Need help for lathering

[cluelessdude]

Hey all, so I recently just made the switch to a badger brush (Shavemac silvertip) and shaving soap (Tabac) which I am lathering in a small bowl.

I've done it twice now and I don't think I'm generating enough lather or lather that is superior. Maybe I am doing something wrong so perhaps ya'll can help me :).

So I leave my brush in the bowl filled with warm water while I shower. Once getting out of the shower I dump the water out of the bowl and add a drop of water to the Tabac soap. I then swirl and swirl on the puck for about a minute and after that I add a drop of water into the bowl and begin to lather in the bowl by swirling and swirling. However, for some reason my bowl does not fill up with lather. I don't know why I'm having this problem as people have said Tabac is VERY easy to lather. Am I adding too much water? Too less?

By the way I can already tell my skin is way softer now after using a brush and shaving soap :).

[mblakele]

I don't see any mention of draining water from the brush, before loading from the puck. Do you leave all the water in the brush? Let the free water drain out? Or a gentle squeeze?

You say that your bowl doesn't fill up with the lather. What does happen?

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136 is a good lathering tutorial, with pictures. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lather#Lathering_with_soaps has more, too.

[Dustinl]

cluelessdude,

I don't have experience with Tabac so I'm just throwing this out there:

Before I get in the shower, I'll put just enough hot water onto my puck of Mama Bear soap to just cover the soap. When I get out of the shower, I'll dump whatever water hasn't absorbed into the soap out. The top portion of the soap by now has soften somewhat.

Also, I'm not sure of what Shavemac you have, but I have a 501 (discontinued). It has a big, ole floppy knot. I prefer something with a little more body for my soaps. With that being said, I do not get a lot of lather in my bowl because the brush knot is so large, it seems as if all of the lather stays in the knot.

Try building your lather as usual then squeeze it out into your mug. Just a thought.



DL

[cluelessdude]

I don't see any mention of draining water from the brush, before loading from the puck. Do you leave all the water in the brush? Let the free water drain out? Or a gentle squeeze?

You say that your bowl doesn't fill up with the lather. What does happen?

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21136 is a good lathering tutorial, with pictures. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lather#Lathering_with_soaps has more, too.

Thanks for the links. I indeed forgot to drain water from the brush before loading from the puck (darn!). I guess that was the problem as my brush was just way too wet to be able to get a good lather. So next time I should give it a gentle squeeze?


cluelessdude,

I don't have experience with Tabac so I'm just throwing this out there:

Before I get in the shower, I'll put just enough hot water onto my puck of Mama Bear soap to just cover the soap. When I get out of the shower, I'll dump whatever water hasn't absorbed into the soap out. The top portion of the soap by now has soften somewhat.

Also, I'm not sure of what Shavemac you have, but I have a 501 (discontinued). It has a big, ole floppy knot. I prefer something with a little more body for my soaps. With that being said, I do not get a lot of lather in my bowl because the brush knot is so large, it seems as if all of the lather stays in the knot.

Try building your lather as usual then squeeze it out into your mug. Just a thought.



DL

Thats a good idea. I'm going to do that next time...put a bit of water onto the puck before going into the shower. If I still cant seem to get a lot of lather squeezing it from the brush into the bowl is also a good idea!

By the way I have the Shavemac 44140:

http://www.shavemac.com/shop/detailseiten/44140/1.php?TB_iframe=true&height=560&width=800



Also, I am wondering how much water should I add to the bowl when I am ready to lather in the bowl?

[Go West Young Man]

Thanks for the links. I indeed forgot to drain water from the brush before loading from the puck (darn!). I guess that was the problem as my brush was just way too wet to be able to get a good lather. So next time I should give it a gentle squeeze?




The brush needs to squeezed/shaken until it's just damp - if it's too wet, it'll slide over the soap without picking any up. For that reason, soaking the brush is probably overkill too, you just need to wet the bristles.