What's new

Soap loading time

Gft for us dit goed stands for green trash (vegetables, fruit, garden) aka bio degradable so maybe it is that.

I rarely load a brush simply take a nail size sliver in a bowl soak my brush with warm water and start building lather. It takes approx 1-2 minutes.
 
Last edited:
For me it now varies on the soap and how hydrated it is. I used to use a Simpsons Colonel (Best Badger) and when it worked brilliantly it provided great lather. For whatever reason, probably how dry it was when it came to be used, how long i had soaked it, water temperature, whether there was an R in the month etc it would perform differently. Rather than perfect some ancient art of badger reading I moved to synthetic brushes and they are brilliant and consistent.

So on a DR Harris hard soap for the first dozen or so shaves Id have to whip at the puck like it was a demon being chased out of the world. After say 20 shaves when it was much softer, 10 seconds would do the job. Same with MWF - albeit even when hydrated I still need at least 30 seconds. I've just finished an A&E soap - i reckon 10 seconds of swirl was enough for three passes. I've just started a pre used Fine Accoutrements soap which is pretty soft now and 15 seconds yields enough for a three pass shave and some spare to decorate the kitchen. So for me at least its trial and error. The only tip i might offer is to to use the soap repeatedly rather than rotate away from it and you will find the sweet spot.
 
I usually use synthetic brushes and artisan soaps, which are on the softer side. Twenty seconds is enough load time for me. Of course when I switch things up and use a natural hair brush and a triple milled soap, I increase the load time.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
It depends on . . . everything.

How wet is the brush? Too wet and you can't put any pressure on it (unless you're trying to make a mess on the puck). Too dry and you'll be loading twice as long as needed.

How's the backbone of the brush? A stiff boar is going to load faster than a soft synthetic (assuming a little splay).

Water? Hard, soft.

Soap? Some need to be bloomed (mine don't).

I can tell you that I load about 8 seconds for a three pass shave, but you probably don't have my water, my brush (loaded with the same amount of moisture), my soap or even my technique - I splay the brush a little on the puck.

So what does it mean? Nothing. With your water/brush/soap it might take you three or four times as long. It really doesn't matter. You need to load enough soap on your brush, load until you do. If you want it to take less time experiment. Try a little wetter brush, a little more pressure on the puck, blooming - try anything that doesn't involve risking life and limb. What's the worst that can happen? It won't work, and you'll try something else.
 
I do not load according to time. I rather pay attention to what is going on in the brush. I like to load until my brush feels a bit heavy and nice thick paste has formed. I prefer to start with a drier brush and add droplets of water if soap is not loading. I make lather in same manner. Dry thick paste that to which water is slowly added until proper slickness
 
I do not load according to time. I rather pay attention to what is going on in the brush. I like to load until my brush feels a bit heavy and nice thick paste has formed. I prefer to start with a drier brush and add droplets of water if soap is not loading. I make lather in same manner. Dry thick paste that to which water is slowly added until proper slickness

me too...
Weight is a good signal for loading.
 

linty1

My wallet cries.
I start with a brush thats been flicked off once or twice lightly then load until it sorta gets a little pasty-dry. It doesn't take long, maybe..I dunno, just under 1 min? ish? Transfer to bowl with soap bloom water from the initial pour off and work from there. I don't time it or count swirls etc.
 
My method to measure the time is: start loading, let the brush onto the soap. Wiggle the soap cup - if the brush looks like falling over, continue loading soap. Stop when the brush sits still.
 
It depends on . . . everything.

How wet is the brush? Too wet and you can't put any pressure on it (unless you're trying to make a mess on the puck). Too dry and you'll be loading twice as long as needed.

How's the backbone of the brush? A stiff boar is going to load faster than a soft synthetic (assuming a little splay).

Water? Hard, soft.

Soap? Some need to be bloomed (mine don't).

I can tell you that I load about 8 seconds for a three pass shave, but you probably don't have my water, my brush (loaded with the same amount of moisture), my soap or even my technique - I splay the brush a little on the puck.

So what does it mean? Nothing. With your water/brush/soap it might take you three or four times as long. It really doesn't matter. You need to load enough soap on your brush, load until you do. If you want it to take less time experiment. Try a little wetter brush, a little more pressure on the puck, blooming - try anything that doesn't involve risking life and limb. What's the worst that can happen? It won't work, and you'll try something else.

Excellently put, sir! I will add this. The more you use the same brush and soap, the better you can guess how much you can load. I switch brush daily and monthly so this doesn't work. Also, with my water, if i load 3,8 or 10 seconds, nothing will happen. Usually i load about 30 seconds or more. At the end, i go by eye! I look at the tips of the brush. When i think they are coated enough, i stop. Sometimes i may have to go back to the puck for the 3rd pass and load a bit more.
 
I do not like having to think too much but do enjoy sufficient lather for a 3 pass shave. I load all of my pucks 35 seconds and get on with it.

I feel the same. Soft creams, like TOBS, i simply scoop a bit from the tub. So i only deal with hard soaps or with Proraso tub. Hard soaps are usually fine with 30 seconds. Proraso tub, i may have to go over to 60 seconds. Of course, how many swirls one does in 60 seconds varies. Also how wet is the brush influences how much soap it will catch as well as whether you swirl with the tips or with part of the upper loft too. The water also plays a big role. I have been in vacation with various products and whenever i was in location with soft water, suddenly the product was supercharged!
 
Top Bottom