Into the BREECH@!

[Crisp]

No matter what I do, when face lathering I can not get the lather to penetrate evenly into the entire brush. The middle or "breech" becomes void of any water or lather after the first pass.

The lather generated for my first pass is GREAT! Fun to look at and play with even. However, after rinsing my face and going to lather up for subsequent passes, lather only exists as a "HALO" around my brush.

I mean, is it even possible to get lather deep down in there? When face lathering the bristles are splayed outwards.

I must reload my brush before each pass. I don't really mind I guess, but I have a nagging feeling that something is not right.

-Crisp

 

[Crisp]

I found a MANTIC video where he suggests holding the brush by the knot when lathering. I have found this to not really do much other than push water upwards.

-Crisp

 

[TheVez2]

how long are you spending loading up your brush? Do you prep the soap with water before loading? Might try to wet the soap longer and spend longer loading (30-60 seconds) to get more soap loaded into the brush.

 

[Jim]

More info on your gear and soap- can you snap a photo of your loaded brush?

 

[Crisp]

Ye GODS!

I have no picture of my loaded brush, however, I just may borrow one in the VERY near future and snap a couple.

I use MWF or TABAC

I use a SilverTip Rooney 1/1 or a Simpson Berkley Best Badger

Same Issue with both brushes.

And yes, I load load load the soap as much as possible. I do not splay the bristles out very much when loading for fear of hurting the brush...I leave that for my face. It is this motion that I feel generates the best lather, but at the same time "dumping" what is in the breech of the brush.

I find the gentle "painting" motions do not generate a fine lather. One must splay the bristles out on the face while face lathering to make a good lather/mixing action.

-Crisp

 

[Crisp]

how long are you spending loading up your brush? Do you prep the soap with water before loading? Might try to wet the soap longer and spend longer loading (30-60 seconds) to get more soap loaded into the brush.

Got enough soap. I do not prewet my soaps. Still seem to be able to pick up soap just fine.

 

[TheVez2]

I've found that pre-soaking the soap for at least a minute or two is pretty important, especially for tallow soaps. See this thread on lathering MWF:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=126516&highlight=soaking

 

[Jim]

You cannot hurt your brush on the puck- these type of problems invariably come down to insufficient product use.

Both your brushes and soaps are fine so its back to pilot error.


Your brush should look like this just loaded-

 

[Crisp]

Indeed. I get excellent lather for the first pass. Even more than I need. It simply "changes form" more than I'd like it to after rinsing my face and applying for my second lather. It is as if the remaining water on my face dilutes the lather that is on the "crown" of my brush. I can not get lather to penetrate deep into the void as perfectly photographed above me. Agreed, the brush above is loaded and not in it's "lathered state", but the center of my brush looks almost EXACLTY like that of the above while applying for my second pass. Perhaps my brush is drying out or something while shaving during my first pass.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Are you getting bad lather on your second pass, or is this just an aesthetic issue?
If your lather is too thin on the 2nd pass, then you just need to load your brush more from the get-go. If it dries out, you need more water. Either way, though, once lather is made it dosn't matter if it's sitting in the breech or on the tips, as long as it gets onto your face.

 

[Crisp]

Are you getting bad lather on your second pass, or is this just an aesthetic issue?
If your lather is too thin on the 2nd pass, then you just need to load your brush more from the get-go. If it dries out, you need more water. Either way, though, once lather is made it dosn't matter if it's sitting in the breech or on the tips, as long as it gets onto your face.

Yes, I always need to reload the brush. It is just that I hear people on the boards say "My brush easily holds enough lather for 3 or 4 passes" and mine can only make about one and a half. It is as if it shoots the moon for the first lather, nice and thick and rich, and that is it. Show is over!

 

[Jim]

The photo above is just loaded prior to making lather.

A brush loaded with lather looks like this>


&original=1[/IMG]

 

[Go West Young Man]

Yes, I always need to reload the brush. It is just that I hear people on the boards say "My brush easily holds enough lather for 3 or 4 passes" and mine can only make about one and a half. It is as if it shoots the moon for the first lather, nice and thick and rich, and that is it. Show is over!

