Lathering tips?

[Metal241984]

Okay guys, I've been using the 1979 A3 Gillette SS for a few weeks. Good shaves, just been stuck with the canned stuff. I came up with some extra cash today and bought the Van der Hagen starter kit. Bare in mind this is my first time with a brush. I understand this is the cheap setup but its all I could afford. I need some tips on how to lather with this kit/soap. I've watched all the videos on youtube but they don't explain some things. Do I rinse out the bowl if I leave the soap in there? How do I get a good load on the bristles? What is up with melting the puck and pouring it into the bowl? Any advice? Like I said, I know this is the cheap setup, I'm just trying to figure out how to get a good lather out of the best means that I have. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

George

 

[Cobra0369]

Shave wiki lathering tutorials. This will tell you anything you need to know about lathering.

Also, YouTube has good videos. Mantic59 and Geofatboy have good videos on lathering as well as others.

 

[Nomad1600]

Also, soaps in general and VDH in particular take a bit of practice to build up a good lather, but be patient and it will come. Seems soaps require the optimum mix of product and water, but once you hit the right mix (along with a decent brush to hold the soap and water), the lather is great and to be honest, I find soaps to provide a slicker/better lather than cremes (which just seem to be easier to make a lather). One thing... make sure to pre-soak the brush in hot water (usually while in the shower if you shower then shave). Then shake out most of the water.

One way to practice is to hold the puck in your hand, dip the brush in water, and swirl away. You'll get a better sense of what makes a good lather in your hand. Then lathering in your VDH mug will be easier. And to answer your question, I leave the soap puck in the mug, and I don't rinse it out between shaves. I do rinse out my scuttle in between though (its as much decorative as functional thought TBH).

 

[Face Bannon]

That VDH is a good set up. It's cheapness has nothing to do with difficulty lathering. I recommend you take the puck out of the bowl, because it thwarts your technique when you are a beginner. (Put the puck in a mug if you've already thrown away the carton). So use the VDH bowl to lather, and keep the puck out of it. The puck mug will just be for loading.

Wet the brush with hot water. Best to soak it in the bowl for a few minutes (perhaps while you're showering). Shake out the excess. Shake out a good bit of the excess, leaving only a "wet" brush, not a dripping one.

Twirl it in the soap puck with a firmness. Really twirl it, with some pressure, reverse direction so you get all those bristles loaded with soap. (You can't really see it).

Go to the bowl with it. The bowl should still be wet from previous step, but have no standing water in it. Work the brush in the bowl in a circle for 10 seconds without stopping. Then start giving it some pressure as you work (circles while pressing down a bit). Reverse directions every 4 or 5 swirls now. Firm hand and fast. Stop every now and then and skim the cream off the rim and sides with the brush, and plop it back in the bowl. Circles, press brush, reversing direction. If you want, take your hand and wring the cream out of the brush (make a ring with your fingers and just push it down). Plop it in the bowl.

It really doesn't take but about 20 or 30 seconds with that soap and brush combo.

The only variable is water. If after 10 or seconds, it's making a sticky dry lather (like mayo or something), put just a few drops of water in there.

 

[Face Bannon]

If it turns out foamy, try it next time with less water (get more water out of that brush before you start).

 

[velechasni]

Boar brushes require some soaking prior to lathering (or it will just suck up all the lather), soak it in warm water for a few minutes and put some water on the puck also, than squeeze/shake out the extra water from the brush. Start out with a dryish brush and and water gradually, and make sure to load your brush good, a little more product can do wonders. At first you may suck at it a bit, but don't be discouraged and just keep at it, do a few practice lathers it will get better in time

 

[Luc]

Here's a link to the tutorial, it should help: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Lathering

To answer your questions, you can do what you want, it's not wrong or right, if it works, that's all that matters. Here's what I would do

Rinse out the bowl: Nope, I would leave it as is
How to load the brush : Wet the soap first with a tablespoon (around) of warm water. Soak your brush in warm water (warm not burning, boiling or too hot. If you can't stand it, it's too hot). When you get out of the shower, give the brush a few shakes to get rid of some water and charge the brush, going in circles on top of the soap for 45-60 seconds.
Melting the puck: Some like their soap to be attached in the container and the same size of the container.
Any advice: Don't overthink this, the tutorials should give you a great head start. Take your time, practice the lather before your next shave.

 

[Metal241984]

Thanks guys. I think I will figure it out eventually...

 

[Chaloney]

I went back to my vdh brush for the first time in since June a couple days ago. In the past it shed 3-10 hairs per shave. Has only shed 1 hair this week. It had softened up quite a bit from when I first got it and now feels great--lots of scrubby backbone compared to my badger brushes. It's cheap and ugly, but I like it more every time I useitand I have hopefully finished with the shedding.

 

[nymtber]

The VDH Kit is what I got to begin with as well, but I had ordered a Tweezerman brush with my first DE razor. The VDH boar is pretty stiff, but boar and soap just go hand in hand!

Soak it in warm water for 5-10 minutes, and shake out most of the water, I squeeze boars out they hold water. Then build your lather on the puck. I would, honestly, face lather with a Boar brush. It will help to soften the beard and also exfoliates the skin a little So basically your loading your brush, then lathering on your face, adding water as necessary till your face is covered with thick, creamy foam!

I've been at this 2 years, and VDH deluxe is still a soap I keep around. I have 3 pucks new in package just waiting It can be a bit drying though, so I will, on drier days, throw in a squirt of Kiss My Face cream (unscented) to help with that. Then again, I get dry skin easily.

