No more swirling for me!

Good evening gentlemen (and ladies),

I have an observation on lathering technique I'd like to share with you. Up until now I have been a swirler, that is I used a circular motion in a bowl with more or less high edges and not too wide. A recent brush thread about the outer bristles of Simpson brushes breaking off because of all this swirling (or scrubbing on the face) got me thinking about a more brush-friendly alternative. Since I have experienced this bristle-breaking as well, I figured that a painting motion in the bowl should get the job done as well. I even remeber seeing a Trumper barber doing exactly this on the inner side of the sink. So I replaced my old bowl with a new, much wider one that has lower and very gently sloping and smooth sides(please forgive my crude English). Next step was lathering up some GFT coconut with the Polo 8 best for trial. So instead of swirling I now used a very light and fast back and forth stroke instead. Result: lather explosion. It was incredible! I only swirled one time when I added some extra water to get a more even result. Next experiment: do the same with my cheapo WS pure badger and some hard shaving soap. Result: once more lather explosion. I must say I'm very impressed with the results and I imagine my brushes will stay healthy for even a longer time.

Can't say I've had the same experience. I've tried all sorts of lather creation methods, and swirlling (and a little pumping) is the only things that works consistently over all products.

I'm skeptical about the correlation to bristle damage, but I can attest to the fact that rapid back and forth whipping in the lather bowl is a great technique. I alternate circular strokes with this action, and I can see a noticeable difference in lather density when using the back and forth. Good observation.

Wow! I thought I was the only side to side guy but I do the same thing. The handle of the brush makes my glass bowl clink, clink, clink as it hits the sides. I like the sound.

For some reason I think this has helped in my lathering process. Totally anecdotal but it feels like I'm getting more glycerine on my face and leaving less in the bowl. My shaves have been sweet perfection.

Great post BTW!

I do sideways and swirls on the sink too.

Jerry Seinfeld always closes with a swirl, but that's another thread ...

Iiiiiiinteresting. I'll have to try this, if anything for a change of pace (as if I need it).



Joe

never heard of this, i'll give it a shot and see what happens. i haven't had much of a problem with my vulfix brush and it's coming up on a year of use.

Sounds like it is worth a try. Will give it a shot tmorrow morning

Frankly speaking i do not think that a good constructed top brand shaving brush could be damaged by a wrong lather building technique. If a brush sheds severely then the conclusion should be that the brush itself is a bad specimen. Not so remarkable if one realizes that most top brand brushes are handmade; so there is allways the possibility of a "monday morning brush"...

Do not hesitate to beat the hell outa your brush; if it sheds , send it back for replacement. I do whatever i want to with my brushes to get a good lather and they don't shed a single bristle....

Peter

letterk said:

Can't say I've had the same experience. I've tried all sorts of lather creation methods, and swirlling (and a little pumping) is the only things that works consistently over all products.

Click to expand...

+1

I have found, through trial and error, that a rapid whipping side to side has been giving me better results.

I have also found that using a light touch while whipping the lather rather than the heavy handed pumping action has also been giving me MUCH BETTER results. I just let the tips do the work and WHAMMO, lather explosion.

I'm very happy you've found something that works for you.

I just tried the painting technique and I think it worked better. I don't know why but I can't complain. I think my C&E brush just likes the painting motion better.

drP said:

Frankly speaking i do not think that a good constructed top brand shaving brush could be damaged by a wrong lather building technique. If a brush sheds severely then the conclusion should be that the brush itself is a bad specimen. Not so remarkable if one realizes that most top brand brushes are handmade; so there is allways the possibility of a "monday morning brush"...

Do not hesitate to beat the hell outa your brush; if it sheds , send it back for replacement. I do whatever i want to with my brushes to get a good lather and they don't shed a single bristle....

Peter

Click to expand...

Except Simpsons who will brand you as a "brush abuser" and refuse to make it right.

Capt. Pat said:

Except Simpsons who will brand you as a "brush abuser" and refuse to make it right.

Click to expand...

I would hope that Simpsons wouldn't brand someone who has EVERY TYPE of their brushes as a "brush abuser". The good doctor accounts for 10% of Simpsons worldwide volume, I think.

Keep on pumpin'.

I tried it this morning. By golly, works pretty well! I'll mention it the next time I do a technique-related video.

--Mark

I tired the small high walled bowl in the very beginning of this adventure and let's just say that I'm not clumsy but not graceful either. I had to switch to the bigger bowl. And I stummbled upon the swirl then paint method too. And all this time I had this feeling of inadequacy that I could not whip up mounds of lather in a smaller cooler looking bowl.

HA

I tried it last night and it worked well for me, too.

Tim

Sold out already....