Try putting a lot more soap on the brush at the beginning when you load it up. Are you giving it a good 30-60 seconds of hard work on the puck?

 

[BladeDE40]

How long do you spend face lathering? How big is your brush? Are you letting the brush splay out on your face as you are lathering? These would all be considerations for how much lather is generated, how much Tue brush will hold, and how deep into the brush the lather gets.

 

[rsaltonstall]

And yes, I load load load the soap as much as possible. I do not splay the bristles out very much when loading for fear of hurting the brush...I leave that for my face. It is this motion that I feel generates the best lather, but at the same time "dumping" what is in the breech of the brush.

I find the gentle "painting" motions do not generate a fine lather. One must splay the bristles out on the face while face lathering to make a good lather/mixing action.

-Crisp

Try working the brush on the puck; don't worry about splaying the bristles on the puck. When face lathering, you need to massage the brush on your face with a swirling motion first, and then, once your face has lather from the swirling, paint more lather on to get the lather nice and thick.

It simply "changes form" more than I'd like it to after rinsing my face and applying for my second lather. It is as if the remaining water on my face dilutes the lather that is on the "crown" of my brush.

If the lather is too thin for the second pass, the water on your face may have watered down the lather and/or you may have neglected to load the brush with enough product the first time.

Are you getting bad lather on your second pass, or is this just an aesthetic issue?
If your lather is too thin on the 2nd pass, then you just need to load your brush more from the get-go. If it dries out, you need more water. Either way, though, once lather is made it dosn't matter if it's sitting in the breech or on the tips, as long as it gets onto your face.

+1

 

[Jake]

You might also try dipping the tips of the bristles in hot water as you are face lathering -- on the 1st pass. This will help with the rich lathering of your brush. Once the brush us fully loaded you should actually have a richer lather on passes 2, 3, & etc.

 

[Born2bwire]

I load up my brush like there's no tomorrow (and the damn soap never seems to diminish from it either). I put a few drops of hot water on the soap, just enough to coat the surface and let that sit while I shower. When I come back, I gently squeeze the water from the brush and then load up the brush. Contrary to the pictures above, my brush is usually solid with soap. I load it up until the soap densely covers all the bristles and they come together in a nice singular clump. This gives me enough for four passes with any soap, even ones with reputations like MWF or T&H.

 

[Lando]

I have kinda the same issue, the second lathering is definitely thinner, but that is okay for me since it is for an across the grain pass. For the third lathering/against the grain pass, I will lather and then go with my hand to the brush a la mantic and retrieve all that really slick lather buried in the brush and apply by hand. This seems to work for me. The issue is a lot of the good lather gets used on the first pass for face latherers, probably more than is needed, since the face is essentially serving as the mixing bowl. I will occasionally palm lather and you can reserve more lather for subsequent passes on your hand this way.

 

[Xman74]

I have kinda the same issue, the second lathering is definitely thinner, but that is okay for me since it is for an across the grain pass. For the third lathering/against the grain pass, I will lather and then go with my hand to the brush a la mantic and retrieve all that really slick lather buried in the brush and apply by hand. This seems to work for me. The issue is a lot of the good lather gets used on the first pass for face latherers, probably more than is needed, since the face is essentially serving as the mixing bowl. I will occasionally palm lather and you can reserve more lather for subsequent passes on your hand this way.

+1

This is exactly the issue I've been dealing with lately. But seriously that thin "second pass lather" for the XTG actually sucks and we shouldn't have to accept that. Last time I ran it across my fingers and... zero slickness, no glide and nul protection! I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what it could be. Is it too much water in the beginning? Not enough soap loading? I can't figure it out.

Please B&B brothers. Help us out!!!

 

[rsaltonstall]

+1

This is exactly the issue I've been dealing with lately. But seriously that thin "second pass lather" for the XTG actually sucks and we shouldn't have to accept that. Last time I ran it across my fingers and... zero slickness, no glide and nul protection! I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what it could be. Is it too much water in the beginning? Not enough soap loading? I can't figure it out.

Please B&B brothers. Help us out!!!

Do you always get the same results with the same brush or does it vary a bit depending on the brush? What about the soap (same question)?