People with a shave stick, a boar brush, and a badger brush look inside...

**ikeyballz** · 08-03-2011, 08:52 PM

Today, I was experimenting with some of the cool toys I purchased from WCS. Included was a palmolive soap stick. I was amazed at the amount of lather it created when paired with a wee scot (best badger) - it gave me 3 full passes worth of lather as well as a ton of lather left inside the brush. I haven't touched my boar in a while so I decided to experiment with the boar and the palmolive as well. I could NOT get a decent lather at all. Has anyone else noticed this? Can you guys try it out as well and see if its a -me- problem? From what I noticed, it appeared to just not have enough product to lather up. Does this mean a badger brush is much more efficient at creating a nice lather? I did two trials back to back after this, and the results were the same! The omega boar I purchased a while back could barely get a few suds with the same amount of soap as the wee scot used to make a 3 pass +.

**BrianK** · 08-03-2011, 09:42 PM

I was PIFed a slice of Palmolive and I had no problem generating lots of great lather with a Semogue 1438 boar.

I'm betting it's a case of use more product. That is, use it when you need a shave and have a raspy beard.

**grignak** · 08-03-2011, 10:35 PM

I've only recently switched to face lathering, and I made switch because of the performance of the shave sticks. I've tried Palmolive, Speick, and Wilkinson, and I've used a badger and 3 different boar brushes (2 Omegas and a Semogue). Great performance with all combinations.

Perhaps the previous poster was right about using more product. Also, have you tried soaking the end of the stick for a few minutes prior to applying?

**ikeyballz** · 08-03-2011, 10:57 PM

Thats interesting. You guys find it exactly the same between boars and badgers? I do realize if I used more product with the boar it would lather properly, but I was more interested in the amount of lather per soap. The ws made lots of beautiful lather with the same amount that the boars made nothing.

**grignak** · 08-03-2011, 11:09 PM

My mileage did not vary.

**SOS** · 08-04-2011, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by ikeyballz

Thats interesting. You guys find it exactly the same between boars and badgers? I do realize if I used more product with the boar it would lather properly, but I was more interested in the amount of lather per soap. The ws made lots of beautiful lather with the same amount that the boars made nothing.

Boar bristles might not be wet enough. I soak my Boar brushes for a couple of minutes before beginning to lather. I add more drops of water to the brush as I'm face lathering. Experiment with the variables, I get great lather with my semogue 830 and Omega 31025 face lathering sticks.

**StuMcB** · 08-04-2011, 03:13 AM

No probs here. Not as much lather as say Tabac but still a great amount with either Omega or Semogue.

**takeshi** · 08-04-2011, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by ikeyballz

Does this mean a badger brush is much more efficient at creating a nice lather? I did two trials back to back after this, and the results were the same! The omega boar I purchased a while back could barely get a few suds with the same amount of soap as the wee scot used to make a 3 pass +.

I find badgers a bit easier to lather with but a boar can lather just as well. It's just a matter of technique. You need to ensure that your brush is properly loaded regardless of where the bristles came from.

**djh** · 08-04-2011, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by ikeyballz

Today, I was experimenting with some of the cool toys I purchased from WCS. Included was a palmolive soap stick. I was amazed at the amount of lather it created when paired with a wee scot (best badger) - it gave me 3 full passes worth of lather as well as a ton of lather left inside the brush. I haven't touched my boar in a while so I decided to experiment with the boar and the palmolive as well. I could NOT get a decent lather at all. Has anyone else noticed this? Can you guys try it out as well and see if its a -me- problem? From what I noticed, it appeared to just not have enough product to lather up. Does this mean a badger brush is much more efficient at creating a nice lather? I did two trials back to back after this, and the results were the same! The omega boar I purchased a while back could barely get a few suds with the same amount of soap as the wee scot used to make a 3 pass +.

You are rubbing the soap stick on your face before lathering, aren't you? That is the most efficient way to use them and one way to make sure that you apply plenty of soap. In my experience, a boar brush will do as well as a badger brush creating lather in this instance. You may need to add water a couple of times, but end result should be very similar.

**BrianL** · 08-04-2011, 11:34 AM

Do you have hard water? If so your boar may need a cleaning. A little borax will do wonders.

**joost** · 08-04-2011, 12:06 PM

I also noticed that I get more lather when I use a shave stick and a badger versus a shave stick and a boar( I always soak the boar for five minutes at least ) when I apply the same amount of soap.

When I apply a bit more lather on my face when using a boar the lather is similar.

**Price** · 08-04-2011, 12:19 PM

Ike, one thing to consider is that the Wee Scot is a very efficient brush. Since the knot is so small, it doesn't suck up as much product to make good lather as, say, your considerably larger boar.

**mdevine** · 08-04-2011, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Price

Ike, one thing to consider is that the Wee Scot is a very efficient brush. Since the knot is so small, it doesn't suck up as much product to make good lather as, say, your considerably larger boar.

+1. Nothing I've tried matches a Wee Scot when using a shave stick. A decent boar, once well broken in, should still give a good amount of lather. I have a Semogue Owner's Club boar that does great with shave sticks. However, it took more than three months to break in properly.

**ikeyballz** · 08-05-2011, 04:33 AM

Price, mdevine I think you probably nailed the reason for why my wee scot makes much better lather. That does make a lot of sense... I guess its time for BAD to set in and to purchase a bigger badger to research!

BrianL, I have really soft water here but It does seem like my boar has a bit of soap scum on it, I wonder if that could be causing some of the problems as well...

DJH, what was confusing for me was that yes, I was soaping my face and adding water as needed but the boar would just steal all the soap leaving no suds behind. It does make sense that its probably because the brush itself is bigger.

SOS, I would keep adding more water but since there just didn't seem to be enough soap the suds would never form.

Takeshi, I think I quit using the boar for face lathering! I want to pick up the omega mighty midget in a few months so I'll probably try a boar/badger hybrid too!

**JPDyson** · 08-05-2011, 05:31 AM

Boar + Palmolive regularly (palm stick is one of my favorites) with zero problem. Check out the brush stickies for the boar lathering video challenge (spoiler: boars need to be "wetter").