I have a few soaps that I bought when I first started out wet shaving. I have a couple mama bears and the infamous Tabac. After a month of trying to produce a good, slick lather I finally gave up and started using creams. Several people here offered suggestions of using distilled water, working the lather more, use more water, etc, etc. After not being able to produce a good lather, in my opinion, I switched and went to TOBS creams. I don't seem to have any problems lathering the creams which produce a nice slick lather. I don't want to give up on the soaps yet so I was hoping to get some more help on lathering the soaps. When I lather the soaps I don't seem to get a thick creamy consistency. Typically I get somewhere between soapy and flat. Do I need to work the soap more? I have tried playing with the water ratio and I always seem to go from dry to too wet by just adding a few drops at a time. Once the mixture is too wet should I keep working it or just start over? Should I use a dryer brush or a wetter brush initially? I have reviewed Mantics vids and some others on here but I just can't seem to get it down. Any help is appreciated.