Newbie lathering problems

[STJ529]

I cant seem to get a good enough lather for 3 passes no matter what I try. Good lather first pass, but thin 2nd and 3rd passes. I've been DE shaving for a month, and have tried a lot of products, both creams and soaps. I think the problem is the brush. I have a Parker best badger brush that seems to have a pretty low bristle density for a shaving brush. It was about 35 dollars on amazon, which appealed to me at first, but now I'm questioning whether or not buying a more expensive, higher quality brush would have helped eliminate these problems. Any advice? The brush can be found here.

http://www.amazon.com/Bristle-Shavin...7471446&sr=8-1

[MondoJ]

You could try another brush but I can get enough lather for a 3 pass and a head shave from a 6 vdh boar, so money spent isn't really a factor in lather production. I would suggest doing some youtube watching if you haven't done so already. Usually if the lather quality is good any you don't have enough lather then use more product. I also don't mind a thinner lather for the last pass since most of the beard has been reduced anyway. Which creams and soaps are you using.

[STJ529]

For creams I have body shop maca root, tobs sandalwood, and musgo. For soaps, mama bears ye olde barbershoppe, and pre de provence. When using the creams, I use an almond sized amount and with soaps I load the brush for 1 minute. I've watched more youtube videos than you could believe, and have experimented with so many different ways of lathering.

[D.W.B.]

Personally I would just add a little more product. Sometimes the standard almond size just does not work. I usually add maybe about twice that amount. Give that a go and see what happens before spending the cash on a new brush. Although that is always nice too.

[Jim]

ST you are wise to post your concerns and while a better brush will no doubt make your shave more enjoyable, you should be able to get a serviceable lather out of it.
You seem to be saying all the right things on loading and building the lather, so I will suggest that you do two things, one wash your brush with a liquid dish detergent (not the type for the dishwasher) and rinse it with distilled water with a splash of white vinegar in it. Then make your lather with distilled water. A coffee cup full nuked to warm should give you enough to soak your brush, make lather and rinse your brush. This experiment will reveal if it is a hard water issue or some other factor we need to explore. Keep us posted on the results.

[gus1942]

Personally I would just add a little more product. Sometimes the standard almond size just does not work. I usually add maybe about twice that amount. Give that a go and see what happens before spending the cash on a new brush. Although that is always nice too.

Yes, I agree. Just practice on getting the proper product/water ratio. I have lots of brushes and love em, but you can get good lather with most brushes.

Gus

[STJ529]

Well I have not tried cleaning out yet, but I do know that I have very hard water. I'll probably clean out the brush tomorrow.

[Jim]

Well I have not tried cleaning out yet, but I do know that I have very hard water. I'll probably clean out the brush tomorrow.

Excellent!

[fccexpert]

Why not just go back and reload the brush and build more lather.

[ackvil]

Hard water makes it difficult to make good lather. As Jim said, "invest" in a gallon of distilled water and use that to make your lather. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

[Prof. Moriarty]

I have hard water, but it is still possible to get a good lather. Just requires a bit more effort and time (I am guessing). That being said, it is impossible to get distilled water over here (unless you go to a car shop), so I don't have much of a choice.

[polardude1983]

I have a tube of Musgo and haven't tried it yet. The only cream I really have experience with is proraso. Which yes is the easiest to get lather from but here is what I do

1. Almond size portion of cream
2. Brush in circular motions for 30 sec
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of water
4. Brush in circular motions for 30 sec and plunge the brush (important)
5. Add 1/4 teaspoon of water
6. Brush in circular motions and plunge again
7. Add 1/4 teaspoon of water
8. Brush in circular motions and plunge again
9. Lather on face

[fccexpert]

Hard water makes it difficult to make good lather. As Jim said, "invest" in a gallon of distilled water and use that to make your lather. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

I have found very little difference in lather quality (or quantity) between soft water (Lake Michigan water) in Chicago and hard well water in Houston (so hard it crunches).

[Jim]

I have found very little difference in lather quality (or quantity) between soft water (Lake Michigan water) in Chicago and hard well water in Houston (so hard it crunches).

Really? what are you lathering up? that's very unusual.

[ackvil]

I have found very little difference in lather quality (or quantity) between soft water (Lake Michigan water) in Chicago and hard well water in Houston (so hard it crunches).

