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My top 10 General Lathering Tips

Great post. I recently found out that I can make a lot of lather with a sub ten second loading time. Coincidentally, ever since I started doing that, I had some of the worst shaves yet. Reading your post makes me think that not using enough product is the problem.
Thank you.
 
Many thanks Bruce. I am at the point in my lather learning where number 1 and number 9 are incredibly important. I have really soft water here and I stopped loading my brush way too soon. Every day now I load a little more and I still haven't reached that sweet spot. I also test lather a lot. This lets me go back and reacquaint myself with soaps I didn't understand, soaps I was incapable of lathering properly before. Again, thanks.
 
Great advice

After a few months I started to figure some of these things out. But it has taken me a while to do so.

Wish we could sticky this for everyone to see.
 
I have a question about #3..."Don't brush mash"...

I get the part about using mostly/only the tips when loading the brush with soap. But when I go to apply the soap to my face (great tip about face-lathering and shave sticks..), I'm not getting enough lather transferred from the brush (this is "flow-through", right?) unless I very slightly "flare" the brush tips out so they form kinduva circle on my face that is bigger than the diameter of the brush knot. Is this considered "mashing"?

For brushes, I've mostly been using a Semogue 1520 or a Simpsons Colonel X2L...the lathering process goes much smoother for both brushes when I use the technique described above, but especially so for the Semogue.

I want to make sure I care for the knots of these brushes, especially since I'm starting to get into some nicer brushes (still checking my pillow for that M&F Chief...) but to get that proper lather, I feel that a little "pressure" is necessary.

....advice?
 
I have a question about #3..."Don't brush mash"...

I get the part about using mostly/only the tips when loading the brush with soap. But when I go to apply the soap to my face (great tip about face-lathering and shave sticks..), I'm not getting enough lather transferred from the brush (this is "flow-through", right?) unless I very slightly "flare" the brush tips out so they form kinduva circle on my face that is bigger than the diameter of the brush knot. Is this considered "mashing"?

For brushes, I've mostly been using a Semogue 1520 or a Simpsons Colonel X2L...the lathering process goes much smoother for both brushes when I use the technique described above, but especially so for the Semogue.

I want to make sure I care for the knots of these brushes, especially since I'm starting to get into some nicer brushes (still checking my pillow for that M&F Chief...) but to get that proper lather, I feel that a little "pressure" is necessary.

....advice?

"Mash" is a bit stronger than "flare", I think. It's fine to work the brush so it splays. IMO of course.
 
"Mash" is a bit stronger than "flare", I think. It's fine to work the brush so it splays. IMO of course.

Agreed. I've seen some lather videos where the brush is pushed right down to the base of the knot/handle and so much pressure being used when it's not needed.

When apply to your face, the brush should and will splay/flare and enough pressure is needed to do that and it will then release the lather (flow). I find starting with gentle circular strokes then finish with the painting strokes works best. Depenending on dense the knot is, will depend on how much pressure is needed to achieve the optimum splay/flare.

I'm using a SR3824 Badger right now, and little to no pressure is needed when I face lather it. It releases lather like crazy and is ultra soft. Next week when I use my Old Style Rooney, it will require more pressue to achieve the same results.
 
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Hi Bruce: Thanks for sharing. I also enjoy your lather videos. I hope you can do one with Mike's Natural Soaps one day. I love MNS. If so... keep us posted.

WARHAWK
 
Well done. This should be a sticky in the newbie section. I find this to be quite a helpful read for beginners. I had never thought about the water temp affecting the lather. that's a good point! And +1 face lather, by far better than a bowl for me. Which kind of sucks since I spent so long looking for one that I was convinced I NEEDED! :lol:
 
Thank you, it took me awhile to learn #10. I watched 10 to 20 videos years and and kept trying to get my lather to look like theirs was very frustrating. Now with this maybe others wont go through all that.
 
Agreed. I've seen some lather videos where the brush is pushed right down to the base of the knot/handle and so much pressure being used when it's not needed.

When apply to your face, the brush should and will splay/flare and enough pressure is needed to do that and it will then release the lather (flow). I find starting with gentle circular strokes then finish with the painting strokes works best. Depenending on dense the knot is, will depend on how much pressure is needed to achieve the optimum splay/flare.

I'm using a SR3824 Badger right now, and little to no pressure is needed when I face lather it. It releases lather like crazy and is ultra soft. Next week when I use my Old Style Rooney, it will require more pressue to achieve the same results.

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like I'm in the general range of the right amount of pressure, just need to make sure not to go too far. Agreed that using painting strokes at the end is really effective, that was another "ah-ha" moment for me.

There is a completely different sound of the soap churning against my face when the brush opens up too...another instance of shaving tapping into different senses, I guess.
 
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Great post! This is what I wish I read when I fist started to make lather. I remember watching videos on YouTube where the people claim a ten second swirl s enough, and I learned the hard way that this is not true. Once again, great post! Should go into a wiki or something.
 
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