How many swirls?

[ouch]

How many swirls do you need to get your lather "Ron-ready"? Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone here is sufficiently anal (NB- I have a terrific story involving Mrs. Ouch, the word "anal", a stapler, and two stitches to my brow, but I'll save that for another time) to actually count their number of strokes, but anyone have a rough estimate?
I think I'm in the 200-300 range by shave's end, but, then again, I'm used to making a lot of omelettes.





Vidi, vici, veni.
I saw, I conquered, I came.

 

[AACJ]

MMMMMM Omlettes!!!!

How many swirls do you need to get your lather "Ron-ready"? Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone here is sufficiently anal (NB- I have a terrific story involving Mrs. Ouch, the word "anal", a stapler, and two stitches to my brow, but I'll save that for another time) to actually count their number of strokes, but anyone have a rough estimate?
I think I'm in the 200-300 range by shave's end, but, then again, I'm used to making a lot of omelettes.





Vidi, vici, veni.
I saw, I conquered, I came.

 

[Kyle]

I think this is pretty subjective because of all of the variables involved (brush size & grade, water capacity of brush, cream vs soap, ease of lather with that product, amount of cream used, quality of water, temperature of water, humidity, mixing technique, etc). Instead of focusing on swirls, try focusing on the creams consistency. I always try to start with a relatively dry lather and then add small amounts of water between swirlings. I then try for something that has very little air in it and is heavy but can stand up on its own. One of our members (for the life of me, I can't remember who) suggests taking some of the lather and rubbing it between finger and thumb to determine if it's ready for use.

Having said all of this, I would guess that I might fall in the neighborhood of 100 (+-25) swirls with my best lathering creams. I'll try to count tomorrow.

 

[ouch]

Perhaps I should mention that I'm sure that I continue to swirl scores-- possibly hundreds-- of times after I reach a good consistency. Just habit, I guess.

 

[AACJ]

Perhaps I should mention that I'm sure that I continue to swirl scores-- possibly hundreds-- of times after I reach a good consistency. Just habit, I guess.

I do the same thing. After I put lather on my face for the first pass, I put the brush back in the bowl and swirl again. Then before I lather for the second pass, I swirl again, then repeat the above until I'm done shaving.

 

[Bartelby]

Bob Dylan's song keeps playing in my head and throwing off my count...

"Yes and how many swirls, must a man lather up, before you can call him a man?"

And my 12th grade Shakespeare...

To swirl or not to swirl, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler for the face to suffer
The nicks and cuts of outrageous lather,
Or to take arms against a sea of shaving cans,
And by opposing end them?

And yes, I know the two words we're all thinking. Shaving geek.

 

[Scotto]

68.2315 swirls for me.

 

[ouch]

68.2315 swirls for me.

Too many jokes around that number.




What's the square root of 69?
Eight somethin'.


What's a 68?
You do me and I owe you one.



I'll stop now.

 

[obsessis]

i wasn't lathering long enough. now i lather for a long time, adding a little bit of water every once in a while. at least spend a couple minutes or more working up a good lather.

 

[Kyle]

I finally had time to count my swirls this morning and had grossly underestimated what I've been doing. I am easily between 200-300 swirls while shaving my face and can add another 100 by completion of my head.

 

[rschul2]

Not to sound short or snippy, but does it really matter how many swirls one uses? How many swirls will depend on the type of brush you are using, what soap or cream that is being used, etc. etc. I think you should just try to get a nice meringue-like consistent lather on a day to day basis. Some days this may take 50 swirls and on other days, it may take 500. Just my opinion though.

 

[obsessis]

i think the point is trying to gauge how you make your cream compared to others to see if you could improve on your technique, not to get a set-in-stone number to follow as being the absolute way. i found out i was not mixing my cream enough from this thread and am now mixing it longer and making a better cream as a result.

 

[With The Grain]

(NB- I have a terrific story involving Mrs. Ouch, the word "anal", a stapler, and two stitches to my brow, but I'll save that for another time

so now that we've got the swirls down a bit....

 

[Kyle]

Randy,

I don't think the number of swirls really matters. I just thought it was an interesting discussion and have since noticed that mixing time (which equates to swirls) seems to vary greatly depending on the cream I've chosen for the day. Certainly I am not suggesting that a lather's quality is determined by swirls.

 

[zacharydz]

Randy,

I don't think the number of swirls really matters. I just thought it was an interesting discussion and have since noticed that mixing time (which equates to swirls) seems to vary greatly depending on the cream I've chosen for the day. Certainly I am not suggesting that a lather's quality is determined by swirls.

I agree. I think newbies will find this the most useful; after reading threads like these, I increased my swirls dramatically and only now get decent lather. When I first started I would have thought that 50 swirls would be massive overkill...

 

[guenron]

Oddly enough, bigger brushes and bigger lather bowls seem to require fewer swirls.. Seems as though it could have a lot to do with the fricative area?

 

[Kyle]

Oddly enough, bigger brushes and bigger lather bowls seem to require fewer swirls.. Seems as though it could have a lot to do with the fricative area?

Very true. On a drastic scale, it would be like the difference in propelling a rowboat with an oar versus a screwdriver.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Not to sound short or snippy, but does it really matter how many swirls one uses? How many swirls will depend on the type of brush you are using, what soap or cream that is being used, etc. etc. I think you should just try to get a nice meringue-like consistent lather on a day to day basis. Some days this may take 50 swirls and on other days, it may take 500. Just my opinion though.

Gotta replace that idiotic "yogurty" descriptor with the more sophisticated and accurate 'merangue-like'!

 

[EclipseRedRing]

If using a hard soap I swirl about 100 times and then face lather. On the rare occasions I use a cream, I dig some out of the tub with my finger, smear some on my face, the rest in the end of a damp brush and go from there. I can always go back to the puck or add more cream if needed but usually it is not. Works for me.

 

[Roy]

I read the 100 swirls and thought....what! Then I took note today of what I did. Yes 100 swirls. ! I load fast and didn't realise this is about 8 swirls for about 15 seconds. I think we underestimate this. Brush is mainly chubby3. Ìt does make for a fab shave if you don't skimp on soap.