Request for Face Lathering Help

[adamc]

Hi Guys,

I've read the tutorial on making lather with soap in a bowl, and read the follow ups on face lathering. I'm still struggling though and hope you can help.

I started with a pure vulfix which I soon found out was better for creams. No problem with the Prorasso, great lather in a bowl. Problem is, SWMBO only gives me a small part of the medecine cabinet so face lathering would be better for me. I picked up a best Duke #3 from Lee (terrific guy BTW) and some Colonel Conk. Tonight I tried to make lather in my palm to see what would happen. I tried the method suggested in the tutorial but the lather was thin. I added more water and still the lather wasn't close to what I got with the cream. The brush was pretty loaded, all sides. The lather was not opaque and kind of bubbled itself out. I'm in Chicago where we have hard water but I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. If I have to live with cream that's fine but I'd rather save the space for other shaving things. Like a tiny nook for blades?

BTW, I played golf as a guest at a country club this evening and the locker room ruled. They had Clubman and Aqua Velva stuff everywhere.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Adam

 

[Doc4]

Hey Adam, welcome!

One thing that helps me facelathering, be it creams or soaps, is to get a loaded brush, put it up on my face and splay out the bristles in all directions, and pump the brush up and down in that spot for a while ... gets the lather going inside the bristles ... and then take the brush and 'paint' the lather on my face ... a few strokes and lather starts appearing.

Hopefully that's one more piece of the puzzle for you!!

 

[Austin]

Adam, when working the lather on your face, try pumping the brush on your face to release the soap. Pump and swipe. See if this helps.

 

[adamc]

Thanks for the replies. Hmm, hadn't tried that. The pumping may be the problem. I assumed the stiffer brush would solve all my problems but perhaps not. The Vulfix was hard not to pump, it just sort of did it and got really frothy in the cream bowl. I will try to plunge on my face with the Duke tomorrow morning and see if I can improve. It showed up in such a tight brush pattern that I assumed it needed to be that way. However now that I look at it it's splayed out a bit. Perhaps I was treating it as my first bush, a drug store boar? Again, thanks for your help everyone.

 

[TimmyBoston]

Welcome to B&B, make sure if you are using a bowl for soap lather, to squeeze and shake out as much water as you can from the brush and manually add the water slowly as you stir.

 

[SilkySmooth]

You may want to stick with the bowl.



==Tom

 

[Duggo]

Hi Adam,

Welcome to B&B.

Sorry to hear of your lathering woes. Lord knows I had an awful time trying to get a lather from a soap, and a soap that received excellent reviews at that.

Then I found these instructions, that work with either creams or soaps. Not only that, it put me on the fast track, and I haven't looked back since.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

When I lather on my face, typically the water has been sitting on top of the soap until I get out the of shower, and then dump it out afterwards (if you're using a bowl, dump it in there).

I then start with a brush that's been sitting in that hot water, squeeze it, and then give it a couple shakes. I then start really pumping up the brush with soap, all the way around, side to side, up and down. I have my face slightly wet and then start spreading the brush around my face. Your first pass (as in lathering) is going to be too dry, just start adding water little by little to the end of the bristles and continue on your face. Sometimes I'll give a snizzle bizzle of shaving cream in the middle of the brush. After adding water a couple times, your lather should be where you want it and your face is prepped well for shaving. The purpose of this is just an additional form of prep, really. Not to be substituted but ADDED TO the other prep. I then paint the lather on my face.

This works the best for me, of course YMMV. But I find it very effective.

-Allen

 

[adamc]

Thanks everyone for the welcome. Trying to avoid the bowl if I can. I have a bowl/stand from classicshaving which is nice, but it's a terribly small bowl, I think designed to hold the soap. It does work for cream. It fits in the tight cabinet I have available which is awesome, but in my mind only allows me to lather on the face. I attached a pic of my "rig", which is my small piece of manhood in the medecine cabinet. We live in a 1921 Chicago bungalow with an original bath. Someone added the cabinet at some point and I hate it. We'll leave it for now but I'm adding a bath upstairs and will ask for help/advice when that time comes. Maybe I'd be better off abandoning tryiing to store everything in the caninet anyway. But I'd love to get this face lather thing to work. Yeah, that's my one-eyed shelter cat and she's a pain in the a&&. Thanks again to all of you. Will report tomorrow AM.

