lather technique

[rawface]

Noob alert!
at 8 wks, I'm never getting any real loft to my lather. I'm trying to find what I'm fouling up.
I use a Col. Conk brush, rinsed & dried knot down, tried conk, william, and a couple Casswell-Massey soaps (far superior). One thread said if your local water is very hard, to lather on the face, which I do. If I load the brush and switch to another cup/bowl, the bowl simply gets a coat of soap & never builds loft. On the face, the loft never exceeds 1/8", regardless of water content. I'm thinking user error, but can't identify the prob.
I appreciate your kind help.

 

[Vlad]

I've never tried them, but Casswell-Massey soaps do not seem to be well-regarded, and Williams is notoriously hard to lather, particularly given hard water. So the only one that I think SHOULD work well is Conk. Try to eliminate hard water as the problem by soaking your brush in bottled water instead of tap. And make sure you load up off the Conk for one minute before trying to build lather.

 

[rawface]

Vlad, Thank You!
I wouldn't have guessed the CM soap to be poor in lather - feels great otherwise, but I do have conk soap, and it doesn't lather as well as the CM.

I should have included that I soak the brush in hot tap water while showering, so it's nicely wetted.

I'll definitely have to try bottled/distilled (soft) water.

Again, Thanks for your kind help, Vlad.

 

[Drubbing]

You still need to add water to build the lather. I do the same with my brushes, and use them damp to load soap.

But you need water added bit by bit to build it from there.

 

[rawface]

You still need to add water to build the lather. I do the same with my brushes, and use them damp to load soap.

But you need water added bit by bit to build it from there.

Drubbing, thank You!

What I'm hearing is that I should add water even after brush is soaked. This would be a new component for me. When I've felt the brush getting a bit too dry, I've passed it under running water at the juncture of the handle and knot so that the water ran down into the soapy tip. I'll gladly give this a try. Thx again!

 

[Drubbing]

Drubbing, thank You!

What I'm hearing is that I should add water even after brush is soaked. This would be a new component for me. When I've felt the brush getting a bit too dry, I've passed it under running water at the juncture of the handle and knot so that the water ran down into the soapy tip. I'll gladly give this a try. Thx again!

A soaked, then squeezed brush is damp, and this helps lift soap off the puck. If it's too wet and you get little soap and lots of suds. That will only build thin lather.

By using a damp brush, you agitate soap off in a cream/paste, without saturating it. Then add water to make it lather. Plenty of stickies in the soap forum, so you can see it in pics.

 

[vitaman]

Welcome to B&B!! Give this a look. Maybe it will help out a bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7Aj9vwrtc

 

[ackvil]

Other good videos from a forum member: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSE7l6K2grg&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXzwvjnh_Dw&feature=related

 

[woodfluter]

Welocme Rawface!

Mantic's videos are great - nothing like seeing this done before your eyes.

Most of what I know was learned from others, right here...plus my own experience and experimentation. But I've found that sometimes I need to add water, sometimes not. It depends.

With creams or a very soft soap like Valobra, I'll add a little bit of water in the bowl and start with a medium wet badger brush, and often that works out just fine...with about a minute of mixing.

With harder soaps and a badger brush, it seems important to load with a brush containing very little water and use gentle motion for a longer time to load. Then surely have to add water as I go in the bowl. Wouldn't work otherwise.

But if using boar brush, I leave more moisture in the brush (one shake) and dig in hard, and it loads in no time. And then in the bowl, I mostly don't have to add any water at all to get a good lather.

In all cases, I occasionally scrape the brush against the side of the bowl and that wrings out wetter, unaerated lather - so I can mix it with the rest and get everything uniform. I don't recall hearing of folks doing that, but it works for me.

Good luck and don't give up! It will work out eventually.

- Bill

 

[Arkansas]

I've recently started using cella soap/creme in the small red tub. I shave in the shower, with a 22mm brush.

