Try this simple thing
Destilled water
For everything
Destilled water
For everything
Help, how do I get slick lather?
- Thread starter spacemonkey42
- Start date
Excellent reference. Thank you @brucered
The Proraso was a gift and Williams an opportunistic purchase at a distant store. When those were gone, I went back to hand soap. Frankly, my hand soap lather is better than Proraso and on par with Williams. The hand soap is always available and costs me nothing.Hi Quaznoid, Why did you switch to the exclusive use of bath soaps for shaving? Recall as recently as June you were frequently shaving with Proraso and before that Williams with good results per your posts (link to a couple below). See now that you typically shave with Dial and Irish Spring. Did you change because Williams was discontinued?
SE SOTD- What was your tool of choice today? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/se-sotd-what-was-your-tool-of-choice-today.292393/page-1421#post-11796932
What razor/blade did you use today
20210910 Razor: Edwin Jagger 3ONE6 Knurled Handle Blade: Shark Platinum (1) Brush: Razorock Monster Synthetic Shaving Brush - 26mm Pre-shave: Hot shower Lather: StIrling Soap Co Naked & Smooth Aftershave: Thayer’s Witch Hazel Rose No irritation: 5 No nicks or cuts: 5 Closeness: 5 Smoothness: 5...www.badgerandblade.com
Please do not Agitate the soap; instead STIR the soap slowly-add water SLOWLY until the lather develops a nice sheen
STiR but do't WHIP the lather.
My 2 cents.
Whipping like you're making cake is not the way to go. Go slowly and add water little by little. That's where the slickness is.
A fingertip sprayer helps to add water to dry lather and also to add water directly to the skin on your lather if it gets too dry.
- Thread starter
- #27
Thank you all SO MUCH for the advice. I tried face lathering for the first time and was able to produce a slicker lather. I think I need to load even more soap, the Razorock gold label is a pretty hard triple-milled soap. But today's lather was much slicker, thank you!
The easiest way to face lather is by using a stick because they are designed specifically to deposit soap directly on your face to be lathered there. The easiest stick to use in my experience is Arko (which is also super cheap). I really like my D.R. Harris stick also and the scents are more "uncontroversial" than Arko. Both are tallow-based products that are slick and cushiony.
I also face lather cream from a tube like my Proraso green. I squeeze a line about an inch long onto my fingertips and just spread it directly on my cheeks and lather it there.
I soak my brush in warm/hot water for a few minutes to soften, hydrate and warm it. When I'm ready to lather with it, I give it a moderate squeeze to remove water before I put it to my face. I prefer to use either my boar brush or my mixed badger/boar brush to face lather because of their backbone. But I've used my silvertip badger and synthetic brushes to face lather also.
Once the soap (stick or tube) is on your face and you put the brush (with water squeezed out) onto your face and scrub with it, a "proto-lather" will build very quickly and easily. The consistency of the lather will depend on how much water you left in the brush. I err on the side of less water because you can add it later.
Once I get the proto-lather on my face, I just drip some water into the splayed brush and go back to building lather on my face. I find it to be very easy to see and feel the way the consistency of the lather changes on my face using this method. I also end up with enough lather left in my brush to reapply lather using the brush for a second pass. Rinsing my face after the first pass leaves a little water on my face that ends up thinning the lather applied on the second pass. To me, this is a feature, not a bug.
For my third pass, I typically squeeze all the remaining lather out of my brush into my hand by wrapping the brush with my thumb and forefinger and pulling the lather from the brush. This always leaves a big beautiful mound of lather in that hand, which I just put directly onto my face. This hand-method lets me feel where I still have stubble to remove. I also find that the lather gets a little bit wetter (and slicker) at each pass.
My favorite part of the face lathering method is that I get feedback at every step that teaches me what to do differently (if anything) the next time. I hope this helps.
Great advice above!!
I would emphasize key points for me:
1. Face lather
2. More water, added a few drops at a time
I prefer rather ‘wet’ lather with a good sheen, rather than the thick yogurt often shown in photos!!
I would emphasize key points for me:
1. Face lather
2. More water, added a few drops at a time
I prefer rather ‘wet’ lather with a good sheen, rather than the thick yogurt often shown in photos!!
Thank you for responding. Glad to hear you are a fellow Williams fan - its what I started with 3+ years ago. Respect that hand soap matches your preferences. Agree that one does not need to spend a lot for shaving soap that delivers good core shaving performance (ease of lathering, slickness & stability).
Saw that you've also used Dove in addition to Dial and Irish Spring over the years. You may be able to give yourself an improved shaving experience if you blend the Dove with one of your tallow based favorites or Ivory with the Dial/Irish Spring/Ivory providing slickness while the Dove makes the lather richer and more stable.
See the link below to a post that highlights my experiments in this area (#4 50/50 Dove/Ivory blend). Based on my test results a blend of 1/3 Dove with 2/3's tallow based bath soap could work best. Basically just grate the two soaps, mix together and press tightly into your preferred shaving soap container. Adding a small amount of water to the blend while mixing should allow it to hold together better. Note that, per my earlier post, you can get much of the Dove superlathering benefit by just pressing a chunk into your current mix of bath soaps though grating and mixing will provide more consistency.
