The Marco Method really works.

[shave/brush]

I know there probably have been several threads about the “Marco Method” of lathering but I just had to post my thoughts also. When I first read about the “Marco Method” I though all that water and all that soap is ridiculous. So I never tried it. Then the other day I was trying Cella soap for the first time since I had heard so much good stuff about it. I did not find the Cella to be that good at all. I thought it was just average at best.
Then I decided to give the “Marco Method” a try. All I can say is WOW! I have to try this on all my soaps. I had so much lather I could sell the excess. I am a believe now in the Marco Method. Anyone who has never tried it, do yourself a favor and try it once. It just blew me away.

..

 

[eezee]

Tried it for the first time today as well. Yes, the word is "wow."

 

[Bossies]

Yes, it is one very effective technique!

 

[ThePatrician]

I have tried it only ONCE with the full sixty-second loading time, and that was too much. I cut it back to thirty seconds, and I still end up with a ridiculous amount of thick, slick lather. I have used it with both (for now) of the Synergy soaps, and it works like gangbusters. Full-on believer.

 

[tromboneliness]

The Marco Method™ is the embodiment of the simple notion: you need lots of water in your lather for it to give you the slickness it's capable of. You can't fail to get enough water because you're coming at it from the direction opposite to the dry/damp-brush-and-add-water-until-you-have-enough. With the latter method it's easy to stop adding water before the lather is really finished.

I see it every day here on B&B, folks making ludicrous claims that Cella or Tabac aren't slick. They just haven't finished their lather.

For myself, I like the Modified Marco Method™ rather than the Full Marco--give the boar brush a couple of light shakes, the badger a couple more. A little less time consuming and still provides enough lather for 26 passes.

 

[shave/brush]

So far I have only used it with my boar brush. I will try it today with my synthetic. Any suggestions on how to modify the amount of water?
..

 

[BSAGuy]

Agree that the MM is wonderful. Usually I don't have time for the full method, but when I do, shave is definitely better.

 

[Jnatcat]

Does this method work for bowl lathering ?

 

[Johnsebesta]

Why would you ever need that much lather?? I use a Suribachi and just press a slice of soap to its bottom( or a squirt of cream to the side). Wet brush a couple of swirls and it's ready.

 

[tromboneliness]

Does this method work for bowl lathering ?

Yes.

Why would you ever need that much lather?? I use a Suribachi and just press a slice of soap to its bottom( or a squirt of cream to the side). Wet brush a couple of swirls and it's ready.

To each his own. But you might be interested (or not) in this thread.

 

[jrhudgins]

I opened the computer today to start a thread entitled "Thank you Marco" for sharing this Italian Barber Method. I started using it when I got my MdC Fougere, and couldn't believe how wonderful the soap was. Then I trie it with others (MWF, DRHarris, Floris), and all went well.

Then today, I even used it on the one soap that has been problematic for me: Trumper Eucris. That one has previously given a very slippery, but thin and quickly-disappearing foamy lather, no matter what I did. But using the Marco method, it was thick and cushiony too (though it still disappears into a thin foam, it took longer to do so and thus worked better during the shave).

I thought I would be wasting soap when I read the instructions, but it appears that I am using less, but getting more and better lather from every hard soap I use.

Thank you, Marco!

JR

 

[Deltaboy]

Thanks for the heads up I will try it with some those problem soaps .

 

[Skinny Rogers]

I will b trying this one...

 

[J743]

The Marco Method[emoji769] is the embodiment of the simple notion: you need lots of water in your lather for it to give you the slickness it's capable of. You can't fail to get enough water because you're coming at it from the direction opposite to the dry/damp-brush-and-add-water-until-you-have-enough. With the latter method it's easy to stop adding water before the lather is really finished.

I see it every day here on B&B, folks making ludicrous claims that Cella or Tabac aren't slick. They just haven't finished their lather.

For myself, I like the Modified Marco Method[emoji769] rather than the Full Marco--give the boar brush a couple of light shakes, the badger a couple more. A little less time consuming and still provides enough lather for 26 passes.

Plus 15 or so. Claims about soaps being inadequate or undeserved of their reputation when the pictures presented have a lather so thin if I sneezed they'd have to reload all over again. Hard water has become an excuse rather than the exception it was originally intended as. No barber has ever refuted a patron because "well, my water is a bit off today." You can argue about changes in public water now vs then, but do remember our obsession with shaving is a good leverage against a barber's precision -- there has never been a verifiably diagnosed "area" of lather inefficacy based on hard water mapping; the Los Angeles region, despite a reputation for water hard enough to crack the Zodiac's identity is home to some gents that can knock lather out of the park consistently. The reality of crappy lather has more to do with a few people obsessed with an imaginary deficiency than it does with a real one. The model fits very nicely at B and B, we like to diagnose problems so we can spend money "correcting" them.

