Tabac - don't lather on the puck!

I seemed to notice my puck of Tabac was really crappy and didn't lather at all towards the end of the puck. I think my problem was that I was lathering on the puck rather than just gathering enough soap then moving to my face or a bowl. Somehow, this used up all the good stuff in the soap before the soap was worn away.

Anyway, I started a new puck this week and it is working better than ever. My new plan is to let a small puddle of water sit on the soap for just 30 seconds or so, dump it out, do three or four swirls with my soaked and squeezed Shavemac, then lather on my face.

Anyone else have their Tabac "wear out" before it was done?

philburt said:

I seemed to notice my puck of Tabac was really crappy and didn't lather at all towards the end of the puck. I think my problem was that I was lathering on the puck rather than just gathering enough soap then moving to my face or a bowl. Somehow, this used up all the good stuff in the soap before the soap was worn away.

Anyway, I started a new puck this week and it is working better than ever. My new plan is to let a small puddle of water sit on the soap for just 30 seconds or so, dump it out, do three or four swirls with my soaked and squeezed Shavemac, then lather on my face.

Anyone else have their Tabac "wear out" before it was done?

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No. The last lather was just as delicious and wonderful as the first.

philburt said:

I think my problem was that I was lathering on the puck rather than just gathering enough soap then moving to my face or a bowl. Somehow, this used up all the good stuff in the soap before the soap was worn away.

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Impossible, good to the last speck

philburt said:

I think my problem was that I was lathering on the puck rather than just gathering enough soap then moving to my face or a bowl. Somehow, this used up all the good stuff in the soap before the soap was worn away.

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Very dubious hypothesis.

philburt said:

Anyone else have their Tabac "wear out" before it was done?

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No.

philburt said:

My new plan is to let a small puddle of water sit on the soap for just 30 seconds or so, dump it out, do three or four swirls with my soaked and squeezed Shavemac, then lather on my face.

Click to expand...

I've got an even better idea: don't soak Tabac at all. Not even for the short while you use. And I'd increase the amount of swirls considerably, to at the very, very, very, least 30 to 40. The idea is that you shave with lather containing soap, not with lather that has laid next to soap . Economising on soap with a brush as voracious as a Shavemac is not a good idea. I'm about the antithesis of parsimony when it comes to soaps and creams, and I still get ~100 shaves out of a puck of Tabac. If I economise, I can up that to between 120 and 130 (I shave only 3 passes, but usually make for 4).

Good to the last swirl, I agree with cymric that this stuff doesn't need soaking at all. just have at it.

Ian

cymric said:

Very dubious hypothesis.


No.


I've got an even better idea. Don't soak Tabac at all. Not even for the short while you use. And I'd increase the amount of swirls considerably, to at the very, very, very, least 30 to 40. The idea is that you shave with lather containing soap, not with lather that has laid next to soap .

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Exactly, I do 60 swirls!

It's your AD. You start believing it's not good enough so that you have reason to get more. And more. And more.

I lather on The Puck, no harm, no foul, just rich creamy goodness as per usual.

Tabac shaving soap
No badger boar or liquid
Dims the twighlight puck

Tabac..do what ever, it just works. Always great lather.

Topgumby said:

Tabac shaving soap
No badger boar or liquid
Dims the twighlight puck

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Nice Haiku!

Don

I guess I'm the only one then!

No more soap soaking for me (I was only soaking it for 30 seconds while I wet my face anyway). I'll also swirl a bit more than 3 or 4 times on the puck. However, I have to say that I get huge amounts of perfectly slick and cushiony lather with just a few swirls on the puck then working it on my face. If my current puck "goes bad" like the last one, maybe I'll chop it up and send it around to the other members of B&B for analysis.

Phil

nemo said:

Impossible, good to the last speck

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Was that good to the last Speick?:

Have never had a mis-step with Tabac while lathering on the puck. Good til the end without ever soaking.

I also get great lather without pre-soaking the puck. I do however before I shower I damp the puck with my wet finger and by the time I'm ready to lather you don't even know there was any water on the puck. Then I load the brush and face lather adding drops of hot water as needed. Great lather every time. In fact that how I shaved this morning.

philburt said:

My new plan is to let a small puddle of water sit on the soap for just 30 seconds

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Not necessary, possibly harmful. Damp brush on a dry puck does the trick without damaging the soap.

philburt said:

However, I have to say that I get huge amounts of perfectly slick and cushiony lather with just a few swirls on the puck then working it on my face.

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With all due respect: that's not lather, bur rather aerated water made a little slick by a teensy amount of soap.

Here's some visual proof of my claim that the 'low swirl count' yields ... well, something. Conditions: Shavemac st brush, water hardness ~8.5 dH, puck of Tabac about 2/3rd gone, brush was shaken, but not squeezed dry, which is what I call 'damp'. (It's as dry as you can make it without shaprly flicking your wrist. That's all the moisture you usually need.) The pictures 1 and 2 (counting horizontally before vertically) were taken with no less than six swirls on the puck, to show willing and to prove I'm not cheating!

This 'lather' is crisp, dry, and disappears within moments if I rub it between my fingers without leaving any trace of slickness or whatever. Pictures 4 and 5 were taken with a cleaned, damp brush, using about a minute of swirls (which translates into about 100 to 120 of 'em, I don't count them anymore for obvious reasons).

The difference is mightily obvious. Loads more lather, and if I rub this stuff between my fingers it is dense but unpleasantly soapy. Note that the brush was not dripping wet at all, and that I used a light touch: no mashing, scraping, or pounding on the puck. Just an occasional gentle 'pump' to 'soak up' proto-lather into the the knot, and a bit of folding back lather which grew out of the bowl onto the brush. In practice I'd add a generous splash of water to dilute the lather to something more shaveworthy, and then I end up with what is in picture 3. For those who think that I'm overdoing it: I haven't used Tabac in a while, so I'm out of sync with how long I need to load; in addition I am not diluting the lather any further on my face, so it won't grow anymore in volume too.

The moral: don't load up on soaps with just a few swirls. Perhaps a soap which just melts by staring at it might let you get away with it; a nice milled soap needs more work.

Great post, cymric. Thanks for taking the time.

Man, I just stick a wet brush in the tub and swirl around and around until I get thick, fluffy stuff. Tilt that sideways so it drops in the bowl, then add water to thin it out to proper consistency. I'm using a Dirty Bird 1.5 scuttle and it barely contains so much lather; I've considered asking Julie to make one 2.0 in marble black dip, I'm not sure she can dip glaze though.