Thanks, how does coconut oil contribute to lather quality versus other fatty acids?
Key to creamy lather?
- Thread starter DG109
- Start date
That is not an easy answer. Coconut oil is actually not a good oil for shaving soap unless you augment it with other oils. The nature of coconut oil is to produce later that has large bubbles that are very unstable. Maybe this page will help you answer your question Soapmaking Oil Chart - https://lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/ It took me 13 tries to develop my current shave soap recipe and I only use 15% coconut oil. For me it's more about how it adds hardness to the final soap.
Assuming bowl lathering process. Spread the soap out the day before in a thin lining around the bowl. Let it dry out.
Wet brush for 10-20 seconds, ring out. You don’t need to soak a badger for more than this as you likely know, synthetics even less.
Slowly go at the soap for some swirls. Take a light stab of water (as others have said, distilled is better). Keep working it. Repeat with water as needed. You should have nice yogurt lather in 1 min, even with a tough base to lather like GD Kairos.
Good luck!
Wet brush for 10-20 seconds, ring out. You don’t need to soak a badger for more than this as you likely know, synthetics even less.
Slowly go at the soap for some swirls. Take a light stab of water (as others have said, distilled is better). Keep working it. Repeat with water as needed. You should have nice yogurt lather in 1 min, even with a tough base to lather like GD Kairos.
Good luck!
Sorry, @ralph029 it’s your post.
Sebum Gold has a minimal amount of ingredients and very creamy. Phoenix artisan I’m also told explodes with lather and is vegan. The old battle ax would say tallow and lanolin.
Newbies should try a lot of new things. Get ideas and implement what works for themselves. Find what works for you.
@EclipseRedRing promotes face lathering and strongly prefers it to bowl and I tend to agree if you have the brush to do it.
Sebum Gold has a minimal amount of ingredients and very creamy. Phoenix artisan I’m also told explodes with lather and is vegan. The old battle ax would say tallow and lanolin.
Newbies should try a lot of new things. Get ideas and implement what works for themselves. Find what works for you.
@EclipseRedRing promotes face lathering and strongly prefers it to bowl and I tend to agree if you have the brush to do it.
How goes your lathering, @DG109? Was it just as you thought?
- Thread starter
- #27
Made some good progress with all soaps bowl lathering. I’d judge my lathers as a solid 7/10. I probably wasn’t loading enough, but the main culprit was too much agitation from the brush.
One exception is MWF. Still turning out too bubbly and dry looking compared to all the others. I just don’t want to quit on it though. It’s not rocket science so I’m determined to crack it. Naturally I’m also trying to suppress a voice in my head which is telling me further purchases may help (different lather bowl or another brush)!
I’m practice lathering most nights but not shaving with any of my soaps except MWF. For that I’m face lathering with good results. In the hope it helps me dial in the evening bowl lather drills.
One exception is MWF. Still turning out too bubbly and dry looking compared to all the others. I just don’t want to quit on it though. It’s not rocket science so I’m determined to crack it. Naturally I’m also trying to suppress a voice in my head which is telling me further purchases may help (different lather bowl or another brush)!
I’m practice lathering most nights but not shaving with any of my soaps except MWF. For that I’m face lathering with good results. In the hope it helps me dial in the evening bowl lather drills.
Made some good progress with all soaps bowl lathering. I’d judge my lathers as a solid 7/10. I probably wasn’t loading enough, but the main culprit was too much agitation from the brush.
One exception is MWF. Still turning out too bubbly and dry looking compared to all the others. I just don’t want to quit on it though. It’s not rocket science so I’m determined to crack it. Naturally I’m also trying to suppress a voice in my head which is telling me further purchases may help (different lather bowl or another brush)!
I’m practice lathering most nights but not shaving with any of my soaps except MWF. For that I’m face lathering with good results. In the hope it helps me dial in the evening bowl lather drills.
I've been having some great MWF lathers recently and I've been doing the following.
The one thing I found, is if the brush is too wet when loading it's going to be a terrible one. I squeeze out all the water from my synth, then put on a few drops off water on the top of the MWF before loading. Then I bowl lather and a few drops off water to build the lather.
One small problem with MWF, they have consistency issues. If you got one from a bad batch it could produce a thin lather however good one's lathering technique might be.
- Thread starter
- #29
Looks great to me. Nice shine (slickness), looks like it'd have good cushion without being too thick.
That is really awesome MWF lather - looks much slicker than what I create! Any sense regarding how many grams of soap you pull off a MWF puck for each shave? How long do you load and the same for time building lather in the bowl?
- Thread starter
- #32
I haven’t been using that lather because I don’t think it’s good enough. It’s more like meringue than yoghurt to me. I can get a better lather with other soaps especially creams and croaps.
I just wanted to get views to check I’m not chasing the impossible with MWF. Please can other gents chime in?
I just wanted to get views to check I’m not chasing the impossible with MWF. Please can other gents chime in?
- Thread starter
- #33
I bloom the puck with 5ml of water then load for about 45-60 seconds. I’d guess I’m spending about 3 or 4 minutes building the lather.
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