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How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial

Luc

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I'm new here and have attempted shaving a couple times now with a DE razor and a wool fat shaving soap. My face loves the razor, but I think I'm doing something wrong with my lather.

I followed wed the steps above and got what I thought was a nice foamy lather. It wasn't very dense however. The problem is when I brush it onto my face it disappears rather quickly. I've tried swirling harder or got longer periods of time. It makes more lather but it doesn't get denser. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

Use more product. Whatever time you spend on the soap with your brush, double it.
 
Use more product. Whatever time you spend on the soap with your brush, double it.

Agreed. Until you get a feel for how much soap you need, either set a time for 1 minute or count your swirls and load for 100-120 swirls.

Once you get a feel for it, you may dial back just a bit, but it sounds like your not loading nearly enough soap right now.
 
Okay guys thanks for the tips. I'll try it again today and if I get my same results I'll take some pictures to show what it's doing better.
 
Trying it right now, thanks for this information

First attempt, my best effort so far. felt great.
$IMG_2873.jpg$IMG_2874.jpg
What do you guys think? More soap, water?
 
Hard to tell, but it looks just a tad thicker than I like. I probably would add a couple of drops of water and work it a little more, but if it felt good and gave appropriate glide and cushion then it's a-ok in my book.
 
I have better results face lathering MWF. However as a disclaimer I really do prefer face lathering in general. Also, it is just fine to go back to the puck to load a little more and return to face. Finally, if you work the lather on your face longer, it will "tighten up" and become a little shinier or creamier and in this state it retains its moisture longer and has nice glide. When I was having MWF troubles, it was due to not loading enough and not putting enough elbow grease into my lathering.

I think that part of my problem with MWF, was I thought I was loading a lot because I had a lot of froth, but I was not getting enough soap for the amount of water in my brush. Then, no matter how long I lathered it, I could not get it right. Those early lathers looked somewhat impressive, but they were just too wet to work well.
 
Aloha,

Decided to give this technique a try. Using a Parker Silver Tip Badger and Mother Bears Soap. I was surprised at how much soap can be loaded on a squeezed dry brush in such a short time. At first I was scrubbing too hard and fast on the soap trying to create a lather on the soap. I eventually slowed down and tried to get my soap looking like the picture after loading the brush. Transferring to the bowl with the Tbls of water from the soap I was able to get a good lather. A couple more of drops of water and I was ready to shave. Incredible!!! Thank You!!

Mahalo
 
I must say thank you for this tutorial.

When I first got my brush (an Omega 10066), my technique was wet the brush under the shower, rub it in the tub of Proraso until I had some later, apply and shave. As sad as it was to say, it was still better than anything out of can.

A few brushes and soaps later, I can now use this technique to produce awesome later with a Frank's Shaving Silvertip. I get so much lather it overflows the bowl. Still struggling with the 10066 in that I get something heavy and thick and not "foamy" enough, but still usuable for a decent shave. I'm not going to give up until I get the same quality lather from both brushes.
 
Great tutorial, I finally made yogurt quality lather...rather than foam. I used tabula rosa since their puck is so huge, didn't take as much product as I though it would. Loading the brush properly is key.

The 2 things that resonated with me was to listen to the action, and know you are 'there' when the lather creates a lot of drag. My second attempt used the least amount of water yet & produced lather so thick it was keeping the brush suctioned to the bowl.
 
I received a puck of Col. Conks Amber soap. I kept making it too runny, (watery) and would make a mess. Since using your technique, I am now making markedly better lather. Thanks for the tips.
 
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Hey y'all! I'm new to this wet shaving with a DE razor. Been doing it for about 2 weeks, and my lather was really poor until I found this tutorial. Thanks a million for putting it together.
I wasn't sure if I was going to like going back to the "old way" of shaving, but I wasn't satisfied with my fusion 5 anymore. I didn't get a close enough shave with it and the blades for it cost a fortune compared to the DE blades.
I didn't want to make a large investment to start out with so I bought a Parker 99R, Parker Black Badger brush and Parker Premium Sandalwood with Shea Butter Shaving soap to start with. I read reviews on these products before i ordered them from Amazon and they got good reviews.
I've been using the Shark Super chrome blades and get about 4 days out of one. Is this about normal? Can't recall what I got out of the Wilkinson Sword blades I used 50 years ago (my Old Timers kicking in).
I'm still reading and trying to figure out what the advantages are to the more expensive razors are, but for now the Parker will do.
The next thing I want to try is making my own shaving soap.
Thanks again for the great tutorial! I was surprised this thread has been going for 7 years! Wow!
 
Awesome tutorial. I had my first real experience with soap (as opposed to cream) shaving this morning. (Used Bebelush Orange/Bay Rum Soap.) I followed the instructions carefully and had very good results. These guys know what they are talking about!
 
I was about to give up on my soaps completely and stick to creams before I found this. I tried just about everything to get decent lather from a soap. Interestingly, for me the difference seems to be adding in the "plunging" motion on the puck. I'm guessing that by just building lather on the tips I wasn't getting nearly enough product in the brush. As a result, my lather was airy and dry...no matter if I tried more water, less water, more swirling, etc. So far, creams are still my preference, but today I was able to build a very serviceable lather with my DR Harris Arlington soap because of this tutorial. Hopefully it only gets better! Thank you!
 
Another very good lather today from my Proraso soap. Now, I understand Proraso is regarded as fairly easy to lather, but today was the best I've gotten out of it by a long shot. Gotta work that soap deep into the brush! Plunge away!
 
Awesome tutorial. First lather I've ever made came out pretty good, and the second was awesome. Doubt that'd be the case without everything I've learned here at B&B.
 
Awesome! I'll be trying this method tonight. I've only ever used Stirling soaps since I started shaving and have always gotten a good slick lather, but I have been having trouble with razor burn. I don't know if it's the razor (just got 2 new razors today) or my lather. I always soak my brush in hot water, lightly shake out excess, and build the lather directly over the soap I pressed into the bottom of the bowl. I don't think the lather was weak or anything, I'm just trying to get this burn taken care of.
 
I've been using a brush and shaving soap for 50+ years, even during The Dark Years (blue Bics, Mach 3.) I'm back shaving with a DE six months now. I thought I knew lathering, etc., but I didn't, really. Now, I am bowl-lathering, getting the best lather of my life on a variety of soaps, using this technique. Thanks.
 
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