaspoon, and that only a few drops at a time.
 
No harm in beginning the lathering process in a bowl. But then you must face lather, if you really don't want to start on the face directly.

It's not whipping the cream in a bowl that makes the shave, but how much water you make your hair drink. Soap is only a vector for water, it's not meant to look great (not even smell great, but the latter point is more understandable).
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
The nice thing about bowl lathering is I can have warm lather anytime, winter months beats any goo any time with =>lather qualities.
All I do is press a little soap in the bottom of the bowl at first turn the bowl upside down & run hot water to warm up my ceramic bowl for 20+ seconds and then with my warm wet brush make some nice warm lather. You can not get that out of a can of goo.
View attachment 1323229
Have some great shaves!

You can get something close to it with a can, by merely floating the can in a sink of hot water while you shower. Get out of the shower for your shave and warm instant lather in a can is waiting. I don't even own a can of instant lather, but I used too. :)
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
Arko is probably, the easiest soap to make and get copious amounts of lather with no effort or thought. If what I just said is true, the mistake being made with lathering it, could possibly be?

Over thinking it and putting too much thought and effort into the process? Just an opinion and suggestion is all. :)
 

linty1

My wallet cries.
I still mess up lathers sometimes, usually its "I put in too much water" or similar (I didn't quite shake the water out of the brush enough) etc etc, and while the lather whips up and -looks- good, its too airy and doesn't protect as much as a more yogurt-y one would.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
You can get something close to it with a can, by merely floating the can in a sink of hot water while you shower. Get out of the shower for your shave and warm instant lather in a can is waiting. I don't even own a can of instant lather, but I used too. :)
Interesting, I'm sure it would heat it a few degrees alright. I usually shave and then shower lately(that varies) but the ceramic bowl works very quickly to heat up the lather.
A little off topic but I remember we experimented with small canned Co2(dry ice) we used at work for shrinking small parts -one summer thinking it would cool our beer off quickly on a trip but it really did not help much from what I recall, not enough liquid in the can, we still drank our warm beer regardless. :laugh:
 
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