I just came back from a trip from Indiana where the water was very hard. I could not get a decent lather so I made a trip to the grocery store and bought some distilled water. The difference was incredible. In fact, my wife complained that she had to use three times as much shampoo in contrast to what she uses at home - where we have a water softener.

[Doppelgaenger]

I've found that I was making my lather too dry. A good sign that you have enough water is that you'll get big bubbles in the soap after about four swirls of the brush, if you don't, you don't have enough water.

[Whilliam]

You could try another brush but I can get enough lather for a 3 pass and a head shave from a 6 vdh boar, so money spent isn't really a factor in lather production. I would suggest doing some youtube watching if you haven't done so already. Usually if the lather quality is good any you don't have enough lather then use more product. I also don't mind a thinner lather for the last pass since most of the beard has been reduced anyway. Which creams and soaps are you using.

+1

[Kurtis Burtis]

I've found that I was making my lather too dry. A good sign that you have enough water is that you'll get big bubbles in the soap after about four swirls of the brush, if you don't, you don't have enough water.

I've got to agree with this. I've always struggled with lather drying up on me, and I always blamed my brush. Then one day I got mad and poured about 3 or 4 times more water than I usually use. It started out bubbly, but with much whirling and swirling it was the best lather I've ever made - enough to last 4+ shaves. I had so much I had to pour some down the drain when I was done :( . I've repeated this ever since then.
I've got hard water as well which does not seem to affect the quality of the lather, only the amount of effort and time required to make it.

I also choke up on the bristles in the beginning to prevent the brush from soaking everything up before any lather is made. This might be unique to my brush, but it works for me to prevent runny lather that dries on my face.

[shakin_jake]

c

Well I have not tried cleaning out yet, but I do know that I have very hard water. I'll probably clean out the brush tomorrow.

~~~Jake here, piling on



If it makes you feel any better, I bought that exact same brush when I started wet shaving. worked okay for creams...wasn't long til I bought the best brush in the world for $14...the venerable Omega #48 boar. Now there's a brush that will work for creams and soaps by golly=:-)

You mentioned that you have Pre de Provence soap. I shaved using that soap last night with my Omega #48. What I do with that soap is to allow water to sit on the surface so as to enable the soap to soften a bit. If your tin is new you would have to let the soap tin set in your sink water (submerged), or in a seperate bowl of water as my tin initially was so full, no room on top for water to sit

I ahve an idea you can get your Parker Best Badger to work with this particular soap (doubt I ever tried) but you'll ahve to grab the brush midway through the loft to create any back bone...but drop a dollop of cream in a bowl and that brush will perform just fine

If you haven't guessed, I prefer soaps (face lathered of course)

Here's an idea...buy an Omega boar, keep the Parker and come back to it down the road

nothing wrong with any of the advice you've been given...using more product, more water, (etc., etc.) it's all good...you'll find what works for you but as someone that has owned (still do) and used that particular brush, IMO, I'd splurge $14 and buy just about any Omega boar shave brush.

If you're going to stick with wet shaving you'll want to build up a rotation of brushes and no collection is complete w/o at least one of the boars from Omega. I own at least 3

see the #830 Semogue boar on the 2nd shelf?....costs twice as much as the Omegas but for me, & this is only my opinion...I'd rate it's peformance (less than) half as good. Makes pretty SOTD pics though




Best,



=:-)
Jake
Reddick Fla.

P.S. the wood handled horse hair brush ($2.45 from bestshave.net) to the right of the Omegas is a good performer IMNSHO...I've read where B&B guys said they wouldn't use a $3 shave brush. I have many times and it works just fine. Tips are soft like Omega boars, and plenty of back bone. There are some shave brush snobs on B&B...I'm not one of them

[Threeme2189]

Here are my 2 tips, from a guy that has water so hard that the rag next to the kitchen sink becomes like cardboard after it dries.

1. use MOAR (more) pruduct. I find that the almond sized amount recommended simply doesn't cut it some times. And it's no big deal if you end up with enough lather for another pass at the end of the shave. If anything, it will help you dial in the amount you need.
2. While re-applying for another pass lightly dry your face with a towel, so it doesn't add too much water to your perfect lather. I have found that the amount of water on ones face can ruin a lather and water it down.

Threeme2189