Hard Soap and Soft Brush

[Labarum]

I have not tried often, but have not until recently got a goot lather with a hard soap and my fairly soft badger brush. I have wondered if stiffer bore brushes work better.

Away from home and finding I only had a hard soap available I grated it with a cheese grater and pressed it into a bowl. That works rather well with my soft brush.

How does that compare with other's experience?

Do others have anything to add?

 

[Leche]

Using a bit of hot water on the puck to soften it is one way to compensate. A boar or a short lofted and dense badger are awesome for soaps.

 

[gaj90027]

Add just a small spoon of hot water on top of the soap and let it sit for a minute or two. Dump the water off of the soap and swirl the soft brush very lightly on the soap until it starts to gum up. I say go lightly at first other wise you can end up with just a bunch of bubbles without loading the brush. Once the soap starts gumming up on the surface you can swirl the brush a little harder and faster until the brush is loaded with soap.

 

[quickie-cookie]

Hot water is VERY important!

 

[Ignatius]

I lathered up the last couple of days with a generic Chinese Silvertip, which is not very dense at all, and MWF, which is a very hard soap. Just load the brush for longer, works fine.

 

[WhosYerBob]

Scalding water and a boar brush make quick work of even the hardest soaps.

 

[BroJohn]

Hi Brian --

I don't think matters very much, but you may have to alter your lathering style to accommodate the brush type. Stiff brushes and decent boar brushes work really well with the hard soaps.

But I find that soft, 'floppy' brushes work just fine with soaps, too. I just heavily load them with soap and lather directly on the face. I may have to work the lather a little longer than normal with a soft brush, but it'll make a great lather with any of the hard shave soaps.

-- John Gehman