Quality and consistent creation of Lather

I've been shaving with a DE for three or four weeks now and I love it.

Whether I'm using a mer-gress or my Edwin Jagger Chatsworth it's great.

I've had no problems with blade-angle or adjustability. I think it's harder to define, describe and instruct than it is to do.

However, I have a big problem: Lather quality.

I reckon that I make a decent lather one in four times. I've tried C&E Sienna and surprisingly couldn't get a good lather. I love the Truefitt and Hill Luxury soap, but my lather is either amazing or very thin.

I've tried the posted methods on this great site, but I still struggle. I wonder if it's the amount of water in the brush (Rooney Emillion) I do squeeze out the excess, the amount of water dropped on the soap, the time it sits on the soap, etc..

Sometimes the first pass application to my face is average to thin, then for my second pass it's much better, then it drops off again.

Am I juggling too many variables ? Too much water ? Too little ?

btw, I took the T$H out of the woodenn bowl because 'soap-froth' runs down the sides and makes a royal mess. I've put the soap in a mug.

I wish I could consistenly get the same type of lather so I can refine my technique, but I'm all over the place !

Any help would be appreciated !!

i'm in the same boat as you i think it's just comes with experience

Here is what I find works the best for me. This work for both creams and soaps.

After soaking your brush squeeze the water out good and then give it a couple of shakes.
Start building lather
Add water a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.

I found that by not squeezing the brush the water would drain into my lather. I would go from great to runny quite easily. By squeezing you ensure that your lather stays the same after building good lather.

It takes a little longer to build the soap/cream this way because your brush has less water in it. Once I started using this method my lather has remained great.

Hopes this helps.

It sounds like you are face lathering and I would suggest you consider using a large cup or small bowl as a lather bowl to help you understand how small changes in the amount of water, being added, can affect the quality of the lather. From my experience the amount of water needed can vary widely depending on the brand of soap/cream.

If the soap is frothing over the rim a lather bowl is in order. The small wooden bowls that soaps come in are for loading the brush, with soap, and not for making lather. Also water quality must be considered, if your water is very soft you may need to go to distilled water to load your brush.

Just some ideas.

I would throw all my focus at one product and learn how to get a decent lather from it. It will take trial and error. When I first started wetshaving years and years ago it took me a long time to get to the point where I felt I was getting decent results from the Williams soap I was using. Of course, I didn't have the internet back then. By focusing on one thing, you'll eliminate some of the variables, because every product takes a different approach.

-Mason

Just for the record, I do try and build a lather in a large cup and then try and build it up more on my face.

I'll put the T&H back in it's bowl and work on my technique of loading the brush and then building in the capucinno mug.

What is the correct technique of 'loading the brush' from the soap in a wooden-bowl ?
Should the soap be dry or wet ? Does the water need to sit for a few minutes ?

Follow this tutorial step by step.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/How_to_make_great_lather_from_a_soap

I tend to add water gradually by just dipping the tips of the brush into the water in the sink. Works well, just add it slowly to start.

I have tried the tutorial which arcman has mentioned, but it's difficult to put the hot water onto a soap which is in a wooden bowl. Does anyone do this ?

One pump of Kiss My face directly into center of brush after 1 good shake.

Works for me.

i have just did as lamontqsanford recommended and it worked a treat i drained more water from the brush before loading it with soap

Congrats. I struggled and struggled with getting consistent lather until I started using that technique. It is hard to imagine that just a little bit of water can make that much difference.

I slightly modified the steps mentioned in the soap-making tutorial (linked above) with great results. Really helped me turn a corner in using soaps.

(With apologies to Goosemeplease, my changes in bold)

1. Fill sink with hot water and submerge bowl in water.
2. Place brush into bowl and let soak while you are showering- at least a couple of minutes.
3. Place at least 1 cm of very hot water on your soap and let soak for at least a couple of minutes.
4. Remove brush from bowl and squeeze bristles vigorously. Give it a couple of good shakes as well. Really get the water out!
5. Dump the thin layer of water off of soap into a separate container - this will be the water you add later. Shake any remaining drops of water off of the soap.
   
6. Begin swirling your brush in a circular motion with light to medium pressure. Add some plunger motions, use the whole brush including the sides of the brush. Continue swirling until a paste-like consistency begins to form on the top of the soap and on the brush. Bubbles mean too much water. A large volume of lather means too much water. Continue to swirl until a noticeable audible and tactile difference is made when the brush moves over the soap. When the paste is forming the brush is noisier and seems to drag over the soap instead of smoothly going over the top. The brush will "drag".
7. Take a look at your brush, do the bristles clump together? If yes, you're done. If no, continue to swirl and load.
8. Now you can build lather on your face or move to a bowl!
9. Add the water from the soap as needed- a few drips at a time.

Step 6 is the most important, imo. See the accompanying pics from the tutorial - you really need to have that "paste" appearance on the soap/brush instead of anything resembling lather. If the brush or soap are too wet, this won't work, and you'll get lather instead of transferring soap to the brush.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: With my soft brush and hard water, I regard soaking the soap in more water (and then using that water) as a crucial step. Considering that some wooden bowls don't leave much of a lip, I might try dropping or milling the soap into a different container. Works for me.

I had my best lather so far last night.

Truefitt and Hill Luxury Soap, Rooney Emillion brush.

I used the wooden bowl as I had no better alternative. Covered the surface with hot-water, let it sit for 5 mins.. Poured the soapy water into a small cup.

Built up soap onto the brush with about 10 swirls.

Started to build up lather in a Cappucino mug. Things looked the same as before UNTIL I added a few drops of the soapy-water from the small cup.

The quality was much richer than I've achieved before.

However, as before, my second lathering is much thicker and creamier than the first. Is there a benefit to the wait ? More building ? Or do I need a touch more soapy water ?

The Emillion is a very dense brush and that can present problems until you get to know your brush and it is broken in a bit. I would not recommend it to someone for their first brush. Dense brushes can hoard the lather and while everyone raves about dense brushes they're often not the best choice for someone just learning, a brush with less density can often be much easier to use. You do need to get the consistency right although the T&h Luxury soap is about as easy as you will find to lather. You probably need to load your brush more than what you have been doing. 10 swirls may not be enough. If you run out of lather, squeeze the base of the knot and you will push some of the best lather out of the knot.

leicaron said:

I have tried the tutorial which arcman has mentioned, but it's difficult to put the hot water onto a soap which is in a wooden bowl. Does anyone do this ?

Click to expand...

Yes. I just put my hand under running water then let 5 or 6 drops drip off my fingers onto the center of the puck while my brush is soaking and I'm showering.

Wring that brush completely out, dump off any water left on the puck into your lather bowl/mug, then start loading the brush. This will take one to two minutes, not 10 swirls.

If any "excess" builds I simply wipe it off and drop it into my lather bowl. Once it's loaded I begin building and add water the same way, and amount, as I put on the puck.

It's basically what I've gotten from Jim's tutorial and it works great for me using his visual references as to what it should like in the bowl and on the brush.

Great info about the brush character and loading it, AFG and JarheadSgt ... thanks !

you can try soaking your brush, then don't shake or squeeze, turn bristles downward and let it come to a stop by itself. turn your soap sidways over a bowl so any excess will run into the bowl when you start swirling. then when you have enough lather on the brush go to the bowl and start making lather.
i find this a much better/luxurious shave than adding drops to a dry bush/bowl.
try all the methods of making lather till you find one you like.