Mastering this lathering method changes the game, changes the weight of "Grail" brushes, changes the shave. All of a sudden I've never met a 10$ boar brush that couldn't do what the 200$ badger promised me it would. All of a sudden the mysteries of MWF are unlocked in seconds. All of a sudden I can't stand scuttles because I want the lather to sustain it's moisture rather than burn it off for the sake of a (falsely) perceived "comfort." All of a sudden the lather for my last pass is as plentiful, slick, and thick enough to sit a quarter as my first.

t's pretty effing hard to win a crowd with a debate in causality vs circumstance, ESPECIALLY on B and B, some of us need an excuse to type regardless of it's relevance. Marco's method remains a disciplined procedure for many a BBS protocol. N

 

[eezee]

Does this method work for bowl lathering ?

Absolutely! Most of my lathering is done in a bowl be it cream or soap. When I first read the Marco Method I did several test lathers with Stirling, Blades Grim, and VdH Soaps. All lathered very well in a bowl. A benefit to bowl lathering is loading your brush over the bowl and catching all of the goodness that sloshes over!!

 

[jrhudgins]

Does this method work for bowl lathering ?

Yes. I have mostly used bowl-lathering for the last several years. At least until I began using this method.
Face-lathering with the Marco Method, you always have some reserve of warm water deeper in the brush to apply when you are lathering/relathering (I do three passes using a Savile Row 3824 brush). It just feels good to do this. Never had that sensation, even when using my travel method of applying a tube cream to my face and face-lathering with a damp brush.
Somehow the foam and soap in the brush hold the warmth and water better and you actually use them when you are re-applying for another pass.

JR

 

[Bossies]

Plus 15 or so. Claims about soaps being inadequate or undeserved of their reputation when the pictures presented have a lather so thin if I sneezed they'd have to reload all over again. Hard water has become an excuse rather than the exception it was originally intended as.

Mastering this lathering method changes the game, changes the weight of "Grail" brushes, changes the shave. All of a sudden I've never met a 10$ boar brush that couldn't do what the 200$ badger promised it would. All of a sudden The mysteries of MWF are unlocked in seconds. All of a sudden I can't stand scuttles because I want the lather to sustain it's moisturizer rather than burn it off for the sake of a falsely perceived "comfort" (it's pretty effing hard to prove casualty vs circumstance on B and B -- let the debate begin). All of a sudden the lather for my last passes are as plentiful as my first.

But let's still acknowledge the fact that hard water presents a bigger challenge. I just returned from the Calgary area ten days or so ago. I shaved three times while there, and they have much harder water than we do here in the Vancouver area which made it noticeably harder work. I don't know if it's the hardest you'll find - I suspect not since I have visited places which require turning off the shower water just to soap up. Back home, the water is most obliging and I feel able to create a decent lather from anything in little to no time with little to no effort. Absolutely spoilt rotten with this soft water. Williams, MWF, Nivea . . . you name it! Anything except that blasted Triumph & Disaster!

 

[J743]

[Q UOTE=Bossies;6717529]But let's still acknowledge the fact that hard water presents a bigger challenge. I just returned from the Calgary area ten days or so ago. I shaved three times while there, and they have much harder water than we do here in the Vancouver area which made it noticeably harder work. I don't know if it's the hardest you'll find - I suspect not since I have visited places which require turning off the shower water just to soap up. Back home, the water is most obliging and I feel able to create a decent lather from anything in little to no time with little to no effort. Absolutely spoilt rotten with this soft water. Williams, MWF, Nivea . . . you name it! Anything except that blasted Triumph & Disaster![/QUOTE]

Ay, the real hard water sufferers deserve their place. Definitely.

 

[J743]

Plus 15 or so. Claims about soaps being inadequate or undeserved of their reputation when the pictures presented have a lather so thin if I sneezed they'd have to reload all over again. Hard water has become an excuse rather than the exception it was originally intended as. No barber has ever refuted a patron because "well, my water is a bit off today." You can argue about changes in public water now vs then, but do remember our obsession with shaving is a good leverage against a barber's precision -- there has never been a verifiably diagnosed "area" of lather inefficacy based on hard water mapping; the Los Angeles region, despite a reputation for water hard enough to crack the Zodiac's identity is home to some gents that can knock lather out of the park consistently. The reality of crappy lather has more to do with a few people obsessed with an imaginary deficiency than it does with a real one. The model fits very nicely at B and B, we like to diagnose things more than correct them....

Mastering this lathering method changes the game, changes the weight of "Grail" brushes, changes the shave. All of a sudden I've never met a 10$ boar brush that couldn't do what the 200$ badger promised me it would. All of a sudden the mysteries of MWF are unlocked in seconds. All of a sudden I can't stand scuttles because I want the lather to sustain it's moisture rather than burn it off for the sake of a (falsely) perceived "comfort." All of a sudden the lather for my last pass is as plentiful, slick, and thick enough to sit a quarter as my first.

t's pretty effing hard to win a crowd with a debate in causality vs circumstance, ESPECIALLY on B and B, some of us need an excuse to type regardless of it's relevance. Marco's method remains a disciplined procedure for many a BBS protocol. N

 

[watchtheflames]

Wow!!! I have used this method for face lathering and it worked really well, but never tried it in a bowl. Whoa, my bowl was totally overflowing with thick, slick, and creamy lather. It was amazing. My new scuttle can't get here fast enough.