Is my Tabac jealous ?

[QuarkVI]

Hi,

Haven't been wet shaving for long and have mostly used Tabac without any hassles. A couple of weeks ago I got a new Omega boar and some MWF.

Well since then I have had a couple of shaves were the Tabac lather has totally collapsed on me i.e. disappeared into the ether. I bowl lather but this happened in the bowl and on my face.

I did have a couple of failed lathers with the Tabac and MWF when my brush was new but have washed it thoroughly etc. which sorted that.
Could there be something in the MWF that the Tabac doesn't like ? Would too much water do this to a lather (as I know MWF takes more so I might not be adjusting) ?
or is it just poor technique ? Hasn't happened with the MWF yet. And I do rinse my brush in warm and cold water between shaves.

Really frustrating because I am one of the crazies that loves the smell of Tabac and enjoy it when I get it right.

thanks
______________________________________
Robin

[SilverKarn]

I never had any luck lathering Tabac with a Boar brush myself.

[mcmulvaney]

I have an Omega 80266, 21047, and 40033. All of them do fine with Tabac. I soak them in my pre-heated scuttle while in the shower. When I get out of the shower I remove, the brush, reheat the scuttle to my preferred starting temp (160 - 165 degrees F), give the brush one shake to dump excess water, load for 30 seconds, lather for about 90 seconds and I have more than enough for my normal 3 pass shave.

...but, as always, YMMV

[mftoms59]

Hi,

Haven't been wet shaving for long and have mostly used Tabac without any hassles. A couple of weeks ago I got a new Omega boar and some MWF.

Well since then I have had a couple of shaves were the Tabac lather has totally collapsed on me i.e. disappeared into the ether. I bowl lather but this happened in the bowl and on my face.

I did have a couple of failed lathers with the Tabac and MWF when my brush was new but have washed it thoroughly etc. which sorted that.
Could there be something in the MWF that the Tabac doesn't like ? Would too much water do this to a lather (as I know MWF takes more so I might not be adjusting) ?
or is it just poor technique ? Hasn't happened with the MWF yet. And I do rinse my brush in warm and cold water between shaves.

Really frustrating because I am one of the crazies that loves the smell of Tabac and enjoy it when I get it right.

thanks
______________________________________
Robin

Buy another Brush for your Tabac
No kidding its worth it, Tabac is my #1 and one of my Turkish Horse Hair brushes and a Pure Badger Brush is dedicated for Tabac, which I use 5 of every 7 shave days, the other two days are for a different soap or cream.

[SliceOfLife]

New brush can mean relearning your technique. Especially if your old brush was very low end. When I moved from my VDH boar to a crappy vintage Badger, it required totally different lathering, then to a half decent but extremely floppy Silvertip brush and it required another new technique, then to a solid brush with decent backbone, and my techniques have seen little change since then over the coarse of several dozen brushes. There's a few minor adjustments for this brush or that, but if you stick to good brushes and develop an effective technique you are comfortable with, this problem should go away

Could you give a detailed description of how you lather. (Including times, etc)?

For instance:

1. Soak brush ~4 min
2. Shake brush vigorously
3. Swirl on soap for 30 seconds.
etc etc etc.

[QuarkVI]

Current routine is...

1] put brush in warm water before shower
2] empty bowl, shake water off of brush - 1 brisk shake so not all of it goes
3] 10s on Tabac
4] work in bowl for 30s
5] usually add a few drops of water
6] another minute working it and usually voila!

Really annoying as I was very happy with my Tabac but not pleasant learning to use a straight with a bad lather. The lather just evaporated this morning as if it was being eaten by the soap termites.

[oc_in_fw]

Current routine is...

1] put brush in warm water before shower
2] empty bowl, shake water off of brush - 1 brisk shake so not all of it goes
3] 10s on Tabac
4] work in bowl for 30s
5] usually add a few drops of water
6] another minute working it and usually voila!

Really annoying as I was very happy with my Tabac but not pleasant learning to use a straight with a bad lather. The lather just evaporated this morning as if it was being eaten by the soap termites.

10 seconds seems a very short time to be on the puck.

[bhayn007]

I tend to work Tabac for about 30sec -1 min. I use a DO1 Shavemac and it works amazing with this soap! Leaves me a perfect amount for 4 passes. I found using more product is always better! Might want to try that. Load the brush until it can't absolutely hold any more.

[QuarkVI]

Tried staying on the puck longer this morning - scooped up the "slurry" into the bowl and worked the brush a bit more - gues 30s total.

Also didn't add water during lathering and had a much improved lather.

Thanks for the suggestions - will do this for the rest of the week and see if it solves the problem. Guess I was just being too cheap with the soap.

Amazes me how different MWF is i.t.o. amount of water and working the lather. So much for soap being soap

[mftoms59]

Tried staying on the puck longer this morning - scooped up the "slurry" into the bowl and worked the brush a bit more - gues 30s total.

Also didn't add water during lathering and had a much improved lather.

Thanks for the suggestions - will do this for the rest of the week and see if it solves the problem. Guess I was just being too cheap with the soap.

Amazes me how different MWF is i.t.o. amount of water and working the lather. So much for soap being soap

I regularly use it (5 of 7 shaves) and can't seem to wear this puck out, I don't worry about using too much because I always have 2 more pucks ready to go, can't be caught short when it comes to Tabac soap