What exactly causes foam or air bubbles in lather. It seems lots of times when I palm or do a test bowl lather that when I squeeze the brush out of lather and run it between my index and thumb and then pull it apart so to speak to see if it separates there is a foam look, instead of a solid clump of lather. A lot of times if I try and bowl lather using an old spice mug the lather will look great, but then in some parts where I stick the brush down and pull it up it’s as if there is a foam looking hole that separates instead of just like a solid clump of lather which I suspect it should be. Anyone every experience this? To much water, not enough water? It’s as if it looks great but then when i do these two things I know something is wrong.
Foam in lather
- Thread starter tsimmns
- Start date
Well, it's a soap so the lather is full of air any way that it's made. But I think you're talking about the airy type of frothy lather, which is usually when enough water hasn't been added and the bubbles are larger and it isn't a nice slick lather.
Stages of lather: Loaded on brush no air -> start whipping in air, frothy lather -> add water and keep whipping, lather gets thicker and ultimately ends up creamy and smooth -> add too much water it starts to get runny and breaks down
Stages of lather: Loaded on brush no air -> start whipping in air, frothy lather -> add water and keep whipping, lather gets thicker and ultimately ends up creamy and smooth -> add too much water it starts to get runny and breaks down
- Thread starter
- #3
The problem is, it seems no matter how much water I add at some points of the lather while mug lathering this happens. It looks rear dipping brush in some parts but there is always at least one part that when I pull the brush back has this foam look. And then I add water, whip, add water, whip until eventually it’s so thin that I could never shave with it.
I really wish there was a Texas meet up to fix my lathering problems that I have. The shaves seem great using certain soaps like BM and WK. I’d just like to know for sure that my lather skills don’t suck. I’m waiting on Mantic59 to start his tour for the year so I can meet up and get some advice. Hopefully soon or if not maybe I can make it to another meetup somewhere. I just would like to know if my shaves could go from average feeling to great or amazing. I mean the one blade razor had already put them in a land never before, but I think I could get this lathering down it would be out if this world. Of course I have hard water, but don’t want to put the lathering problem on it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I really wish there was a Texas meet up to fix my lathering problems that I have. The shaves seem great using certain soaps like BM and WK. I’d just like to know for sure that my lather skills don’t suck. I’m waiting on Mantic59 to start his tour for the year so I can meet up and get some advice. Hopefully soon or if not maybe I can make it to another meetup somewhere. I just would like to know if my shaves could go from average feeling to great or amazing. I mean the one blade razor had already put them in a land never before, but I think I could get this lathering down it would be out if this world. Of course I have hard water, but don’t want to put the lathering problem on it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sometimes it just takes more time. Try moving your brush more calmly when building lather, too.
I never whip my bowl lather, I work it easily, methodically, well paced.
I have this problem sometimes too. My conclusion is sticking with one soap for a while to get the ratio right. Not all soaps are the same.
When the ratio is perfect i get the best shaves. Its all about consistency when starting out.
Trying out 20+ razors i used the same soap and got a DFS from all of them at one point.
Finding the brands of soap i want to stick with have made my shaves suffer a bit but ive found my few that im going to stick with.
When the ratio is perfect i get the best shaves. Its all about consistency when starting out.
Trying out 20+ razors i used the same soap and got a DFS from all of them at one point.
Finding the brands of soap i want to stick with have made my shaves suffer a bit but ive found my few that im going to stick with.
Don't over think it. IMO the picture perfect peaked and pointed lather isn't the best for shaving.
Uh-Oh..
Calcium / magnesium scum can ruin lather. You could run a little test to check if that is what is causing your lather hassles.
Try putting a little household citric acid in your soaking/ lathering water. Or soak the brush in distilled water.
If your problem goes away, you know it was because of the hard water.
Another thing you can do, is look at the ingredient list of the soaps & creams that don't have lathering problems. If the ingredient list for them has EDTA or Borax, & the list for the products that have the lather problem doesn't have EDTA/Borax, again, you've found your problem.
Perhaps you could check if your city's water dept. uses lime to remove carbonates, if so the water will have more calcium than normal. Do you have access to the TDS level of your water?
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #10
My lather had big air bubbles when I first made it .. kept swirling. Stopped when it looked like this ..
Dabbed some onto my wife’s arm.. said it felt luxurious!
Uberlather..
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
The first solution is always more product. Load longer. Try a test lather with a stupidly generous amount of soap. Slowly add water until you're satisfied. Then keep adding water until you ruin the lather. Pay close attention the whole time and you'll have a fine handle on the ratio of soap to water you require.
- Thread starter
- #13
My lather had big air bubbles when I first made it .. kept swirling. Stopped when it looked like this ..
Dabbed some onto my wife’s arm.. said it felt luxurious!
Uberlather..
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
If you lived in Texas I’d pay you a visit to show me how to get lather like that.
I did try something new today. I’ve always heard use distilled water, but today I used Ozark Bottled water. I personally think it took a lot less longer to load my WK Fougere and the blade seemed to actually slide for once. I’m not sure if bottled water is the answer, but it sure seemed to make the soap load faster onto the Duke 3.
I swirl in alternate directions every 10-15 revs.. before the Glycerin was added.. the lather was frothy...
Normally my semogues don’t stay loaded for more than 2 passes.. not sure if the uberlather is the reason why I could hold enough for at least 4... Proraso and glycerin are the norm.. but with Palmolive shave cream for the uberlather..
My water is treated by the big G... safe enough to drink from the tap...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Adding too much water, too fast can be one reason for lather to become foamy. Loading too little product or having a brush that is too wet are easy/typical causes. Another thing to consider is the formulation of the soap, some formulas are naturally more foamy while others are more creamy.
I have more problems with boar brushes introducing too much water but I attribute that to my relative lack of experience using boars.
BTW adding a bit of Proraso and Glycerin to your favorite soap is an EXCELLENT idea. The so called Uber lather is an incredible experience.
I have more problems with boar brushes introducing too much water but I attribute that to my relative lack of experience using boars.
BTW adding a bit of Proraso and Glycerin to your favorite soap is an EXCELLENT idea. The so called Uber lather is an incredible experience.
