Hey Guys
I wrote this procedure as an alternative to traditional lathering techniques.
It is not specific to a particular brush or soap but rather a simple process of creating a good lather in a bowl.
Traditional lathering usually instructs the process to begin by soaking the brush knot in a bowl of water or soaking under a running faucet.
My experience with the soaked brush method is variable. After completing a shave, I always squeeze the lather remaining in the brush into a small trash can liner. Almost always, at the end of the squeeze, some runny-soupy water would drip out of the brush. This lead me to the belief that water in the upper and upper-middle portion of the brush was unnecessary and did not integrate with the lather lower in the knot.
1. To start, I wet ONLY the bottom tips of the brush. It is tempting to want to wet "a little bit more", but 1/4 of an inch (less than 1 cm) or less is sufficient. The upper portion of the knot remains dry.
IMPORTANT:...DO NOT at any time, turn the brush upside down until after the lather is complete. You do not want the water to expand up into the knot; that will happen naturally as the lather develops.
2. Now it is time to lightly start adding soap or cream on the brush tips. Start lightly swirling the brush on top of the soap. Do not apply any pressure! At this point, the water and soap needs to be only on the tips. The rest of the brush is dry.
Remember, keep the tips pointing downward at all times until the lather is fully developed.
3. Once sufficient soap is on the brush tips, with the tips always pointing downward, start creating lather in a bowl. Keep swirling the brush and notice that lather is now "riding" up and into the lower portion of the brush. The lather that is building inside the knot will be of the same consistency throughout.
4. What I do now is rub the lather in the brush onto the rim of the bowl and give it a quick re-mix. Add a few sprinkles of water if the lather on the rim is too thick or too dry.
5. Now is the time to start face lathering. There is no concern about water in the upper portion of the knot not being well integrated with the lather.
Here is a final little tip to see if you were successful. Starting at the base of the knot, squeeze left over lather all the way to the tips. The lather should be consistent throughout and no drippy or watery lather at the end.
I wrote this procedure as an alternative to traditional lathering techniques.
It is not specific to a particular brush or soap but rather a simple process of creating a good lather in a bowl.
Traditional lathering usually instructs the process to begin by soaking the brush knot in a bowl of water or soaking under a running faucet.
My experience with the soaked brush method is variable. After completing a shave, I always squeeze the lather remaining in the brush into a small trash can liner. Almost always, at the end of the squeeze, some runny-soupy water would drip out of the brush. This lead me to the belief that water in the upper and upper-middle portion of the brush was unnecessary and did not integrate with the lather lower in the knot.
1. To start, I wet ONLY the bottom tips of the brush. It is tempting to want to wet "a little bit more", but 1/4 of an inch (less than 1 cm) or less is sufficient. The upper portion of the knot remains dry.
IMPORTANT:...DO NOT at any time, turn the brush upside down until after the lather is complete. You do not want the water to expand up into the knot; that will happen naturally as the lather develops.
2. Now it is time to lightly start adding soap or cream on the brush tips. Start lightly swirling the brush on top of the soap. Do not apply any pressure! At this point, the water and soap needs to be only on the tips. The rest of the brush is dry.
Remember, keep the tips pointing downward at all times until the lather is fully developed.
3. Once sufficient soap is on the brush tips, with the tips always pointing downward, start creating lather in a bowl. Keep swirling the brush and notice that lather is now "riding" up and into the lower portion of the brush. The lather that is building inside the knot will be of the same consistency throughout.
4. What I do now is rub the lather in the brush onto the rim of the bowl and give it a quick re-mix. Add a few sprinkles of water if the lather on the rim is too thick or too dry.
5. Now is the time to start face lathering. There is no concern about water in the upper portion of the knot not being well integrated with the lather.
Here is a final little tip to see if you were successful. Starting at the base of the knot, squeeze left over lather all the way to the tips. The lather should be consistent throughout and no drippy or watery lather at the end.
