How to tell how much excess water to shake out in a synthetic brush?

[Tux]

After I have soaked my Body Shop Synthetic Brush, I can't figure out how much water to shake out before I mix the creme. In synthetic brushes, you can basically shake them dry, so every time I shave, I am forced to shake out almost all of the water, and then just keep adding water until the lather is rich, which is a time-consuming process. How am I suppose to know how much water to shake out, and how much to leave in? Thanks.

[Lefty]

What I have found that works with my synthetic brush is this: soak brush in lather bowl, squeeze brush to get out excess water that seems to hang out in the knot. Then add extra water in the bowl that I lather in. This will start with a very watery soap lather with big bubbles...usually a bad thing. Then after a few rounds of mixing, the brush will soak up most of the water and lather and leave a very nice rich thick lather. This is the best way I have found to work for my synthetic brush. Works well with soaps and creams but your brush might react differently.

Hope this helps.

[Peppery John]

There's nowhere in the rules that state you must shave when you make lather, so do a few practice runs, it won't cost much.
Failing that, you could get yourself a real badger brush, which would be far superior.