Difference in Lather from Glycerine Based to Tallow Based Soaps?

So being new to shaving with a brush and soap, I've purchased a few (read several) different soaps to try. The first one I used was Tabac, and I found it very easy to whip up a big, thick, soft, rich load of lather that feels like a million bucks when it goes on. I also tried some Col. Conk's, and Ogalalla glycerine soaps, but have a much harder time getting them to lather up any where close to what I can get from the Tabac. I use the same bowl, brush and entire prcess, but just can't seem to get the same results. The lather I get from the glycerine soaps is thin, and full of bubbles, and looks more like something I would wash my car with, not shave with(maybe not quite that thin, but not nearly what I can get with Tabac). The difference is so great that each time I've tried, I've dumped that batch and gone back to the Tabac. I really want to try to get a good later from these soaps and try them out, because they smell absolutely delicious, but I just can't seem to get the lather right. Any advice?

Every soap and cream is different, thus the lather building process for every soap and cream is unique. Try adjusting the amount of water you use when building lather - it sounds like you might be mixing in too much.

I've found that it is a bit harder to find the perfect balance with glycerin than with tallow soaps like Tabac.

Kbennett said:

Every soap and cream is different, thus the lather building process for every soap and cream is unique. Try adjusting the amount of water you use when building lather - it sounds like you might be mixing in too much.

I've found that it is a bit harder to find the perfect balance with glycerin than with tallow soaps like Tabac.

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+1. Most soaps/creams have the same general sweet spot for making lather, but some are harder and some easier. Take a look here for help with you glycerin soap.

I find it impossible to get a comfortable shave with those clearish glycerine soaps. Tabac is a very good soap. So are the soaps from Art of Shaving.

The techniques differ for the different types of soaps.

There are excellent step-by-step tutorials for triple-milled and glycerin soaps here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=63824

jim

FWIW I never got good lather out of Conk soaps either although I know they work well for others. The Ogallala soaps do seem to generate quite a bit of lather. Tabac is one of the best soaps to achieve a good lather so you've already set the standard. Although the Art of Shaving soaps are pricey, they really do work well. I used one for the first time today and was really impressed by how well it lathered and I also got a great shave with it. For glycerin soaps, Mama Bear soaps are very easy to lather and also give great shaves. Don't give up on glycerin soaps until you've tried one of hers.

Cole Porter said it best.... Ella Fitzgerald sang it best......

NIGHT & DAY.............

That is the difference for me. I love triple milled soaps.... don't care for any other. Many members prefer just the opposite and some love both.

AFG said:

For glycerin soaps, Mama Bear soaps are very easy to lather and also give great shaves. Don't give up on glycerin soaps until you've tried one of hers.

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You started out with Tabac? !! Are you ever blessed. I wish I would have had that as my first soap.

I second what AFG said , Dont give up on the glycerins though & definately give Mama Bear's soaps a go. Great lather, performance & a wide variety of awesome smelling scents. BBS shaves for sure with her soaps.

I just got her Orange Orange scented soap last week. Fantastic !!!

Jeeze Louise. This thread and the TLC threads inspired me - I have been using Tabac SS with so-so results - love the scent - but tonight I chased down the tutorial and I followed it... what a fantastic lather!

So I just HAD to shave - second time today - and it was a DF two-pass shave. But oh, the lather!

And I've GOT to shave tomorrow morning - a mere 12 hours from now - with my new go-to, Tabac!

Anyone having trouble building a nice lather with Tabac - follow this tutorial!!!!
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=251280&postcount=1

It is possible to get a good lather and shave from glycerin soaps, they just require a slightly different technique. What works for me when I am trying a new product is to use them exclusively for about a week, this seems to be about enough time to master them or figure out that they are not going to work for me. Try loading more soap then you do with the tabac, of that does not help then you could move them to the superlather corral and enjoy the wonderful scents that way.

Cool. I'll try to mess with them again tonight. I looked on this forum for a while before I started with any of this stuff, and found that opinions of Tabac were pretty high, so I figured I would start there. That Tabac soap sure throws rocks at my old Edge Gel. I'm going to give the Ogalalla a go tonight though. Thanks for the help gents!

