My Lather Stinks

[lamontqsanford]

I know this has been covered before but can you guys offer some insight into your technique on building good lather from soap. Here is my process.

I fill my bowl up with hot water and let it soak while showering. Once out of the shower I put about a tsp of hot water on my soap. After this I remove my brush from the bowl and give it a couple soft shakes. I then drain the water off the soap into my scuttle and start working the soap. Most of the it seems I create a lot of lather on the soap container as compared to loading the brush up with soap. Thinking this is normal I then move to the scuttle or bowl (I have tried both) I then try to make lather. I have tried adding more water and I have tried less water. Basically I always get the same result. I can get a decent amount of lather but it never seems to be that great compared to some of the tutorial pictures you guys have. I don't get great peaks and to me it seems a little light compared to the creamy stuff you guys create. Any help will be much appreciated.

[goodsamaritan]

My first and best suggestion is to head over to youtube and search for wetshaving. Then watch every video by a guy named Mantic.

Here is a link to his youtube page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59


Here are 5 of his lather videos.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...6978658069AF94


Enjoy.
G.S.

[lamontqsanford]

I have actually watched all of matics videos and that makes this even more frustrating. I try to mimic what he does but I don't seem to get the results. I will watch them again and see if I am missing something.

[boboakalfb]

Not enough product and poor water quality seem to be the 2 biggest inhibitors in creating lather.

What kind of soap are you using?

[goodsamaritan]

In that case, it might have something to do with your water, or maybe the type of soap/cream you are using.

What type of soap/cream and brush are you using?

[Milton]

Out of curiosity, what soap are you using? Some lather issues are soap specific.

Additionally, do you have hard or soft water? I have hard water, but when i travel where there is soft water, I find that lathering is actually slightly easier (Although I hate showering with soft water, the soap never seems to come off...).

[lamontqsanford]

I have used MB sandalwood/vanilla and Hydrogen and also Tabac. My brush is a C&E BBB. If I have hard water what should I do.

[thirdeye]

Check out this tutorial. It's spot on....Good luck and practice for sure.

[goodsamaritan]

LOL! I guess great minds think alike... or at least the three of us do.

[boboakalfb]

I have used MB sandalwood/vanilla and Hydrogen and also Tabac. My brush is a C&E BBB. If I have hard water what should I do.

Install a RO Water System.
























or try bottled water...

[WithTheGrain]

i put a tsp on the soap as well, I do it prior to the shower though...

[lamontqsanford]

I should mention that I am assuming I have hard water. I am on city water but I don't have a water softener.

[Doc4]

I have used MB sandalwood/vanilla and Hydrogen and also Tabac. My brush is a C&E BBB. If I have hard water what should I do.

Your soap and brush shouldn't be an issue, then. I'd say stick with one of the soaps for a few weeks, until you get the hang of it, and then move on to another one. (Hopping back and forth between MB and Tabac means you don't really perfect your technique with either.)

Try the bottled water.

Follow my method:
1. prior to your shower, soak the brush in a mug of the bottled water. I don't soak the soap, but a few drops of water would be fine. IF you use the same soap daily for a while, it tends to soak up water and soften up.
2. after your shower, squeeze out the brush & shake it so excess water is out.
3. load the brush with soap ... I use both a circular motion and a pushing motion. The idea is to get 'protolather' (the soap once it's broken down into a non-solid form by the water & brush) into your brush.
4. skip the bowl and scuttle and all that, and bring your brush to your face. Use the brush to coat your face (well, the bits you will shave ... leave your nose and forehead alone ) with the protolather.
5. Now build a lather on your face. Use the brush in a 'paintbrush' motion, or an up-and-down motion I call the 'hungry octopus' (bristles spread out 360 and the handle perpendicular to your face, move the handle toward your face and away, in that up-and-down motion; you should feel some suction. Ideally, a combination of both moves will work best.
6. Experiment with adding more water to your lathered face. Dip the brush back in your mug of water (just a bit at the tips) and then swirl that around briefly on the soap (to spread the water from the tips only) and then on to the face.



... and remember, sticking with one soap means you make incrimental progress in your lathering much more quickly!

[Milton]

I have used MB sandalwood/vanilla and Hydrogen and also Tabac. My brush is a C&E BBB. If I have hard water what should I do.

My one tip is that for MB soaps, use more soap than you think you need. If you think you have the brush fully loaded with soap and youre ready to lather, give it another dozen swirls around the puck. It helps give a richer lather with hard water.

[lamontqsanford]

After practicing for the last hour I think I finally got it. I think that my brush had too much water in it before I loaded it with soap. I gave the brush a good squeeze after soaking it and then lightly shook it. This allowed me to get more soap and less pre-lather when loading the brush. I then took my time and added a few drops of water at a time. After much trial I ended up with beautiful peaks and lather. Thanks for all of the info.

[ctakim]

After practicing for the last hour I think I finally got it. I think that my brush had too much water in it before I loaded it with soap. I gave the brush a good squeeze after soaking it and then lightly shook it. This allowed me to get more soap and less pre-lather when loading the brush. I then took my time and added a few drops of water at a time. After much trial I ended up with beautiful peaks and lather. Thanks for all of the info.

Just keep at it and try different degrees of water/soap. I had a similar experience and now I keep the brush on the dry side while charging up with soap. I can always add drops of water as I whip it up!

I also do a lot better now than when I started. Practice makes perfect!

[ScottS]

I know this has been covered before but can you guys offer some insight into your technique on building good lather from soap. Here is my process.

I fill my bowl up with hot water and let it soak while showering. Once out of the shower I put about a tsp of hot water on my soap. After this I remove my brush from the bowl and give it a couple soft shakes. I then drain the water off the soap into my scuttle and start working the soap. Most of the it seems I create a lot of lather on the soap container as compared to loading the brush up with soap. Thinking this is normal I then move to the scuttle or bowl (I have tried both) I then try to make lather. I have tried adding more water and I have tried less water. Basically I always get the same result. I can get a decent amount of lather but it never seems to be that great compared to some of the tutorial pictures you guys have. I don't get great peaks and to me it seems a little light compared to the creamy stuff you guys create. Any help will be much appreciated.

I suspect you're overworking your lather. Try face lathering. It seems to correct most bad habits.

Also, don't worry about what the lather looks like, worry about what it shaves like. For me, what's best for the camera isn't necessarily what's best for my face, and I suspect this is true for more than just me.

[endcycle]

I would suggest trying a cream (like Proraso :)) before giving up. Creams like Proraso, Art of Shaving, Speick, etc all tend to be a LOT easier to make good lather from if you're a beginner.

I suggest Proraso since that's the one I started with and always go back to, but Art of Shaving is a can't-miss cream as well. AoS, even if you blow the lather (too much water / air) is still great. There are lots of other great ones too.

In using Tabac, I have found (with my C+E bbb brush) that I need to really charge the brush a LOT. 20 seconds of really mashing and twisting is necessary.

[Oldhope]

I let a couple teaspoons of hot water sit on top of the glycerin puck for at least 30 seconds to a minute, and then I pour that water off to the bowl. The water that sat on the puck is soapy and I think makes better lather than water added from the tap. The soap on top of the puck is now softer. I shake the brush out to dry it as much as possible before loading it with the softened soap so that it picks up soap instead of making lather. Keep the brush hairs pressed together with your fingers while loading so they dont spread. Think of it as scraping up the soap.

[studman46]

Just see sticky "How to make a great lather from soaps..a tutorial". It's essentially what you did when you finally squeezed out water from brush and started getting better lather. It's a 'must-read'. Good luck.