It takes time to lather soap, don't be in a rush. This is why I just face lather now, it works better, for me.

 

[Metal241984]

Should I melt the soap into the bowl or leave it in the plastic packaging?

 

[Metal241984]

Also, if not melting, how to you keep the puck in place?

 

[one2mny]

Being a fairly NOOB, let me say that its going to frustrating to make lather no matter what soap or cream you use. I have been wet shaving for about 3 or 4 months now and am just begining to be able to make a "good" lather from my soaps and cream. Like most things in worth doing, it takes time, patience, and practice, but once you get it...... you will have it! Like ridin a bike! IMO!

 

[Nomad1600]

You can super glue a few small ball bearings to the bottom of the bowl or mug, once the soap is wet and soft it I'll bite in an stay in one place.

 

[Luc]

Should I melt the soap into the bowl or leave it in the plastic packaging?

That's up to you, either way work

Also, if not melting, how to you keep the puck in place?

wet one side of the puck, press it a bit in the bowl and let it dry, it should stick.

 

[Metal241984]

Thanks for the advice guys. I bought the kit on Friday and fooled around with trying to make lather. Today will be my first time with a brush and soap. I've been using my Gillette ss for a few weeks now and have my technique down pretty good. I'm hoping to notice a big difference compared to using the canned stuff.

 

[Senshi]

Also, if not melting, how to you keep the puck in place?

To answer your puck dilemmas please watch this video starting at the 2:35 mark and you can see how to keep you puck in place.

I also started with that VDH set and will say a lot of your issues probably come from that brush, but it's not to say that you won't be able to make a great lather with a little practice.

I keep that VDH soap in the green bowl that came with it and make my lather in a large coffee mug. So, I soak my brush in a coffee mug of hot water. A tip to soften up the soap is to take about 2-3 drops of the warm from the brush mug water and put it on the top of the soap so loosen some of it up.

Go take a shower or feel free to smell other soaps or *** for about 5-10 minutes. Empty the bowl of water and shake your brush out. Make sure you really load up the brush from the soap bowl. I was swirling mine for about 30 secs lightly and not really putting any product into it and couldn't make a good lather. Keep going until about 1/3 of the brush has a nice layer of soap worked into it evenly. Then begin the same swirling motion, clockwise and counter clockwise in the coffee mug. After a couple of seconds of swirling, you'll see that it spreads and gets creamy, but not like the later you see on this forum a lot. Dip your brush slightly just to pull a tiny bit of water into the brush and continue swirling in the bowl. Keep going until you get the consistency you like. If necessary, add tiny increments of water until it gets nice and foamy.

Enjoy

 

[Metal241984]

Thank you Senshi, that was the answer I was looking for. I watched the whole video btw. Thanks again.

 

[takeshi]

How do I get a good load on the bristles?

Check out the guide linked in the sticky at the top of the soap subforum. Pay attention to look, feel and sound when loading.

 

[Compa]

I think I have the exact same shave kit you have (white soap, ceramic green small bowl, boar brush with dark green plastic handle)
It is not that hard to make great lather with this equipment.

First things first: Some people might advise to melt the soap inside the bowl. It works, and some people like it because this soap melts perfectly after 5-7 seconds to take the shape of the bowl... but I avoid that. Mainly because *I think* (emphasis in *I*) the formulae breaks down and when the soap cools down, the bottom of the newly melted soap is different than the top. I don't know if it's true but I've noticed the few times I melted it that when my soap was almost gone, what was left in the bottom of the little bowl was a weird elastic leftofver of soap. It did lather well but it had no escence.

Ok, now onto the real thing (remember, this is what I do. Is not set in stone but it works great for me)
0. I take the soap out of the plastic container and place it face down (wider side down) in the little bowl. I press it a little and leave it there for the rest of his wonderful life
1. I leave the brush inside warm water for the duration of my shower (around 20 mins)
2. This is a totally OPTIONAL step: I use Noxzema cream (say, an almond size amount) and rub my face with it.
3. I grab my brush and shake it about 3 times removing the excess of water
4. Start swirling and swirling and swirling. If I see the lather is way too thik then I add some drops of water.
5. Once the lather has the consistency of liquid yoghurt, I pick it all up with the brush and store the soap away.
6. Massage my face with the brush, making sure it mixes well with the Noxzema cream (if any was used)
7. I add water as needed (to the tip of the brush) to help the lather get the liquid yoghurt consistency (remember I used cream in my face and it thickens the lather)
8. And that's it

If everything went right, you should have a creamy moist lather.
If it dries too quiclky and cracks where it's thin, that means you need some more water.
If it's too bubbly, it means you added too much water. Bubbles will start to pop (sounds like your shampoo lather) and leave you a hollow lather.

Try building different kind of lather and leave it in a dish, see how time affects it. Ideally, your lather should last for 5 mins or so (well, that's my opinion)
The lather in your brush will, of course, last longer since it's more concentrated and you will preserve its life because before each pass, you damp your face and then apply the lather again.

That's what I do. The guys here can tell you if something I do is not recommended n____n (that will also help me hehe)
So, good luck and happy shaving

I wish you the best of lucks and remember, wash your brush with some conditioner and shampoo before the first use and always shake it dry before storing it. You don't want no stinkin' brush xD


**EDIT**
"How do you keep the puck in place?"
Do not worry about that, the soap does not move that much in the green bowl. Just use a little pressure when you place it for the first time. That should do the trick

A tip to soften up the soap is to take about 2-3 drops of the warm from the brush mug water and put it on the top of the soap so loosen some of it up.

Yes, that too. I forgot to mention that.