Loading my brush

I've been having an issue loading my brush with soaps lately. It just came on in the last 2 weeks. It's not terrible, just annoying. All the awesome lather ends up in the middle of the brush and I have to squeeze it out into the bowl, and then it gets sucked right back into the brush after a couple more swirls. I'm using a $25 Colonel Conk badger hair brush, if that matters.

Any ideas? Creams haven't been as big of a problem.

I believe your brush is displaying "lather-hog" tendencies. Some brushes do that. Does a gentle pump of the brush help?

You might try reviewing http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113520 as well.

the o-ring method should work for you

This isn't really a problem, the bowl is only for creating lather in the brush, which you then transfer to your face.

THe brush is exactly where you want the soap, not the bowl.

mblakele said:

I believe your brush is displaying "lather-hog" tendencies. Some brushes do that. Does a gentle pump of the brush help?

You might try reviewing http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113520 as well.

Click to expand...

No it doesn't seem to help. I'll take a look at that thread.

Drubbing said:

This isn't really a problem, the bowl is only for creating lather in the brush, which you then transfer to your face.

THe brush is exactly where you want the soap, not the bowl.

Click to expand...

But I can't tell if I have the lather to the correct consistency because it is all crammed up into the brush so well. Plus this is a recent phenomenon, I didn't used to have this happen.

Well other than lather demons, I would suggest that you take a picture of the offending lather and or brush so that we may more fully evaluate the situation. I can't logically say why this should be happening now as opposed to then unless there has been a change. And why only with soaps and not creams,

Neurotopia said:

But I can't tell if I have the lather to the correct consistency because it is all crammed up into the brush so well. Plus this is a recent phenomenon, I didn't used to have this happen.

Click to expand...

If you overload your brush before you go to the lathering, it will have nowhere to hide...

I gave up on bowl lathering anyway. Fed up with not 'seeing' the right consistency or getting a consistent consistency, I found it better to watch it happening on my face, and trust the shaves I get, rather than what the lather looks like - because given the variables of product, water, brushes and experience, they all look different.

If it looks a bit thin, but the shave is good, it's great lather.
If it looks too thick, but the shave is good, it's great lather.

Yeah, I may be overloading the brush. Creams are easier, just tip dip. I think I've really been pushing it up there with soaps.

I would venture to guess you aren't over-lathering with the soaps. With soaps, I load for 15 to 20 seconds, lather in the bowl, spread the lather on my face, then face lather for about 20 seconds. Give that a shot if you haven't.

Neurotopia said:

Yeah, I may be overloading the brush. Creams are easier, just tip dip. I think I've really been pushing it up there with soaps.

Click to expand...

Er, no. THe point was, you're probably not loading up enough. THe more you have, the less it can hide in the middle.

Hmm. Guess I'll pick a soap I don't like as much and play with it for a while instead of trying to figure it out on the fly. Thankfully I'm getting good lather out of it, even if it's hiding.

Is there such a thing as overloading? I go for 40-60 honest seconds. Yes count them out 1 Mississippi - 2 miss... to force yourself to get a fully charged brush. Make sure the brush contains a good amount of water at first when charging. I don't squeeze water out of the brush after soaking, just let synptripical force of a few circles over the sink take out any excess. When you begin loading it will be wet and may foam and fall off a bit or two - its OK just keep charging vigourously. At this point you will want to lather on face or bowl for 1-2 minutes perhaps dipping or adding water 1-2 times, to get a very dense thick later. Remember to lather the edges of the brush not just the center.

I cannot imagine overloading the brush. I took a quick stab at using soaps, decided they "weren't for me", then never tried them again for months. It finally dawned on me that the "problem" was that I wasn't loading the brush adequately. Like so many things, RTFM (in this case, the tutorials) was great advice!