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/6946/dscf2308dq8.jpg
http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf2306fl4.jpg

 

[adamc]

The pumping did the trick. It wasn't difficult to get lather at all but I never would've figured that out. Now I can live within my small space in the medecine cabinet. Thanks for the help!

 

[patrisVII]

The solution for your hard water, in a word, is calgon. The one you find in the the laundry aisle, not the bath products.

1. Add about a tablespoon to your sink of hot water and use this to wash/soak.

2. Keep a separate hot water mug/bowl with a few drops of calgon added to soak your brush at first and to heat your razor as you shave.

3. Prep using the calgon water in the sink. Drain. Shave rinsing the razor with the tap then dipping it into the calgon mug/bowl.

4. Finish as usual.

Got this from a 1950's homemaker book 20 years ago and have been using calgon since.

 

[WebGeezer]

Another idea I've been using lately:

I try to leave some water in the brush after soaking. Then I swirl it on the soap (glycerin or Proraso) to load it up and then to the lathering bowl. Here's where the artistry and genius come in. If the lather is a bit on the wet side, I apply to my dry face. If the lather is on the not-fully-hydrated side, I apply to a wet face (also mine). It's a final moisture-balancing trick.

I've more or less stopped trying for the perfect lather before application and just make those last small adjustments based on what the brush looks like.

Just another thing to try, or not.

 

[ILLfarmboy]

I too lather on my face and I find the lather applied as the second and third passes are a bit thicker and richer.

I add a bit of hot water to my mug, which is just a coffee mug with a puck of soap at the bottom. thoroughly soak the brush under running hot watter and shake off the excess. Then I begin by loading up the brush with soap as if I was trying to whip a lather right there in the mug. when I have got things started I switch to my face, "pumping the brush and swirling in a circular motion back and forth across my face.

 

[letterk]

For hard water, I find more soap and less water does the trick. You're new Duke may be holding more water than your old Vulfix.

 

[adamc]

When you guys talk about adding water, how much are you adding? Are you dipping a corner of the brush into the water or are you talking a few drops at a time? I noticed this morning that the lather I got was kind of dry so maybe I'm on the right track. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[Kyle]

Adam,

For another point of reference, my face lathering technique is as follows:

1). Soak brush
2.) Squeeze out brush (like Jim shows in the tutorial)
3.) Scrub brush on top of soap for 3-5 seconds (floppy brushes take longer)
4.) Liberally splash water on face
5.) Put soap loaded brush on wet face and get to work

After each pass, I will apply two big splashes of water and then begin lathering on the face again. If the lather gets thin or runs low, I simply hit the soap again for another 3-5 seconds.

 

[sg.]

1. Method from many years ago when I used to shave with a double edged razor: wet face, lightly rub godrej stick across both cheeks, wet synthetic brush and shake off excess wather, move brush across cheeks to develop lather, pull lather to all parts of face (upper lips, chin, neck etc.). Forgotten the details of the synthetic brush used.
2. Method used recently for straight razor: wet face, smear a very tiny bit of Geo Trumper sandalwood cream on both cheeks, and continue as above -- but used a non-synthetic brush -- works with the one on the left, but does not work with the one on the right:

The one on the left leaves the lather on the face (and on its own upper surface) but the one on the right sucks-in the lather deep inside itself (lather can be squeezed out from the bulb).

 

[Zen Shaver]

I’d recommend a shave stick. I especially like Tabac, but some don’t care for the scent. This is a fool proof way to face lather, and is space saving too.

 

[BigJ]

I’d recommend a shave stick. I especially like Tabac, but some don’t care for the scent. This is a fool proof way to face lather, and is space saving too.

+1! Shave sticks are definitely the fastest/easiest way to face lather! (Congrats on your progress!)