RILEY said:

I just got her Orange Orange scented soap last week. Fantastic !!!

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I've been meaning to try that one...among about a dozen others.

Antique Hoosier said:

Cole Porter said it best.... Ella Fitzgerald sang it best......

NIGHT & DAY.............

That is the difference for me. I love triple milled soaps.... don't care for any other. Many members prefer just the opposite and some love both.

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That is the difference. It is also found in the lather, tallow is rich and creamy

My experience is the same as yours. I haven't found a glycerin soap that lathered as richly or provided as much cushion as a good triple milled soap. I gave up on messing with glycerin soaps as there are way too many good triple milled soaps out there that perform up to my standards. Soaps like Tabac, Trumper's, Harris, T&H Luxury, etc. all last much longer than glycerin soaps as well so the cost really isn't that much different.

Clint

I have a number of Mama Bear glycerin soaps that all lather fine. I do have each one in it’s own separate mug and lather/use it from that mug. If I keep the mug in a pan of hot water before and during the shave, the lather can easily be as thick as you would possibly want it.

My glycerin soaps, QED, Mama Bears, Honeybee Sue lather well, but even with meticulous technique, the lather is qualitatively different than the tallow rich triple milled soaps. Tabac, DR Harris, AOS, etc give me a denser, creamier lather with a "shine"

The glycerin soaps have a stronger scent, and they are solidly in my rotation, but I think it is the tallow-richness that puts Tabac at the top of my heap for lather quality! YMMV!

Confilo said:

That is the difference. It is also found in the lather, tallow is rich and creamy

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That has been my experience as well.

I'm in the minority in that I tend to prefer glycerin soaps (particularly QED), and of the triple-milled soaps, the ones with tallow were the worst preformers . I won't argue that triple-milled soaps offer a richer, creamier, more protective lather, but I can get almost as rich a lather out of glycerin soaps. For me, glycerin soap lather is slicker, cuts closer, and leaves my skin feeling better.

revrat said:

So being new to shaving with a brush and soap, I've purchased a few (read several) different soaps to try. The first one I used was Tabac, and I found it very easy to whip up a big, thick, soft, rich load of lather that feels like a million bucks when it goes on. I also tried some Col. Conk's, and Ogalalla glycerine soaps, but have a much harder time getting them to lather up any where close to what I can get from the Tabac. I use the same bowl, brush and entire prcess, but just can't seem to get the same results. The lather I get from the glycerine soaps is thin, and full of bubbles, and looks more like something I would wash my car with, not shave with(maybe not quite that thin, but not nearly what I can get with Tabac). The difference is so great that each time I've tried, I've dumped that batch and gone back to the Tabac. I really want to try to get a good later from these soaps and try them out, because they smell absolutely delicious, but I just can't seem to get the lather right. Any advice?

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The difference is in the TALLOW, my friend, which for time immemorial had made possible creamy, thick, slick lather through many civilizations. There are some nice glycerin soaps out there, but... many of them produce airy lather

You have to treat them as different animals. I load the brush far more with the glycerin soaps and also spend much longer working the lather (on face on in bowl) and can get a nice lather.

That said, they are different beasts and you (well I) can't expect the same lather from both. BUT, that isn't a bad thing... I make a meal of a good shave. Fraser's softens the whiskers while I strop. Then something like Harris is used to get the first pass off. Then, if I do a second pass, I like it to be thinner and slick as a beluga oil wrestler with a cold. So Mamabear steps up to the plate. Different soaps for different strokes, as it were.

In this way I get the best shave possible and get to play around with pairing up various scents for an olfactory feast.

One exception I've found is that I can get a fantastic lather from HoneyBee soaps and I can tailor it to my requirements using a little more/less water and more/less lathering (and the jasmine scent is freakin' awesome). TGQ soaps are relatively new for me but I have been getting very good results with Cavendish Black as well.

The different soaps each have their strengths and when you play to them your world of shaving becomes that much more expansive (oh yes, and expensive ) and delicious .