Dove Men+Care: Miracle Superlather Ingredient & Very Good for Shaving When Mixed with Ivory in 50/50 Blend - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/dove-men-care-miracle-superlather-ingredient-very-good-for-shaving-when-mixed-with-ivory-in-50-50-blend.621972/
Note that while I found the above bath soap blend to be good, shave/bath soap blends work better at a relatively low cost of around $2.50 per 3.5+ oz. puck. While my more detailed recipes are posted elsewhere a blend of roughly the following should work well:
- Approx. 2 oz grated Williams (if you have it) or Arko shave soap (One puck or one stick)
- Two ounces of grated Ivory (or your favorite tallow based bath soap)
- Two ounces of grated Dove Men + Care
- One 2.5 ounce puck Van Der Hagen Deluxe (VDH) (Melt and add to blend of above grated soaps)
The specific blends I've been using generate core shaving performance that is as good as any off-the-shelf shaving soaps or creams that I've tried though off-the-shelf products, such as Mitchell's Wool Fat, Proraso Red, Arko or Williams by itself, Tabac (new vegan formula), LEA cream or Razorock What the Puck provide additional benefits such as improved post shave feel, scent and/or the convenience of not having to blend. Currently I enjoy a rotation of both my custom and off-the-shelf shaving soaps/creams.
As always YMMV. As mentioned before this is a great hobby that allows each of us an experience tailored to our personal preferences.
- Thread starter
- #31
I've been getting a more slick lather by loading a lot more soap. Thanks for the tips!
When I watch this video from stirling soaps I am surprised by how much water he adds. Does that seem like a lot to you all?
When I watch this video from stirling soaps I am surprised by how much water he adds. Does that seem like a lot to you all?
@spacemonkey42 : The amount of water he adds in the video is determined by the amount of load time. He has a fairly long load time, given how soft Stirling Soaps are. As such, he requires more water. He doesn't soak his brush (synthetic) as much, so again, he needs more water added.
His video also skips over the soaking part with the badger brush, so no idea how much water is in the brush when he face lathers.
This is what I got out of the video:
Wet the brush, load it with soap and either bowl lather or face lather as needed.
Experiment with each step till you get it right.
No big deal, don't overthink it, trial and error until you get it, start over if you things don't work out.
Just about the right amount of information, without getting OCD about it. (BTW, I really like his soaps, and his sample sizes.)
His video also skips over the soaking part with the badger brush, so no idea how much water is in the brush when he face lathers.
This is what I got out of the video:
Wet the brush, load it with soap and either bowl lather or face lather as needed.
Experiment with each step till you get it right.
No big deal, don't overthink it, trial and error until you get it, start over if you things don't work out.
Just about the right amount of information, without getting OCD about it. (BTW, I really like his soaps, and his sample sizes.)
@spacemonkey42 It mostly takes practice, but you'll get the hang of how much soap and water you need to use. I'll also note that I started off bowl lathering and then switched to face lathering because I was having the same kinds of problems. It's much easier to figure lathering out if you can feel what you're doing.
I face lathered for 30+ years, then I joined B&B in October and began bowl lathering for short while. Last night, I switched back to face lathering, and realized (surprise, surprise) that I am a face latherer, and it was silly of me to switch. 
Water. Like others are saying. Trickle of hot water, mix with brush. Repeat as necessary.
When it feels thick on your face, add water trickle to brush and apply on face.
When it feels thick on your face, add water trickle to brush and apply on face.
- Thread starter
- #36
I've been really loading up the brush, face lathering, and getting more slick lather for the first two passes, but I don't seem to have enough left in the brush for the third.
Perhaps I need to add even more soap or use a bigger brush. I've been using a 24mm Omega boar.
Today I half-bowl-lathered, by starting in the bowl instead of my face. I added water by dipping the tips of the brush in water, which helps me add just a little bit. Then I still did some face lathering, because it feels good.
That made enough slick lather for three passes, so that is another option for me.
Perhaps I need to add even more soap or use a bigger brush. I've been using a 24mm Omega boar.
Today I half-bowl-lathered, by starting in the bowl instead of my face. I added water by dipping the tips of the brush in water, which helps me add just a little bit. Then I still did some face lathering, because it feels good.
That made enough slick lather for three passes, so that is another option for me.
I’m no expert but my guess is you need to load more - try loading the brush and your face before you get going on lather building.I've been really loading up the brush, face lathering, and getting more slick lather for the first two passes, but I don't seem to have enough left in the brush for the third.
Perhaps I need to add even more soap or use a bigger brush. I've been using a 24mm Omega boar.
Today I half-bowl-lathered, by starting in the bowl instead of my face. I added water by dipping the tips of the brush in water, which helps me add just a little bit. Then I still did some face lathering, because it feels good.
This is what I usually do. It works for me. I get the lather to a workable point in the bowl and then build it to where I want it on my face.Today I half-bowl-lathered, by starting in the bowl instead of my face. I added water by dipping the tips of the brush in water, which helps me add just a little bit. Then I still did some face lathering, because it feels good.
I don't use boar brushes or badger any longer. I have synthetics that out perform both, for me.
Perhaps this can be of assistance as well:
www.badgerandblade.com
Guido
Wet Tip Brush Lathering In A Bowl
Creating lather using a dry brush with only the tips wet.
www.badgerandblade.com
Guido
Boar brushes are often notorious for requiring a lot of soap, especially if the whole knot is over saturated.
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