Lather help

[Beerhunter]

I hope you more experienced guys can help.
I would like to try some new shave soaps and creams.
What I currently have is the cheap VDH brush and using Williams soap. What I do to get a good lather is dunk my brush get it a good soaking. Add water in the mug w/ soap pour off water till I get it right then use brush to lather up. When I am done with the lather I just pour out and rinse let soap sit and dry in the mug.


I am getting bored with Williams. Would like to use some different soaps and creams. The above technique will not do on more expensive and of better made soaps.
So I did a test load my Williams soap into a bowl I was unable to get any useful lather at all I got a covering
of soap on the bottom of mug. But couldn't build any good lather.


Questions are is it my technique? And it is possible that one can bowl lather William's soap? Just
needing to adjust for extra soap and water?
Or is it my brush and soap combo. Or could I get better results with the same brush w/ a better soap?
Or do i toss out the old soap/brush combo.
For a stiffer/denser brush and another soap would I get better results? See folks this is why I stayed w/ the canned goo for almost 50 years plus the fact I thought that Williams was "old man soap" and deemed it old fashioned. But in reality gramps was right. Wished I had his straights. Oh well that's life. Thanks for letting me ramble on. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Soldierdan]

i start with very little water (soak the brush, then squeeze about half of the water out), load for 30-45 seconds, then go to my scuttle, and add water till i get the consistency right. Dependent on the soap, it takes between 1-2 minutes. I hope this helps, if you're looking for a new soap, try Garry's sample shop. You can try a variety for a low price and once you decide what you wanna go with you only have to buy one.

 

[seanusa]

For soaps I usually add a few drops of water to the top of the puck to soften it up and let my brush soak in warm water while i shower. When done I squeeze most of the water out of my brush and pour off the water on my puck and load the brush. In a bowl I swirl until like you said, I have a nice layer fs soap at the bottom and it doesn't appear to be doing anything anymore, then I add a few drops of water and continue, it should start to build up and then stop again, so add more water and repeat until you have the desired consistency YMMV

 

[mblakele]

By all means take another look at the lathering tutorials from http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Lathering - but you might as well try some other products too. I can get a pretty good lather with modern Williams, but it takes some work. It does best for me when face-lathering, but I am not sure I would face-lather with a relatively new VdH boar brush. It might sting a bit.

Anyway there are some decent products that you should be able to find locally: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/USA_Nationwide_Various_Locations_Shaving_Supplies lists some. The Van der Hagen soap should be available. I am not a big fan of it, but it is pretty easy to lather. You might also look at creams: Real Shaving Company traditional shaving cream is good, and so is Kiss My Face (despite the name). Both should be available in your area: check http://www.realshaving.com/where-to-buy/ and http://www.kissmyface.com/store to find out where.

Of course if you want to mail order, that opens up a brave new world of possibilities SCAD/SSAD....

 

[Beerhunter]

It would appear that on my first trial of Williams bowl
lather that I got a little impatient with building my lather.
The second trial went much better due to your
helpful suggestions.
It's a darn shame that I did it w/ the VDH brush I could have used a "bad brush" for non-lather as an excuse to go buy a new brush.
So thanks again for your timely helpful hints gents.
please excuse me for the time being. As I have my
technique to work on.

 

[mblakele]

Looks like you are on your way, but keep trying for a thicker lather. When I was learning to make good lather, I found it useful to know what it ought to look like. Some of the photos here go too far toward whipped cream for my taste, but YMMV on that. Here is a Williams lather photo I turned up in an older thread:



Also this thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/128594-Post-Pictures-of-Williams-on-your-face might help.



Those are both badger brushes, but I can get pretty similar lather with a boar or horse.

 

[mistervee123]

I have a short attention span, and that's why I like creams. With a couple of circles in a dish of cream, you have enough soap for a great lather, and the lather works up within a minute or two at most. So, my vote is for you to try a great cream like TOBS Avocado or Castle Forbes.

 

[Beerhunter]

@mrake:
I noticed how "wet" my brushed looked. So I loaded what was there in my mug. Then dug down in the puck for more soap. I didn't take a pic but it looked good. Gf was taking a shower so I gave it to her she got good results. Better used than down the drain.

 

[Beerhunter]

@ to mistervee
Castle Forbes is already on my list to buy. The damn shame is my beard grows so slow I can get with one shave ( two if I push it). There is so many good creams and such I couldn't possibly get around to the many that I have read about.