How I Manage Excess Lather

[Wogus]

Can you clarify what you mean by brush induced brutality? Load time?

Yes, that's what I was referring to... I was being humorous.

 

[SterFry]

Yes, that's what I was referring to... I was being humorous.

Some soaps require slightly modified techniques like load time or using more or less water..Williams is an example of one that needs a lot of water and a lot of agitation, but the basic formula is the same (using a brush to mix soap, water and air). After a while you can tell when a lather is ready just by looking and touch. Again, the most important part is just properly hydrating it.

The overwhelming majority of modern soaps are very easy to lather. Some people have a hard time with: Williams, MWF, Mystic Waters and even Sterling. Supposedly water hardness has negative effects on soap lathering ability. Some more than others. You can always throw up a video of your technique if you suspect you're not getting it quite right.

 

[hairless wonder]

I squeeze the leftovers out of the brush, run it over my hands, and wash it down the drain. There's no reason why other than I like how it feels. It's just lather and I have plenty of creams and soaps to shave with. And I don't think shaving cream is a scarce item.

I'm not sure any of us is treating shaving cream asa scarce item. I, for one, prefer to find another use for the excess lather rather than merely washing it down the sink. If someone else prefers to do the latter, that's fine, too. I'm just sharing how I deal with my excess lather.

FWIW, I really enjoy washing with the remaining soapy water (in my separate container) after shaving. If I have enough, I will give my whole head a good washing with it.

 

[Demaratus]

I vaccum seal my excess lather in a wide-mouth foodsaver jar for the next shave, to minimize oxidation and scent loss.

It keeps for weeks like that.

Amateur. I inject argon into my container.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LabGuy]

When making lather with Stirling, I generally load for 20 sec. For Chiseled Face, Tabac, Cella, Mikes... I load from 10-15 secs. I get plenty of lather for 3 passes and a touch up.

 

[Nick Styptic]

Yeah, I think it's a 'monkey see monkey do' situation. Guys emulate what they read on the forums and see in videos and because it gets the job done, they just keep doing it. I admit I sometimes roll my eyes seeing all these people suggesting and performing 30-60+ second load times just to waste most of it. The brush and soap used are variables in how long one should load, but I've yet to encounter any artisan soap that needed more than a 15 second load for 3 passes + touch up... even with natural hair brushes. Most need less than 10. Quad milled PDP, or something similar may need longer.

I read somewhere on here of a guy taking 1 second off his load time each time he shaved until he found his 'sweet spot'. I'd bet my bottom dollar if everybody on B&B did this most would find they need way, way less soap than they use.

I agree with your "monkey see monkey do" analysis.
Many people here are in the learning stage as I was in the early 60s. In those days we saw nothing but "cream pie in the face" lathers on the television commercials. (Obviously this was to sell more soap.) So without thinking about it, that's how we all thought it was done.
Fast forward to the early seventies when, as a broke college student, razor blades were much more expensive adjusted for inflation we used Ivory and it got the job done without the mountains of lather.
Nowadays my lather is closer to a super slick straight razor lather and a little soap goes a long way.
Adjusting and experimenting all part of the process and fun of finding out what works for you.

 

[H4nk]

I dump any unused lather into the toilet rather than the sink. But I do try to recycle onto the soap I am using.

 

[euro]

The excess lather goes straight in the drain here. I have so many different shaving creams and soaps so it's not a biggie for me. This gives me the excuse to even buy more creams and soaps.