Man I have been doing it all wrong. I have just been soaking up some hot water on my brush and attempted to make a later on the soap, and could never get a real good lather. It would either be too runny or too dry. I tried this method tonight, and wow what a difference. Awsome thread!!!
How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
cool thanks for the info
I'm having problems with this method. The lather I make looks great, and feels great on my face, but when I'm shaving, it feels dry and not much lubricative at all. I went back to the 'wet brush, rub on soap, lather on face' method, and that's working OK for now, for the soap that is. I'm still not getting BBS, but that's for another thread.
Using Merkur 38c, Merkur, Derby or Feather blades, and Taylor's Sandalwood soap.
Using Merkur 38c, Merkur, Derby or Feather blades, and Taylor's Sandalwood soap.
and which brush, sorry?
Just some $3 brush from the pharmacy.
That might have something to do with it. Have you successfully made lather with brush using other traditional shaving soaps?
I have successfully made a good lather with this same brush, and same soap, when lathering it directly on my face. The shaves I get from this are adequate, but can be improved.
This weekend (I always do my experimentation on the weekend in case I end up looking like I have been attacked by a Straight razor weilding assasin) I will try the barbus cream I was using before, before I switched to the Merkur 38 and Derby/Feathers.
One variable not really discussed here is the material from which the bowl is made. Since we are talking about a surfactant process, I wonder if the roughness of the lather bowl surface makes a difference. And does it matter if the bowl is wood, glass, metal, or ceramic? All of these surfaces are very different from the face itself and interact directly with the soap/water mix.
I went back to the el cheapo Barbus shaving cream this morning, and boy what a difference (and that with a 4 shave old Derby Extra). Ultra smooth shave, no irritation, 100% improvement 
So, why is a £1.50 cream giving me much better results that a £9 soap? Do I REALLY need to buy an expensive brush
So, why is a £1.50 cream giving me much better results that a £9 soap? Do I REALLY need to buy an expensive brush
I have been doing this completely wrong! I have been just building my lather on the soap itself. Also, I am using an old Schick DE Safety Razor. Anyone know anything about the quality of these?
Wow I've been shaving for a year and I have always used my creams way more than my soaps because I couldn't get a good lather with soaps. I knew it was in my technique and not the way soaps are supposed to be because otherwise people wouldn't rave over soaps. I was too lazy to look up what I was doing wrong until today. Can you guys take a quick guess at what I was doing wrong? Well for one, I didn't wet the soap before using it. I don't think that was the main thing though. Haha the main thing holding me back was the way I was rubbing the soap on the brush while it had a decent amount of water in it. That doesn't allow as much soap to get on the bristles as it should. I didn't even see a white paste. I'm gonna try a soap this morning and see how it goes. Forget finals, I'm hyped up for this!
I gotta admit something. For the last 3 days I have been have GREAT shaves with this same Taylor's sandalwood soap that I was having problems with. I didn't wanna post here until I had a repeatable experience, and now I feel that I have. The breakthrough came when I decided to try again, and put more effort into making the lather. What I was doing before was whipping it up a little and then adding some hot water. Way too early. What I found was with a shaken out brush, and a dry (but previously soaked) soap, I would put more effort into working the soap into the brush, and then going to the mug without any water in it, and giving it quite a lot of work with the brush for much longer than I was before. Until the lather was stiff and almost dry. Then I would add a very small amount of water and work it again.
Night and Day difference, is all I can say.
Night and Day difference, is all I can say.
yup, you gotta attack that soap. don't be shy men!
Wow, I made more lather using QED's Lime soap than I have with any other cream before. Amazing.
Nice! I had the same revelation myself awhile back. Also, good to see you back here, Dee.
I must admit my own ignorance in making a good lather from soap. I'd been soaking up only a very small amount of soap onto my C&E brush (using Honeybee Sue's soap). I got a enough lather to get several passes, but I now know that it was a thin and not very protective lather.
Thanks to all in this thread that taught me the error of my ways. I had a great lather this morning that was slicker than I've ever had. It was a little to dry after the second pass, but adding water improved it.
I now have some great things to try to continue to improve my technique.
Thanks to all in this thread that taught me the error of my ways. I had a great lather this morning that was slicker than I've ever had. It was a little to dry after the second pass, but adding water improved it.
I now have some great things to try to continue to improve my technique.
Great pics and tutorial. I've also had spotty results trying to make lather in the soap bowl (usually too much water, resulting in a thin lather).
I'll give this technique a go in the morning with some recently-acquired Tabac soap!
I'll give this technique a go in the morning with some recently-acquired Tabac soap!
can't wait to try. thanx!!!!
I'm itching for my next shave. I thought I'd finally gotten it about right; but you tutorial begs to differ. Looking forward to posting positive results.
Similar threads
