Making Lather - When's enough Enough?

[BigBull]

Trying different things to make better lather, more consistenly. I recently stumbled upon "Marco's Technique" and immediately whip'd up a bowl of lather using quite a bit more water than I usually would. It absolutley created an entire bowl FULL of absolutely beautiful lather...felt great between my fingers and did not appear airy at all.

Disclaimer: I kept on whip'n the lather just to see what would happen. Overall prep time was prob. 3 min. It never changed in it's appearance...always looking like everything you see in the video's, with the meringue like peaks.

When I applied it to my face to see how it performed, it was dry and terrible! It was beautiful, white & creamy and 100% air. I would not have shaved with this whatsoever. There is no question I did something wrong, and I have a feeling I should've stopped a good bit before I did. More than likely all would have been well.

Therein lies my question: When do you stop? How do you know when enough whip is enough?

 

[Patman27]

In cooking, the foam will go from soft peaks to stiff peaks as you continue to whip because you are adding more air to the mixture and the egg proteins begin to stiffen. Maybe you went to stiff peaks, though I don't know what in lather equates to protein?

 

[ackvil]

When it feels right on the fingers, then stop. I never whip the lather for more than two minutes - and usually one is enough for me.

 

[Vlad]

Have you tried face-lathering? I found for me it completely simplifies everything. If I don't get a nice wet yogurty lather in thirty seconds, that means I don't have enough product. If my razor gets gunked up and I can't rinse it well, then my lather is too dry. And I can lather all day on my face, it never gets airy.

 

[BigBull]

Have you tried face-lathering? I found for me it completely simplifies everything. If I don't get a nice wet yogurty lather in thirty seconds, that means I don't have enough product. If my razor gets gunked up and I can't rinse it well, then my lather is too dry. And I can lather all day on my face, it never gets airy.

I have, and it works well when I'm (rarely) face shaving only. I also shave my head, so my routine usually lends to 2-3 passes on face and 3 passes on head...so I find the bowl works best for me 99% of the time.

When it feels right on the fingers, then stop. I never whip the lather for more than two minutes - and usually one is enough for me.

Without a doubt, it was whip'd too long in this trial lather. I did it on purpose to see if I could recognize where the "optimal" whip was...obviously this was a failure. Aside from the finger test, are there other characteristics one would look for? The foam just kept building and building and building...

 

[Bengal Tiger]

Face lather it (head lather?). Marco's method produces tons of light lather in the bowl, but take it to your face and continue to work it and it will quickly thicken up to the right consistency.

 

[LegionPrime]

Face lather it (head lather?). Marco's method produces tons of light lather in the bowl, but take it to your face and continue to work it and it will quickly thicken up to the right consistency.

This would have been nice to know. I literally just tried Marcos and I got a lot of lather, it was light and airy, but there was a lot of it. Razorburned my neck like I did the first time I touched a DE. I guess I'll give Marco's one more try with this addendum.

 

[BigBull]

No doubt there was a ton of lather...and it was perfect, at one point. I guess I didn't make it clear in the OP...but at some moment it went past the point of good and on to diminishing returns. I'm trying to identify that point.

 

[gus1942]

Have you tried face-lathering? I found for me it completely simplifies everything. If I don't get a nice wet yogurty lather in thirty seconds, that means I don't have enough product. If my razor gets gunked up and I can't rinse it well, then my lather is too dry. And I can lather all day on my face, it never gets airy.

+1 Vlad. Couldn't agree more.

Gus

 

[kingfisher]

My solution is don't whip your lather at all. Load soap with less water in your brush. Once your brush is adequately loaded, the secret to a great lather is gentle stirring rather than whipping. Add water in very small amounts and then incorporate it fully and gently before adding more.

This method keeps your lather from ever getting airy, foamy, or meringue-like. Your lather is ready when it gets to the consistency you like and is shiny rather than matte.

 

[cxg231]

My solution is don't whip your lather at all. Load soap with less water in your brush. Once your brush is adequately loaded, the secret to a great lather is gentle stirring rather than whipping. Add water in very small amounts and then incorporate it fully and gently before adding more.

This method keeps your lather from ever getting airy, foamy, or meringue-like. Your lather is ready when it gets to the consistency you like and is shiny rather than matte.

I kinda beat the crap out of my lather (not full speed, but pretty vigorous) and I get thick, rich, slick, yogurt like lather. That being said, I totally agree that an indicator of a good lather is when it switches from matte to shiny!

 

[BigBull]

My solution is don't whip your lather at all. Load soap with less water in your brush. Once your brush is adequately loaded, the secret to a great lather is gentle stirring rather than whipping. Add water in very small amounts and then incorporate it fully and gently before adding more.

This method keeps your lather from ever getting airy, foamy, or meringue-like. Your lather is ready when it gets to the consistency you like and is shiny rather than matte.

I'll pay close attention to the "shiny" nature and see how that suits me...thank you! I use the word "whip" lightly, as I tend to be a "Bull in a China shop".