Brush lather capacity

I often see comments about the amount of lather a brush a brush is said to hold. Some people grumble if it doesn't hold enough for three passes. Surely, if you face lather with a soap, you simply swirl a little more on the puck if you think that you need more lather. If you lather in a bowl, don't you just make sure you whip up all the lather you need and return for more as necessary? If a brush feels comfortable and otherwise performs well, the way to compensate for the fact that it doesn't hold a lot of lather is to make more. Is that such a chore? Or have I missed something?

Well, it's a chore to those who don't face lather. Not everyone owns luxurious badger brushes and boar bristle can be somewhat prickly. You can relather in the bowl if there is sufficient lather but if you brush runs out, chances are there isn't much in the bowl. If you are relatively new wet shaving, it may seem a bit pedantic but some of us take our shaving and the quality of our shaving tools quite seriously.

I don't find the problem to be with the brush but rather with the amount of soap or cream initially, the amount of water used, and the length of time to prepare the lather in a bowl. I have more than enough for four passes and any touch ups if needed. I have four brushes including one that was relatively cheap. All perform fine as far as making lather is concerned.

I have noticed that my brush actually don't hold enough lather for three passes + touch ups (I have recently fallen in love with face lathering). I have the small EJ BBB (18 mm knot I think) and on my first pass, lather is great, second pass a little thinner but still okay. By the third pass the lather is so thin, and dries out so fast I have to wet my razor after every stroke to survive. I have loaded it for minutes, but still no improvement. As far as I can tell, more swirling = more lather, but the problem is that the majority of all lather that is built up stays on my face because the brush can simply not hold more lather. Even if I even it out before starting the actual shave it is still a very thick layer of lather on my face. Anyone else who has this problem?

The "brush cannot hold more lather" statement is of course me speculating but I think it seams reasonable since the brush looks packed with lather when I'm done lathering for my first pass.

EDIT: Seems I didn't answer your question; yes, it is a chore. Personally I don't want whiskers, blood and dead skin cells on my soap, which means I have to rinse my brush before adding more soap. I addition, by the third or fourth pass my face is more sensitive which means building lather at that stage is not that comfortable. That's why I have started looking for a bigger silver tip brush.

I think that any brush 18mm+ can easily hold enough lather for 3 passes. Just use more product or water until you get the right amount.

DE Shaver said:

If you are relatively new wet shaving, it may seem a bit pedantic but some of us take our shaving and the quality of our shaving tools quite seriously.

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+1. This board brings out the OCD in us all