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The value of soap and lather...

R

Rapt_up

Well today I had my first lesson in the value of good soap and lather. I regularly use Proraso and have been for years with my cartridge razors since its easily available in my area and I've never had an issue with it. But since I started with a DE razor I thought why not explore other options.
I posted elsewhere about trying my first blade samples and I was highly disappointed that the Nacet blades didn't seem to perform as well as the less recognized Wilkinson Sword (german) blades I had been using.
At the same time I had received some soap samples and was trying one of them. It seemed to be making a good lather and spreading on my face well, but the shave felt much worse and I had been blaming the blades. Today I switched back to my usual Proraso and a new Nacet blade...Presto back to the shaves, as good or better than I had been getting before. Smooth, easy, and nice and close...
Lesson learned.
Soap matters, and only change ONE thing at a time when trying something new... :) I know its been said many times, but I guess it bears repeating and I am proof of why.
 
Ckmaui

Ckmaui

Funny you mention the German Wilkinson as in some razors those things are amazing smooth
in my current main razor they are still very good and I need to do more comparison
like you I found I just have to try them all and decide then come back around a year later (only been into De just over 2 yrs)

yeah the soap for me again HUGE difference and I notice the most in the post shave irritation or lack of it where some just protect and when the splash hits the face its very noticeable
and like you found it can make or break how that blade performs :)
ironic I tried 3 dif proraso and found none of them to work for me ! Hahahaha the old YMMV rules for sure

with the blades and soaps and razors quite a few options and for me the comparing finding is a HUGE fun part of the journey so far for me

so yeah you are not alone :)
 
lasta

lasta

Blade Biter
I think just about any soap/cream is capable of being a sufficient shave lubricant. But the amount required can differ alot.

With Proraso, a little goes a long way, but (some) small shop soaps have a lot of non-saponified oils/additives that makes them less efficient. You really need to load a lot of it to make things work.

I buy soaps/creams for the scent, load it until my brush feels heavy, then dial back gradually until I get an idea of how much each soap needs.

At the end of the day, they all work the same.
 
L

Lane101

Rapt_up said:
Well today I had my first lesson in the value of good soap and lather. I regularly use Proraso and have been for years with my cartridge razors since its easily available in my area and I've never had an issue with it. But since I started with a DE razor I thought why not explore other options.
I posted elsewhere about trying my first blade samples and I was highly disappointed that the Nacet blades didn't seem to perform as well as the less recognized Wilkinson Sword (german) blades I had been using.
At the same time I had received some soap samples and was trying one of them. It seemed to be making a good lather and spreading on my face well, but the shave felt much worse and I had been blaming the blades. Today I switched back to my usual Proraso and a new Nacet blade...Presto back to the shaves, as good or better than I had been getting before. Smooth, easy, and nice and close...
Lesson learned.
Soap matters, and only change ONE thing at a time when trying something new... :) I know its been said many times, but I guess it bears repeating and I am proof of why.
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome to B&B. Proraso is a good soap, I have the Proraso red croap as part of my rotation. Proraso is one of my easiest soaps to lather. Just load the brush for 15-20 seconds and then face lather. When using other soaps one typically has to adjust their lathering technique based on the soap characteristics. For my hard soaps 45-60 seconds of loading is often required for example. Depending on what you acquired in new soap samples it may make sense to revisit them with a different loading and lathering technique. See the link below to a thread with lots of information on how fellow B&Bers use different soaps.

www.badgerandblade.com

How do You Vary Your Loading & Lathering Techniques for Different Soaps & Creams?

Do you vary your loading and lathering techniques for different shaving soaps and creams or do you use a standard method regardless of what you are shaving with? If the former how do you adjust to get the best out of each soap or cream? If the latter what is your technique and what products...
www.badgerandblade.com www.badgerandblade.com
 
know1special

know1special

Great post!

Yup, lather is indeed very important. Obviously, not in isolation but as one leg of the stool so to speak.

The best shaves come when all members of the 'razor-blade-lather' trio are on song and in perfect harmony.
 
R

Rapt_up

Swinging back around here, for those who are aware of and have been following my journal, you know that I have been working through things and have moved to a very wet lather in the shower. The wet lather per Aimless Wanderer and his introductory guide, means you can feel much more accurately what is happening with the blade and your whiskers and skin, moment by moment. Have some more soaps coming along the CK-6 and Proraso. Lots of fun, and foam with the various scents and mixing them. :)
 
know1special

know1special

Gently bumping this thread for the benefit of newer/lesser experienced folk who may happen by.

Regarding lather, gents like @BigJ are fond of advising:

"More soap + more water = better lather"

If you spend enough time in these pages you'll come across this notion a lot. Why? Because it's true.

Obviously, there are many elements involved in getting a good shave. Technique is certainly paramount, finding and acclimating to the optimal gear for your face, etc.

But, the lather you make is just as crucial. It is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. And one of the things that newer wet-shavers get wrong most often. I certainly did.

I believe the above oft-repeated phrase is referring to the very common mistake of trying to shave with what's typically known as "proto-lather" rather than the fully formed version. Proto-lather is what happens when you have not properly mixed enough of your product with enough water to achieve it's optimal characteristics. It is not lather. It is a "lather-like substance". A pale immitation of the real thing and practically guaranteed to deliver a bad time. Even the world's best soap/cream will fail you if you don't use it correctly.

Every product has a unique sweet spot that has to be located. A point at which it is maximally slick, protective, nourishing, etc. Finding this spot can sometimes be challenging, even for veterans. There are a lot of variables involved, so many in fact that it can sometimes be useful to practice the lather ahead of, or apart from, your shave in order to get it dialed in.

Again, lather is not the only thing determining your outcome. But, it is much better to get it right than not. Once lathered sufficiently, more focus and attention can be put toward refinement of technique or evaluation of gear, etc.

Have a great shave! :thumbup1:
 
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