Are brushes supposed to do this?

[DerekL]

I would say your brush will certainly improve as it breaks in, but if the lather is hard to apply due to being too thick/clumpy it sounds like you could add some more water to your mix - do it a few drops at a time, whipping it up after each addition to check your progress.

The lather is fine - it's the brush that's "thick and chunky" as the lather/soap builds up inside it when I'm lathering.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

Need more water. Add just a bit at a time.

 

[DerekL]

Italian soft soaps need a ton of water. I believe Marco has posted a tutorial on the best way to do it. I use his method with my R-160 and it comes out great, even with my hard water. Best of luck, the R-160 is my favorite soap, so I hope it works out for you.

Here is the link to Marco's thread:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...alian-soft-soaps?highlight=Marco+Italian+soap

Just tried this method and... wow!

Had some problems loading (it wanted to lather in the tub), so when I thought I had enough I took it to my lathering bowl and pretty quickly had mounds of good lather. The brush still got 'thick' (I should post a pic of what I mean), but was much more flexible and between that and the better lather, applying it my face was 110% easier. The shave was also much, much better - except for one ongoing problem area (caused by hand position), a DFS.

 

[hedonist222]

It depends on the brush structure really.

My chubby 3 Manchurian holds lather hostage. I choose to load more soap as opposed to squeezing at the grip. Personal choice but squeezing to extract would work too.

My M&F 2xl finest holds nothing inside. The majorty is like gobs of mountains on the outside of the brush.

My chubby 3 2 band is still in break process but seems to be in between the above two.