I agree that the perfect lather should rinse fairly easily off the razor. If it too thick to rinse off when holding it under a flowing stream of water from the faucet, it would probably benefit from a bit more water.
Lather may have been wrong for years!
- Thread starter Roy
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Agreed! I cant, for the life of me, figure out how to apply my lather with a pastry bag!
So, I too have discovered that thinner is better. As was stated earlier, don't overthink it - it's just soap and water. However, if the lather is somewhat runny and tends to fly off the brush unexpectedly, you've probably hit the mark.
Rather than looking at the YouTube shavers who tout a yogurt consistency, or a peaky, foamy lather, look at videos of real barbers mixing up a lather for a straight shave. They use a lot of water. Another trick I picked up from them, which seems to be almost universal, is pinching the bristles with the fingers while applying the lather to the face instead of splaying the knot. For me, it achieves a good layering of the lather and even squeezes out the good lather that is down in the knot.
This lather is more messy, as I have a lot of it flying around my shave space, but I sure like the slickness and the hydration.
Cheers!
Rather than looking at the YouTube shavers who tout a yogurt consistency, or a peaky, foamy lather, look at videos of real barbers mixing up a lather for a straight shave. They use a lot of water. Another trick I picked up from them, which seems to be almost universal, is pinching the bristles with the fingers while applying the lather to the face instead of splaying the knot. For me, it achieves a good layering of the lather and even squeezes out the good lather that is down in the knot.
This lather is more messy, as I have a lot of it flying around my shave space, but I sure like the slickness and the hydration.
Cheers!
I almost bought a CaYuen shaving bowl: The dark Nebula Shaving Lather Large Dish Textured | Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/listing/1064832306/the-dark-nebula-shaving-lather-large?show_sold_out_detail=1
They are beautiful and Rich was going to make me a custom color bowl because I'm color blind and can really only see very bright colors. My wife helped me pick out the right color combination.....
Then I got to thinking.... I was watching people use this bowl on YouTube and they'd make a huge bowl of very nice lather. I have a little ESC Stef Baxter bowl... with a lip to keep the soap contained. After I learned what I was doing.... I have a brush full of lather... enough for 3 passes and any touch-up I need. I don't need a bowl full of lather I'm going to wash down the drain. If I was shaving my head as well as my face, it might make more sense.
So, I tabled the bowl purchase. My brush is full... but doesn't look much like the foamy photos we see here.. or on YouTube videos, but it seems to work very well. I only need a single scoop of soap or cream from a little grapefruit spoon we had laying around. As some has suggested... around the size of an almond, give or take. I learned to thin it out on the bottom of the bowl from a YouTuber. That made all the difference. I wasn't bright enough to figure that out on my own. Man, was I struggling.
I know a lot of people face lather. I have some skin issues due to Psoriatic Arthritis. Too much brush work seems to aggravate it. Bowl lathering cuts down on that. I always take a shower before I shave so my whiskers are already softened to some degree... two face washes with African Black soap.
Most of you guys here have been wet shaving for years. I've been cartridge shaving for decades but wet shaving is a whole other ballgame. The people on B&B are so helpful.... patient... and actually kind. It's refreshing. And the banter... I just love it . <eg> (evil grin: denotes an attempt at humor... not always successful, I might add.)
They are beautiful and Rich was going to make me a custom color bowl because I'm color blind and can really only see very bright colors. My wife helped me pick out the right color combination.....
Then I got to thinking.... I was watching people use this bowl on YouTube and they'd make a huge bowl of very nice lather. I have a little ESC Stef Baxter bowl... with a lip to keep the soap contained. After I learned what I was doing.... I have a brush full of lather... enough for 3 passes and any touch-up I need. I don't need a bowl full of lather I'm going to wash down the drain. If I was shaving my head as well as my face, it might make more sense.
So, I tabled the bowl purchase. My brush is full... but doesn't look much like the foamy photos we see here.. or on YouTube videos, but it seems to work very well. I only need a single scoop of soap or cream from a little grapefruit spoon we had laying around. As some has suggested... around the size of an almond, give or take. I learned to thin it out on the bottom of the bowl from a YouTuber. That made all the difference. I wasn't bright enough to figure that out on my own. Man, was I struggling.
I know a lot of people face lather. I have some skin issues due to Psoriatic Arthritis. Too much brush work seems to aggravate it. Bowl lathering cuts down on that. I always take a shower before I shave so my whiskers are already softened to some degree... two face washes with African Black soap.
Most of you guys here have been wet shaving for years. I've been cartridge shaving for decades but wet shaving is a whole other ballgame. The people on B&B are so helpful.... patient... and actually kind. It's refreshing. And the banter... I just love it . <eg> (evil grin: denotes an attempt at humor... not always successful, I might add.)
I use a coin to scoop soap or cream to avoid overloading my bowl. I gauge the water by how the lather builds…most days the water left in my brush after shaking once or twice is plenty. Yeah, I never build whip cream peaks or try to stack inches of lather on my brush. Many enjoy taking pics of their blades and brushes brimming with peaks of lather for the wow factor; I’ve found it’s not practical. Plus momma doesn’t enjoy finding dried lather all around the bathroom, especially the mirrors.
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