VDH lather issue.longer load time?

[Toothpick]

could not get a good lather today with a new VDH soap. i followed the wiki guide to loading a brush with soap....

i let my boar brush soak in hot water for about 2-3 minutes
while that was soaking i put a little bit of hot water on the soap and let it sit to soften it up
after the 2-3 minutes of brush soaking i gave it a squeeze
i dumped the excess water from the top of the soap in the the lather bowl
i then started to load the brush
i loaded for about 1 minute. as the boar hair begin to clump together and i could see soap on it just like the photos from the wiki
worked it in the lather bowl for about 2-3 minutes and it was really thin and somewhat runny.
i tried to re-load the brush with soap but no luck, same results.

where did i go wrong?

 

[ODJ]

i soak my brush in cold water (i am a cold water shaver) and put some hot tap water on top of the puck of VDH Deluxe. After my shower I dump out the hot water from the puck and load for like 30 seconds, then bowl lather as usual. I use a pretty wet brush but not a sopping wet brush when I load and lather and sometimes have to add just a little bit more water. I get a thick, slick lather. I just lather it like most other soaps or croaps I have used.

 

[Toothpick]

so a longer brush soaking perhaps.

 

[jhe888]

Maybe try not squeezing the brush - more water in other words.

 

[americanarmsdealer]

I don't squeeze my brush before loading soaps, just remove from my soaking bowl and give a quick shake into the sink, then load the brush and face lather. Works every time!

 

[Toothpick]

this is interesting because i was thinking i had too much water, the lather was thin. i'll try not squeezing the brush next time.

on a side note, the shave still wasn't that bad with the thin lather, nice mild scent too.

 

[oldbluelight]

It may be that your first impression was correct. You did say that you dumped the water from the puck into the lather bowl. Try it with letting that puck water go down the drain. You'll have much greater control of the amount of water in the brush.

 

[banditman]

could not get a good lather today with a new VDH soap. i followed the wiki guide to loading a brush with soap....

i let my boar brush soak in hot water for about 2-3 minutes
while that was soaking i put a little bit of hot water on the soap and let it sit to soften it up
after the 2-3 minutes of brush soaking i gave it a squeeze
i dumped the excess water from the top of the soap in the the lather bowl
i then started to load the brush
i loaded for about 1 minute. as the boar hair begin to clump together and i could see soap on it just like the photos from the wiki
worked it in the lather bowl for about 2-3 minutes and it was really thin and somewhat runny.
i tried to re-load the brush with soap but no luck, same results.

where did i go wrong?

Based on your narrative, I'd say the problem was too much water. Try repeating your process only this time don't put the water from the soap container in the lather bowl-dump it. Make sure you get a good load of product on the brush and then transfer to the lather bowl and start mixing slowly (slowly helps control the amount of air that gets in). Then add water a few drops at a time while mixing until the lather reaches the consistency you want.

 

[coloradomonkey]

I use a dryer brush with VDH. And try face lathering. VDH is cheap enough you can use a lot of product and hit the puck before the next pass if need be.

 

[celestino]

it seems you had too much water somewhere; in the bowl by the sounds of it; load more or use less water

 

[mikelz777]

I use a VDH luxury puck and I've never gotten the thick snow drifts of shaving cream you see some guys put on their faces in videos. My best results with that puck seem to come from working it a lot in my mug and painting it on. I've been cold shaving so I just put cold water over the soap and soak my brush in the same water. I'll let it soak while I'm in the shower or for about 5 min. or so before the shave when not showering. I then dump the water out, shake the brush a couple of times to get most of the water out and then proceed to load the brush. I'm not at all shy about using enough product so I really load it up for each pass.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I coincidentally grabbed my trusty mug of VDH this morning as well. My routine is pretty close to yours, except I only put a couple drops of water from the puck soak into the lather bowl. I keep the brush semi wet, and the top of the puck well softened and such, then just load till there's a nice thick cream lather on the puck and in the brush. After that is scoop up the cream from the puck, add it to the brush, and go to the lather bowl.

For soaking the puck, I basically cover it with hot water, and give it 5 mins, or even a bit more, to really soften up the top. That helps ensure you always get enough soap.

 

[Deltaboy]

I soak boars for at least 10-15 minutes.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I soak boars for at least 10-15 minutes.

+1 I give my boar brushes double to triple the soak time of my badgers.

 

[Toothpick]

i've never soaked my bush longer than 3-4 minutes. if that. but i've always used Bigelow cream. its pretty easy to work in to a lather. seems like soaps require a bit more love to work up a lather.

 

[Shave_Rat]

i've never soaked my bush longer than 3-4 minutes. if that. but i've always used Bigelow cream. its pretty easy to work in to a lather. seems like soaps require a bit more love to work up a lather.

Well, the harder the soap, the longer the soak time needed in order to get enough product loaded into the brush. My friend picked up a new puck of DR Harris and let me try it. Nothing seemed to work with it. I checked on here, and it's a really hard soap, so the suggestion was made to put water on the puck to cover, before you get in the shower, and let it soak for the whole 15-20 min shower, then pour off the excess and load/lather. That worked great, surprisingly, with that soap.

The VDH is a solid/hard soap, but not like triple milled hard, so 5-10 minute of water sitting on the puck should be long enough. As the puck is used and ages, soaking up moisture from the steam and such in the bathroom (if it's stored there) it also softens/ages over some time and less soak time is required, moving forward.

You can also speed that process by dropping a couple drops of water on it anytime you happen to think of it while you are wandering by.

Basically, hard soap won't load, it needs to soften up,usually via absorbing moisture, prior to getting enough to load onto a brush.

 

[Toothpick]

still no luck, this time did not get a lather at all!

i soaked my brush for the length of a shower. at least 8-10 minutes i'd say
i then let the water soften up the VDH puck for about 5 minutes.
squeezed my brush, dumped the excess water from the puck down the drain.
loaded the brush for about 3 minutes, until it started to make lather on the puck
went to the bowl worked it for about 3-4 minutes and nothing.
worked the brush on the puck some more. added a little water to the bowl and nothing.
even went to my face and tried to face lather and no dice.
i finally had to use Bigelow cream to shave.

i give up. i'll just PIF it sometime in the future.

 

[Shave_Rat]

still no luck, this time did not get a lather at all!

i soaked my brush for the length of a shower. at least 8-10 minutes i'd say
i then let the water soften up the VDH puck for about 5 minutes.
squeezed my brush, dumped the excess water from the puck down the drain.
loaded the brush for about 3 minutes, until it started to make lather on the puck
went to the bowl worked it for about 3-4 minutes and nothing.
worked the brush on the puck some more. added a little water to the bowl and nothing.
even went to my face and tried to face lather and no dice.
i finally had to use Bigelow cream to shave.

i give up. i'll just PIF it sometime in the future.

Sorta how I finally gave up on MWF (at least it was only a sample, I didn't drop any real money buying a whole puck, thank god). I was getting lather, it was just very foamy and airy every time, no slick or cushion. I'm not sure how VDH has you stumped tho, but I can relate to the frustration level involved. Is a shame, considering if you get it to lather, it creates great lather, and the soap is darn cheap for it's quality, and pretty easy to find, as well.

 

[lcdrbaldwin]

Second your experience. Have tried every trick/method with poor results. It's just not worth the effort when I can lather-up the Proraso in no time flat!

 

[attime6]

I use a dryer brush with VDH. And try face lathering. VDH is cheap enough you can use a lot of product and hit the puck before the next pass if need be.

+1