Lather troubles

[Mindshadow]

Hello everyone. Just got into DE shaving last week and wow, I can't believe I have been blowing so much money on those horrible Gillette Fusion blades. So much money to spend for a sub par shave.

Anyways, on to my question. Though I've been able to build up an okay lather by lathering on my face but I've spent hours trying to build lather in a bowl and just can't do it. I've read through all the tutorials, watched the videos, and it just ain't happening. I'm using Col. Conk's shave soap and a cheap brush I picked up at Walgreens. The issue is that my brush seems to be sucking up any lather that may be built. It seems okay at the loading stage but as soon as I go to the bowl nothing is happening. I've tried adding water, being extremely careful that there was barely any water, all kinds of things. Usually I just end up with a bunch of foam and no lather if anything.

What am I doing wrong?

[Pescara]

FWIW (I only face lather) boar brushes, particularly new ones, soak up lather like crazy. You may need a couple of weeks to break in the brush.

[rickboone1]

You're not mashing the brush and not loading enough. Keep loading. Thing of it is though, you don't NEED to take it to a bowl. In actuality, you waste more lather this way. Keep it in your brush and go straight to your face. Face lathering.

[Mindshadow]

Awesome, thanks for the help.

One more thing. How often do you change the blades? I've been changing every shave but I'm not sure that's necessary.

[Gustav]

You might have hard water in your area! If all the other tips fail, try it with distilled water.

[SiBurning]

Awesome, thanks for the help.

One more thing. How often do you change the blades? I've been changing every shave but I'm not sure that's necessary.
Some people prefer their blades slightly used and think the shave is better from the second shave onward. Others run the blade through a cork to get a fresh blade to that stage. Personally, I like a really sharp blade, and find they lose too much of the edge by the second shave, so I usually toss them after two shaves, although sometimes I'll go as much as 4-5 shaves. They often feel dull during the second shave.

It's your call, really.

[sodajerk]

FWIW (I only face lather) boar brushes, particularly new ones, soak up lather like crazy. You may need a couple of weeks to break in the brush.

+1 I have a black badger that is stiff and it does not lather like my softer silvertips. I use it with my creams and it seems to work better. The lather will improve, IMO, with a little more experience and experimentation and when the brush is broken in. But, based on my experience, I don't think it will ever lather like a soft badger will.

[Luc]

I would use more product (charge the brush more) and have a look at the tutorial.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136

[Chester]

I would use more product (charge the brush more) and have a look at the tutorial.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136

Aye. ++1 This tutorial helped me very very much -- almost enough to make me switch to soap -- almost. It's a very repeatable method, and very easy to remember. Can't believe how much lather it produces, either.
-- Chet

[Mindshadow]

I would use more product (charge the brush more) and have a look at the tutorial.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136

I read that tutorial several times and I still ended up with the same results. :\

[Shady24]

Sounds like you are not using enough soap... Try putting some hot water on top of the puck for a few minutes while soaking your brush... Dump the water off the puck into your bowl and try and get as much water out of the brush as you can before loading it up with soap... Go in circles for a while and don't be afraid to mash it down in the soap... Now your brush should be caked with soap but not lather... now use the water in the bowl to start building lather in the bowl and add a little bit of water as needed until you get a nice thick lather...


Hope this helps... You may want to consider starting out with creams as they are easier to build lather and you can switch to soaps as you get better at building lather...

[Luc]

I read that tutorial several times and I still ended up with the same results. :\

Well, how long do you charge your brush for?

Also have a look at the Glycerin shaving soap tutorial

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=437
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=439