That magical lather in the center of the brush

**Aaron622** · 11-26-2007, 11:45 AM

Hi, guess this is my first post here. I've been DE shaving for a few years now, but it wasn't until recently (after viewing mantic's YouTube videos and browsing this forum) that my technique and results were very good, so thank you

However, when I squeeze the brush to get that supposedly luxurious, super-hydrated lather for my final pass, it is full of air bubbles and basically just "dissolves" on my face. I don't think this can be right. I use a newly acquired C&E best badger brush and Col Conk almond soap and I think I get a very good initial lather (following the lathering tutorial except I lather on my face). I'm going to assume for now that this is due to my technique and not the brush or soap, but I am going to invest in a higher quality soap/cream once I finish this one (seems to be a foreign concept around here

). Any advice on how to get this special lather would be appreciated. Thanks, and this is a great forum.

**castlebar** · 11-26-2007, 11:52 AM

My advice would be to initially load up the brush as much as possible with soap, this will put plenty of soap on the brush for subsequent passes. Give it more than you think is necessary, stirring slowly for up to one minute, and really load it up. Then at the end of your passes you should have a nice lather. See if it works, and welcome to the boards!

**masonjarjar** · 11-26-2007, 12:04 PM

Put the puck in a mug.

Put the brush in the mug.

Fill with pipin' hot water.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Dump out water, shake water out of brush.

Swirl that brush over the soap until the brush is lathered up. Squish and mash that brush in there. Add water if needed. If you have too much water, dump some out and keep swirling.

This is a pretty simple process. Yes, you might use up a little more soap this way, but Conks isn't that expensive. I used this exact process with Conk's Almond and my cheap boar brush this morning and got tons of nice lather.

I'd say, after you get this down, then try face-lathering or using a 2nd bowl. I've tried using a 2nd bowl for making soap lather, and I'm finding it more challenging to get a good lather. For creams, it makes sense to use the 2nd bowl. but for soaps, I'm going back to lathering right on the puck. I have a 3 mug rotation going now, none of them are expensive, so I'm not worried about running them down too fast. Besides, I don't have time most mornings for drawn-out rituals, as fun as they can be sometimes. If I'm using a cream or making a superlather, then I'll use the 2nd bowl.

-Mason

**papasmurf** · 11-26-2007, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by masonjarjar

Put the puck in a mug.

Put the brush in the mug.

Fill with pipin' hot water.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Dump out water, shake water out of brush.

Swirl that brush over the soap until the brush is lathered up. Squish and mash that brush in there. Add water if needed. If you have too much water, dump some out and keep swirling.

This is a pretty simple process. Yes, you might use up a little more soap this way, but Conks isn't that expensive. I used this exact process with Conk's Almond and my cheap boar brush this morning and got tons of nice lather.

I'd say, after you get this down, then try face-lathering or using a 2nd bowl. I've tried using a 2nd bowl for making soap lather, and I'm finding it more challenging to get a good lather. For creams, it makes sense to use the 2nd bowl. but for soaps, I'm going back to lathering right on the puck. I have a 3 mug rotation going now, none of them are expensive, so I'm not worried about running them down too fast. Besides, I don't have time most mornings for drawn-out rituals, as fun as they can be sometimes. If I'm using a cream or making a superlather, then I'll use the 2nd bowl.

-Mason

Why would you need a second bowl?? I do not understand the concept of that one bowl should be more then enough for a shave unless you are loading your brush with so much cream that you get to do a 5 pass shave and your wife gets to do another 3 passes on her face . which at that point I would say use less cream/soap

Nick

**michaelskar** · 11-26-2007, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by papasmurf

Why would you need a second bowl?? I do not understand the concept of that one bowl should be more then enough for a shave unless you are loading your brush with so much cream that you get to do a 5 pass shave and your wife gets to do another 3 passes on her face . which at that point I would say use less cream/soap

I think they were counting the bowl/mug that has the puck in it as the 1st bowl, and the second bowl would be used to build the lather without the puck in there.

I could be wrong. I have been wrong before. Once.

**Aaron622** · 11-26-2007, 01:13 PM

Thanks all. Sounds like I just need to load up the brush more (definitely was not swirling for a minute). I do put a little bit of water on the soap and let it sit. Is there a real advantage to filling up the whole mug with water, because it seems like a lot of the soap would dissolve. Also, how does this "special" lather (that is squeezed up from the center of the brush) compare to the regular stuff? In other words, how will I know that I've done it right? Thanks.

**Prince** · 11-26-2007, 01:45 PM

The extra lather that is squeezed out should be fairly thick. It can be a little dry, so be sure to add some water to your face before using it. As far as knowing when, I hate to say you'll know, but you will. Few air bubbles and not runny. Keep lathering until it thickens up.

**masonjarjar** · 11-26-2007, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Aaron622

Thanks all. Sounds like I just need to load up the brush more (definitely was not swirling for a minute). I do put a little bit of water on the soap and let it sit. Is there a real advantage to filling up the whole mug with water, because it seems like a lot of the soap would dissolve. Also, how does this "special" lather (that is squeezed up from the center of the brush) compare to the regular stuff? In other words, how will I know that I've done it right? Thanks.

Well, I've never noticed that the soap dissolves that much. I've always used cheap soap so I didn't worry about it. I probably wouldn't use the same technique if I had a more expensive soap.

-Mason

**masonjarjar** · 11-26-2007, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by michaelskar

I think they were counting the bowl/mug that has the puck in it as the 1st bowl, and the second bowl would be used to build the lather without the puck in there.

I could be wrong. I have been wrong before. Once.

You got it.

**masonjarjar** · 11-26-2007, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by papasmurf

Why would you need a second bowl?? I do not understand the concept of that one bowl should be more then enough for a shave unless you are loading your brush with so much cream that you get to do a 5 pass shave and your wife gets to do another 3 passes on her face . which at that point I would say use less cream/soap

Nick

I got the idea by watching Mantic and putting the bowl in the sink filled with hot water. I guess I could do the same thing with my mugs.

it's just that, if I was making a superlather of say, Conks Amber and Floris Santal, I don't want to put the Santal right in my mug, then I'd end up with Santal scented Conks, I might not want that. I might want to mix Elite the next day. So I soap up my brush, then mix it with whatever cream I want in the bowl. I don't have two bowls by the way.

-Mason