Stirling Soap Lather

[Walleyeb]

A lot of this has to do with the water itself. Soft water has lower levels of magnesium and calcium. You can get a water tester that tests PPM or TDS (parts per million) or (total dissolved solids). If you are in the 400-600 TDS range I would say it's likely the water. If you don't want to spend the money on a tester, if you have a water filter like a Brita or a Zero Water on hand, I would suggest trying it with that water. If this solves the problem you can get a water softener for your house (highly suggested just for general health and skin) or you can install an ion exchange filter for your sink to soften it up a bit.

This is the same process that water softeners use, which is why the salt is not actually added to the water, but rather replaces the material needed in the resins for the ion exchange process. This is why a high efficiency water softener is important. You can install one yourself for about 400 bucks with some hunting, you'll use about 10 bags a year with a HE unit. Not all TDS is bad or bad for you, but having less never hurts, and I bet it might help your lather.

City water, well water, and aquifer water can all make a difference. Different water treatment plants add different amounts of chemicals and have different treatment methods. With my limited experience and the project I did in one of my wastewater classes, city water is higher in contaminates than other methods. You can view your specific water quality report (which is another alternative to buying a tester) to see the quality of the water for your area, which is public record.

I have Stirling Margaritas in the Artic, and it lathers like a dream with soft water, and really takes some work using the same brush before installing a water softener. I hope this helps a bit.

I’m on well water that is extremely hard. 1. I’ve found the key is to start with shaking almost all of the water out of the brush.
2. I bloom the soap, I hard press it and spread it out on the bottom of my bowl. Sprinkle a small amount of hot water .
3. I soaked my brush in warm water for about five minutes.
4. I Dump the bloom water.
5. Take the brush out of the warm water shake out the water , gently squeeze the remaining water from the brush.
6. I then begin to work on creating lather, starting in circular motion, switching between clockwise and counter clockwise.
7. When a paste begins to develop, I incorporate a back and forth motion with the circular motion.
8. Now I add a few drops of water and continue the back and forth motion and circular motion.
9. Now the lather begins build and it’s time to be more generous with the amount of water I ad.
10. I continue the back and forth motion and circular motion and ad a couple up and down motions (I don’t smash the brush down or splay it) just a couple up and downs.
11. I add more water, I’m always amazed at how thirsty the soap gets at this point. I keep going and add water until I see a sheen in the lather and there’s almost no bubbles.

 

[ShaveWok]

I also have very hard water, and I am able to get a passable lather.

It does not look like a soft-served ice cream cone that some of the bosses here accomplish, but it is still very slick.

1. I bloom the soap, and I actually do not pour out the bloom soap.

2. Once it is bloomed, I run my brush under water. (using a synthetic mostly, this is because I do not have the luxury of my own bathroom and am usually "on the go").

3. Once I soak the brush under hot water, and squeeze out the excess water. I then give it a few shakes so it's just slightly damp.

4. Then over the bloomed water, I start swirling in one direction and the bubbles will appear. Then I will change up the direction, then I will do a side-to-side stroke while giving some pressure and keep repeating this until the soap becomes like a paste( I am also rotating the designed shave bowl as well from time to time.

Important side note: Go slow, o avoid more bubbles, this is important. You do not want to be swirling to fast.

5. When the soap is turned to a paste-like texture, I then add a tiny bit of water.

6. then I just keep repeating this process, until I am happy with the lather.
I usually will add a tiny bit more water before each pass.

7. The more time you have the more hydrated you can get the lather.

8. I like a thin layer and I place the thin layer over my pre-shave soap. I add a layer of pre-shave soap before each pass.

9. I will also do a face lather technique rather than just painting my face.

I can make a video on this if anyone wants. I found I like the T3 synthetic brush because it handles more soap easier. It's got more backbone than some of the other synthetic brushes I tried.

Result:
My lather always has a nice gloss on the brush and on the face when following these steps.
It takes me about 5 minutes to get a lather I am happy with.

 

[Latherati]

I ordered some Stirling soaps for the first time recently. Wow! The scents pack a punch to my nose! Stirling lathered quickly and effortlessly. During the shave, my razor glided easily over the slick, smooth lather. Lovely soaps to use, but I still can’t get over the strong scent. Whew!!

 

[Boyd]

I live in rural Minnesota with my own well. To say the water is hard would be an understatement. Loaded with iron and lime, the whole house filters are replaced every week. It is, by far, the best tasting water I’ve had on dry land (desalinated sea water is the best). I find very little difference lathering Stirling or any other soap with hard, soft, distilled, spring, or purified water. Salt water might be different, but I haven’t tried it yet .