Yes, a pretty wet brush. Not dripping wet but not squeezed or shaken.
I don't soak pucks -- I've tried it and sometimes they get mushy. Or crack.
But when you use the same soap for a good period (weeks) it's moist from the day before.
Your Method of Loading Soap to Brush
- Thread starter Feldgrun
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I don't soak pucks -- I've tried it and sometimes they get mushy. Or crack.
But when you use the same soap for a good period (weeks) it's moist from the day before.
I use as little water in the brush as possible to get the soap to load. For a really hard soap like MWF that takes a little wetter bristles, but for softer soaps I will shake out as much water as possible and just get the damp tips of the brush loaded with pasty soap from the soap in the container -- then paint the soap paste onto my face and alternate dipping the tips of the brush in water and back to face multiple times until the lather has taken on enough water. I try to keep the soap loaded at the tips of the bristles and don't work the soap down into the knot while I'm loading and/or face lathering.
Got this notification tonight, avoid how to U-Tube.
I am pretty much a cream user (at least 25 tubs). I put a dollop inside my Captain's copper bowl and with a wet brush, I swirl the brush 3-4 times in the bowl and then face lather.
I'm still sort of finding my legs when it comes to soap, which I'm now using almost exclusively over creams.
My preferred method is to shave or grate down a soap puck into a mug, add hot water, and let it sit overnight. This form-fits the soap to the mug and I build lather in the mug.
For soaps in containers, I quickly discerned that trying to build a lather in the small, shallow container is unsatisfactory. A little bit of water and swirl the brush in order to load it up, then build the lather on my face.
I've seen some youtube guys load up the brush in the container and then go to a seperate lathering bowl to make a lather there, but I think that's a little too fussy for me.
My preferred method is to shave or grate down a soap puck into a mug, add hot water, and let it sit overnight. This form-fits the soap to the mug and I build lather in the mug.
For soaps in containers, I quickly discerned that trying to build a lather in the small, shallow container is unsatisfactory. A little bit of water and swirl the brush in order to load it up, then build the lather on my face.
I've seen some youtube guys load up the brush in the container and then go to a seperate lathering bowl to make a lather there, but I think that's a little too fussy for me.
The answer is . . . it depends. If using a croap, I like Marco's method a lot but oftentimes get over eager and use to much pressure, making a big mess. Must be disciplined. For hard soaps, I generally soak the puck for a few minutes, then load with the brush pointing down (very light pressure) and face lather after. Once in a while I'm mix things up and use a lather bowl, although I prefer these with creams. For sticks, I always apply directly to my face and typically face lather with a well soaked boar brush.
Over the past four+ years I started with only Williams and then expanded to a number of commercial soaps. I've found Williams to be unique in that for me I found the best way to lather it was with a good stiff boar brush. I use a dry puck, soak the brush in warm water for a couple of minutes and then go to town in an apothecary mug with extra space that allows me to start building lather right on the puck. Finish with face lathering. See the link to my detailed post on this from a few years ago below.
I've never found the need to soak any of my pucks, even Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF). In fact for MWF I found that using my Williams technique with a boar brush pulled off too much product. Found that my synthetics will work well. For all my other soaps I use a dry puck with a wet brush. Either my boar, soaked for two minutes, or synthetics with some of the excess water shaken out. Tend to start a little dryer as it is easier to add small amounts of water versus the excessive loading required if the brush is too wetk. Note that I use large size 26mm knot brushes.
Hope this helps. What new soaps are you planning on trying?
Link to Williams Lathering Technique:
The Secret to Easy Williams Mug Soap Thick Lather: A Good Quality/Low Cost Boar Brush
Hi Everyone. My new quality Blondie boar brush easily produces excellent lather from a puck of Williams Mug shave soap. Details as follows: Background: I've been a fan of Williams Mug Shave Soap since my return to DE shaving a couple years ago thanks to its glide and slickness. Also it is the...
www.badgerandblade.com
Note that for my soaps I always load and start to build lather directly on the puck. In the case of my creams and one of my soft soaps (TFS Red Bowl) I scoop an almond sized dollop of product out with an expresso spoon and spread some on my face directly with the balance going on the brush before face lathering.
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