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Lather like you wouldn't believe

I've always been able to make a pretty good lather for my shaves. I use either soaps or creams, but I lean towards soaps, and probably use them 90% of the time. I've also experimented making the so called "super lather" mixing both soap and cream together. While that worked pretty good, I didn't see a huge difference over lather from just soap alone, so I'd only mix the combination of soap/cream when the mood struck me.

While looking in the forum under general straight razor talk,I came across a video from The Pastor, who is Thomas in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a video on making Uberlather. This is mixing both soap and cream together. The difference in the way he does it is he adds a bit of glycerin to the mix. In his video he seems to get instant mounds of lather. What a difference between my just O.K. super lather, and his Uberlather. I'll have to try it his way and see what happens.

I didn't find glycerin on store shelves, so I asked the pharmacist if they had any. He did but its kept behind the counter. I got a pint bottle for around $9.00, probably enough to last for years. If you check out The Pastor"s video, he mixes up the soap and cream together and uses a couple of squirts of glycerin.

I mixed mine up the same way, you can use any soap/cream combination, but I just used one squirt of glycerin. I started to mix things up and almost instantly I had mounds of rich lather, I mean enough to do 5+ passes. It seems that the glycerin is a key component to mixing up a lather that gives such a great shave, that was irritation free. Looks like I'll be mixing my lather this way for most of my shaves. I even went out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought a small clear pump bottle to keep the glycerin in. That makes it easier to control how much glycerin you add.

I've PM'd The Pastor a couple of times about the mixing of the lather, and he advises to experiment on how much glycerin to use in the mix. Here's another case of where YMMV. Once you do this a couple of times it doesn't take much more time to do then mixing up a lather from either soap or cream. If you're looking for a really nice lather for a super shave, check this one out, and give it a try. I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of lather this produced. :thumbup1:
 
That is great! I am happy that you like the überlather.

What does YMMV mean?

Btw here is the video:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l-522jNz6k[/YOUTUBE]
 
I live in Chicago will hard water and the Glycerin has transformed my lather from pretty good to amazing! It's a must try.
 
Not to rain on anybody's parade or anything, but I think that uberlather is overkill.

I watched the video. To start with, the amount of cream that he put into the cup was enough that I could've shaved 3 days with that alone. Then he added just about enough soap for one day's shave. So, it's not surprising that he got a lot of nice lather when he used enough product to shave Monday through Thursday, 3 passes per day, for one day's shave. The glycerin probably added some to the great feel of the lather, but I don't think it was the reason for the quantity of it.


Don't get me wrong. If you like uberlather and want to make it every day, you should go ahead and do that. And if you want to use a ton of product, I don't have a problem with that.

I just don't want any newbie to get the idea that you have to use cream AND soap AND glycerin to get a good lather, because it's just not true.
 
Not to rain on anybody's parade or anything, but I think that uberlather is overkill.

I watched the video. To start with, the amount of cream that he put into the cup was enough that I could've shaved 3 days with that alone. Then he added just about enough soap for one day's shave. So, it's not surprising that he got a lot of nice lather when he used enough product to shave Monday through Thursday, 3 passes per day, for one day's shave. The glycerin probably added some to the great feel of the lather, but I don't think it was the reason for the quantity of it.


Don't get me wrong. If you like uberlather and want to make it every day, you should go ahead and do that. And if you want to use a ton of product, I don't have a problem with that.

I just don't want any newbie to get the idea that you have to use cream AND soap AND glycerin to get a good lather, because it's just not true.

In no way was I trying to say that you MUST make your lather this way, or its wrong, and if that's the way it seems to you to come across, I do apologize. :001_rolle

I was only trying to show a different way of making a very nice lather. If you are content with the lather you now make, then by all means continue to do so and disregard this post. This is only an alternative way to make another type of lather which may or may not be for you. Of course this lather can be made using much less soap, cream, and glycerin. :001_tongu

Along the route of making lather, this is a slight detour that some may not wish to take. As always, YMMV, as would your desire to try it out. :thumbup1:

IMHO this method makes a great lather that I felt other members would find interesting. :laugh: :yesnod:
 
OK, so I have to apologize to "uberlather."

I decided to make some this morning, just for fun. I put one squirt of KMF unscented into my bowl along with about 4 drops of glycerin. Then I lathered up some Mama Bear's Frankincense and Myrhh shaving soap with my Omega, then whipped it all together with some extra water and voila! A marvelous lather.

I still think a good part of the magic is that you use way more product than you normally would. I wanted to use a half-squirt of the KMF but got a whole pump in there. Also, I forgot to squeeze out my brush before I went to the soap puck, so I Zack'ed the soap (which I normally don't do).

Having said all that, it really was a nice, moisturizing, smooth lather.:thumbup1:
 
The_Pastor said:
What does YMMV mean?
Your Mileage May Vary...different people will/may get different results.

The phrase "YMMV" comes from automobile commercials on American television where the manufacturer claims that you will get, say, 35 miles per gallon, but qualifies that by saying "Your mileage may vary depending on ....."
 
Not to rain on anybody's parade or anything, but I think that uberlather is overkill.

I watched the video. To start with, the amount of cream that he put into the cup was enough that I could've shaved 3 days with that alone. Then he added just about enough soap for one day's shave. So, it's not surprising that he got a lot of nice lather when he used enough product to shave Monday through Thursday, 3 passes per day, for one day's shave.

If he does that every day instead of just for demonstrating, then I agree it is a waist of product. But on the other hand, he is certain of a good lather because a bad lather almost always is because of lack of soap/cream.

I don't like to look as Santa either and therefor I face lather and reload after every pass.

The glycerin probably added some to the great feel of the lather, but I don't think it was the reason for the
quantity
of it.

Glycerin is a moisturizer (binds water to the skin and beard) as is sorbitol for example.
When I bowl lather, I include some drops of Floïd Sandolor which actually just contains water, sorbitol and a thickener (hydroxyethylcellulose).
But I mainly use as a beard softener (as it is meant to be) between washing the face and just before the first pass.

8<
I just don't want any newbie to get the idea that you have to use cream AND soap AND glycerin to get a good lather, because it's just not true.

That's true.
TIMTOWTDI (There Is More Than One Way To Do It)
 
The videos that Thomas "the Pastor" has are very well done and helpful for this newbie. I may try the uberlather at a later date as I want to get my technique down first and work through my blade sample pack and the two creams I'm using. (TOBS Avocado and Lavender)

Doug
 
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