I wet the brush, wring it out, and start swirling in the tub to lather the brush. After 30 seconds or so, I let a few drops from the shower hit the tub, getting the cella wet again (it is important to note that I never allow enough water at this stage to create a lather, just a few drops to soften the soap a bit). I will then swirl to pick up soap for another 30 seconds, or a minute. I'll repeat this step at least twice. Sometimes more, depending on the size of the brush I'm using.

By this time, there is a LOT of soap on the tips of the brush. The great thing about Cella though, is that it lasts longer than any soap I've ever had.

I'll start face lathering. It's still way to dry, so I'll catch a little water from the shower in my hand, and then, holding the brush upright, pour a few drops into the center of the brush. Continue quickly lathering. More water on the center of the brush. More lathering. And in just a minute or two, there is a boatload of really nice lather, on my face and brush.

I then check to see how slick the lather is between the thumb and forefinger. It's always really slick on the first pass, but how about on the 2nd? The 3rd pass? If it's not still slick, I didn't swirl up enough soap to begin with.

I think Cella is a really good soap/creme to learn with. It's so easy and quick to see the results of your technique.

I just try to remember that if it isn't slick enough, I didn't load enough soap on the brush in the beginning. Water builds nice lather, but more soap makes slick lather, and the combination of the two is the important thing. Thin, slck lather works fine. Fluffy, dry lather does not. So spend an extra minute, and really load up that brush.

Also, I think it's important to add water to the center of brush, when trying to build lather, forcing soap and lather to the outside portion of the brush, where you can actually use it.

By now I'm to the point where I'm getting plenty of soap on the brush in the beginning. So between each pass I'm adding a few more drops of water to the center of the brush, and the lather just explodes from the brush to face, even on the fourth pass.

Good luck!

 

[rawface]

After watching the vids, I did a practice run and got MUCH better lather. I've been way too dry. 'Surprised how long it takes to build the good stuff. I don't know if that's more a function of brush quality (col conk) or hard water. 'Most likely, just user skill. 'Can't thank you enough for your kind help for this noob. Even w/ my poor lather, I'm getting the best shaves of my life. It's no longer an annoying necessity. Like many noobs, I'm finding the taller, heavier grind of a Wacker 6/8, 1/4 hollow to just be a game changer. The heft, stability, enable me to try & learn new strokes that would be tense w/ the shorter hollow blades. While I can then do the same or similar strokes w/ the hollow (having learned on the 1/4 hollow), I still find the shave is more pleasant w/ the heavier blade. Now I'll benefit from far far better lather.
Thank You one & all.

 

[aimsport]

I wet the brush, wring it out, and start swirling in the tub to lather the brush. After 30 seconds or so, I let a few drops from the shower hit the tub, getting the cella wet again (it is important to note that I never allow enough water at this stage to create a lather, just a few drops to soften the soap a bit). I will then swirl to pick up soap for another 30 seconds, or a minute. I'll repeat this step at least twice. Sometimes more, depending on the size of the brush I'm using.

Wow. That's a LOT of loading for Cella, and Cella is already soft. You could try cutting that time in half, and then half again... I get more than enough soap in 5 to 10 seconds of loading with Badger. If I over load Cella I find it too thick and drying. Cella responds beautifully to adding moisture when loaded in moderation. I have found that Cella over loaded generates far too much lather as one tries to add sufficient water.

Do you keep your Cella covered or uncovered? If uncovered, perhaps yours is very dry.

As always, YMMV.

 

[Hercule]

Mantic's videos are great - nothing like seeing this done before your eyes.
...
Most of what I know was learned from others, right here...plus my own experience and experimentation.

That sure is it in a nutshell. I keep going back to Mantic's videos and seem to learn something new every time! Right now I'm trying to more consistently get from meringue to whipped cream. The quest continues.

H

 

[huntmol]

Stick to one method - I recommend facelathering - and just experiment with the amount of water and soap that you are using. Keep at it for a few weeks, and you'll eventually pick it up. I find that usually people have trouble with not enough water or not enough soap.