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

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I prefer your method but if you want hot gooo

for me I dunk my ceramic or stone bowl with my razor and brush in a hot sink while soaking my face under a hot towel.
Oneblade also has a hot foam dispenser, you might be tied into just their soaps possibly? They work because a few folks on this forum use them. I will just keep using my ceramic bowl until I do not want to, I have back ups already if I break it. :a22:
 
Bowl (scuttle), face/brush, or can. The endless wheel of the wet shaving conundrum. To each their purpose, and lather from same dependent on 4 basic things:

Water, air, soap, and skill.

Roughly in order of importance. Soft water helps, the right brush helps, the right soap helps, and experience counts. Some here can make lather from a plastic poker chip, in the Sahara, with a spoon and lizard spit. Point being, you can vary all of those things with software, hardware and practice, to get the result you want. This forum is a great reference site to start. I lather with a scuttle because I 1) like a warm water shave, 2) want complete control of my lather that I can see, and 3) use a pre-shave that I don't want to wipe off with a face scrub. A face scrub is quicker, a can is more convenient and dependable. The answer, BTW, is here:

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Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Actually I was using the Arko to try to learn how to do this before ruining the sample of "good" soap that I have. I made several attempts over the course of a rainy day using varying amounts of soap/water and so I went through quite a bit in multiple attempts and I used what I thought was finally a decent lather. It didn't work and I am extremely frustrated at my inability to succeed at what seems like such simple task. My apologies for being ridiculous as I vent about my trials and tribulations trying to learn how to do this. No one forced you to read it, or reply. Perhaps you need to block me so you won't waste 5 minutes of your time again.
Apologies, "gosh" I had some good enjoyment reading this information and differences + different methods of generating lather. Shaving is a learning curve for us all because a lot of us were never taught this wet shaving tradition on how to properly shave even with a cartridge razor and goo(I always liked Gillette gel).
K.I.S.S(keep it simple shaving) works for us all and just enjoy traditional wet shaving if possible IMO.
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
@ylekot show us a pic of your setup
I doubt it but maybe it’s something obvious to others that prevents success.

Mug is 4 inches across by 3 1/2 inches high, bamboo bowl is 3 1/4 inches across by 2 inches deep. Brushes are a Vie-Long Peleon and a Simpson's Wee Scot.
 

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Oneblade also has a hot foam dispenser, you might be tied into just their soaps possibly? They work because a few folks on this forum use them. I will just keep using my ceramic bowl until I do not want to, I have back ups already if I break it. :a22:
Much to happy with my stirling, a&e, b&m to consider goo again
And for the lazy b…. If you drop a chip of soap in a capuchino maker with some water you end up with hot lather.
 
Mug is 4 inches across by 3 1/2 inches high, bamboo bowl is 3 1/4 inches across by 2 inches deep. Brushes are a Vie-Long Peleon and a Simpson's Wee Scot.
Not the easiest to start with.

I would use the mug to drop a puck into it or press the remainder of the Arko stick in. This could be your loading bowl. The bamboo bowl might work with the Wee Scot as it looks quite small yet the Wee Scot is more suited to face lathering.

A shallow and wide salsa bowl liberated from the kitchen might make life easier for you. Some kind of ridges/knobs/etc. ditto.

FE490593-20C8-4645-A538-DEA65A6FF8A7.jpeg

B06A4564-B215-4779-8855-3102193A9127.jpeg

the Timeless bowl is budget friendly and very well regarded here.
FB5A58FF-9A60-4AC6-AF67-25D074660267.jpeg

@Ron R showed a sauce pan with epoxied coins that work great. I use this setup in a Turkish barber bowl (top view bottom right). @Ivo4u2 has a Suribachi mortar with fine ridges that help building the lather.

I guess your choice of equipment makes it harder to achieve a fine lather then it ought to be.
 
Not the easiest to start with.

I would use the mug to drop a puck into it or press the remainder of the Arko stick in. This could be your loading bowl. The bamboo bowl might work with the Wee Scot as it looks quite small yet the Wee Scot is more suited to face lathering.

A shallow and wide salsa bowl liberated from the kitchen might make life easier for you. Some kind of ridges/knobs/etc. ditto.

View attachment 1323602
View attachment 1323603
the Timeless bowl is budget friendly and very well regarded here.
View attachment 1323604
@Ron R showed a sauce pan with epoxied coins that work great. I use this setup in a Turkish barber bowl (top view bottom right). @Ivo4u2 has a Suribachi mortar with fine ridges that help building the lather.

I guess your choice of equipment makes it harder to achieve a fine lather then it ought to be.
Captain's Choice has always been my most favourite lather bowl
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
Not the easiest to start with.

I would use the mug to drop a puck into it or press the remainder of the Arko stick in. This could be your loading bowl. The bamboo bowl might work with the Wee Scot as it looks quite small yet the Wee Scot is more suited to face lathering.

A shallow and wide salsa bowl liberated from the kitchen might make life easier for you. Some kind of ridges/knobs/etc. ditto.

View attachment 1323602
View attachment 1323603
the Timeless bowl is budget friendly and very well regarded here.
View attachment 1323604
@Ron R showed a sauce pan with epoxied coins that work great. I use this setup in a Turkish barber bowl (top view bottom right). @Ivo4u2 has a Suribachi mortar with fine ridges that help building the lather.

I guess your choice of equipment makes it harder to achieve a fine lather then it ought to be.
OK so my gear may not be up to snuff for starting out. The Wee Scot is excellent for face lathering (even I can do it!)
 
…To each their purpose, and lather from same dependent on 4 basic things:

Water, air, soap, and skill.

Roughly in order of importance. Soft water helps, the right brush helps, the right soap helps, and experience counts. Some here can make lather from a plastic poker chip, in the Sahara, with a spoon and lizard spit. Point being, you can vary all of those things with software, hardware and practice, to get the result you want.…

+1! Great summary!! :a21: :a21: :a21:
 
I am in love with that aged copper bowl he revealed a few days ago! I think I will try to master what I have first.
If that one is in your budget than you are in for a treat. My CC works marvelously.
Captain's Choice lather bowl is the holy grail in my den, because, the height of the bowl is PERFECT!!! without all that banging, clanging, and dinging noises side to side when building up a lather, that GIVES ME PEACE!!!
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
Captain's Choice lather bowl is the holy grail in my den, because, the height of the bowl is PERFECT!!! without all that banging, clanging, and dinging noises side to side when building up a lather, that GIVES ME PEACE!!!
Yes, I did notice that my mug is a bit too tall and the brush handle will clank, I switched to the bowl to try to eliminate that, maybe a bigger bowl?
 
@ylekot says he quit, a d I understand. I spend more time on lathering than any other component. I enjoy the time spent, however, and the whole shave is delightful.
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
@ylekot says he quit, a d I understand. I spend more time on lathering than any other component. I enjoy the time spent, however, and the whole shave is delightful.
I have gotten some advice here that I am going to try. And I will definitely continue to face lather. It just seems like this should be so simple, but others have chimed in saying they are not very good at it either. Is this one of those deals where you yo have an "A HA" moment and it all just falls into place?
 
I have gotten some advice here that I am going to try. And I will definitely continue to face lather. It just seems like this should be so simple, but others have chimed in saying they are not very good at it either. Is this one of those deals where you yo have an "A HA" moment and it all just falls into place?
for me it's patience and practice. I've been doing it for a decade and it's very luxurious these days.
 
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