RR American Barber Question

[EB Newfarm]

I'm finding very small chunky dots of soap mixed in to my lather with this soap. I use a badger brush, plenty of hot water, and load normally and have tried both face and bowl lathering. Not sure if it is affecting the quality of the shave, but none of my other soaps do this. Probably no big deal, but it looks weird. Anyone else have this happen with AB or any other soaps? I love the scent, 50/50 on the lather.

 

[5Cantonas]

If you’re blooming it, cease that and see if that better keeps the soap together.

 

[EB Newfarm]

Thanks, I have been blooming it, I will give that a try!

 

[5Cantonas]

Thanks, I have been blooming it, I will give that a try!

Hope it helps.

I personally don’t find a need to bloom any soaps. Just a few more seconds of loading and a couple more drops of water should put enough soap onto the bristles to create a suitable lather. In the past I have tried blooming soaps, and found I had the same issue with little chunks of soap in my lather.

 

[EB Newfarm]

Will do!

 

[buyandhold2018]

Blooming ruins soap, period. Don't do it. It's probably the single worst piece of advice ever invented in traditional wet shaving.

 

[SGWB]

I don't agree that blooming ruins soap, but I agree that it is not nessisary and can cause problems if the soap is not allowed to dry.

When I got into the hobby, I watched the youtube shavers all blooming their soaps, so I bloomed mine too. Then I had a bad experience blooming a soft soap. I didn't ruin it, it just loaded so heavily that I couldn't get a good lather going. I stopped blooming, untill I had a bad experience with a particularly hard triple-milled soap. It just took forever to load enough soap. Now I still don't bloom softer soaps, but for very hard soaps, before getting in the shower and setting my brush to soak, I wet the brush and gently caress the top of the puck with it. That slight moistening just softens the top of the soap, making it easier to load without introducing a lot of unwanted moisture.

 

[Newmania]

I don't agree that blooming ruins soap, but I agree that it is not nessisary and can cause problems if the soap is not allowed to dry.

When I got into the hobby, I watched the youtube shavers all blooming their soaps, so I bloomed mine too. Then I had a bad experience blooming a soft soap. I didn't ruin it, it just loaded so heavily that I couldn't get a good lather going. I stopped blooming, untill I had a bad experience with a particularly hard triple-milled soap. It just took forever to load enough soap. Now I still don't bloom softer soaps, but for very hard soaps, before getting in the shower and setting my brush to soak, I wet the brush and gently caress the top of the puck with it. That slight moistening just softens the top of the soap, making it easier to load without introducing a lot of unwanted moisture.

Agreed. SV recommends that you bloom their hard soaps and I think it helps with that particular soap.

 

[shavefan]

Agreed. SV recommends that you bloom their hard soaps and I think it helps with that particular soap.

Just for the record, I have three SV (4.3) soaps and never bloom them and they at the top of my soap performance list. I tried blooming Felce when I first received it but found no difference in use or performance so I haven't bloomed it since (about a year).

I never bloom any of my soaps.

 

[EB Newfarm]

Tried using it again tonight without blooming. Everything went well, and the soap performed great. Thanks everyone! The community here is awesome!

 

[BigJ]

Great outcome! Congrats!