How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial

[Emilius]

Great tutorial!!! I will definitely try this method tomorrow with my Tabac soap. The lather I was getting was slick and protective, but you could see it was runny, and way far behind those explosions of lather I had seen on pics here.

Here goes my biggest compliment: I will get up earlier tomorrow just to try your method and follow all the steps.

Thanks, Jim et al!!!

 

[adildhanani]

I just tried this with my Truefitt soap, and got the richest, densest lather I've ever had from a soap! Now I understand why there are so many soap converts out there!

Thanks guys, it helped a lot!

 

[Must Dash]

Absolutely brilliant. May your halo shine brightly and make a nice glow in your bathroom.

 

[croweml]

As someone who has been wet shaving with soap for a while but who has always struggled to get that perfect lather - I have to say, this post has been most valuable. Thanks for the great advice.

 

[fritz]

A great tutorial, and thanks to all involved for the effort! It turns out that this is very much like the technique I've been using for about a month. So there are a few notes about the tutorial that I submit for consideration:

1) How much water, really? The text says half a teaspoon, the picture caption says a teaspoon.

2) What size brush? Shouldn't the size of the brush affect how much water you use?

3) What kind of soap? Shouldn't the type of soap affect how much water you use?

Well, to answer from my own experience... I use a Kent BK12. And I find that a Tablespoon is about right on glycerin soaps like HBS. And 2 or 3 Tablespoons on hard tallow soaps like Tabac (2 Tbsp) and C&S Sienna (3 Tbsp). And I'm using regular cooking measuring spoons, where one teaspoon = 5 ml, one Tablespoon = 15 ml. Soaking time is about 5 minutes (while I take a shower and shampoo). I use soft bottled water that's been heated almost to boiling in the microwave.

 

[Jim]

Fritz.
I am delighted that you are having such good luck with this method.

The water on the soap is just to soften it a bit, the amount was arbitrary in regards to the exact amount. I add more water drip by drip in the bowl as I build the lather. As you said it varies brush to brush so posting an exact amount would be specious.

The single most important factor the team found in building the foundation for your lather is loading the brush.

 

[fritz]

Fritz.
I am delighted that you are having such good luck with this method.
The water on the soap is just to soften it a bit, the amount was arbitrary in regards to the exact amount. I add more water drip by drip in the bowl as I build the lather. As you said it varies brush to brush so posting an exact amount would be specious.
The single most important factor the team found in building the foundation for your lather is loading the brush.

OK, thanks, now I get it. What I've been doing is figuring out by trial and error about how much total water is needed for a particular type of soap and a given size brush, and applying all of it to the soap, then dumping it into the lather bowl. Since I stumbled onto this by hit-and-miss, I'm no longer sure why I thought this was important. Upon reflection, it probably isn't, since I usually have to add a little water anyway later on. The major thing, as you say, is getting a nice gob of soft, creamy soap on the tips of the brush, very similar to starting out with shaving cream.

 

[Jim]

OK, thanks, now I get it. What I've been doing is figuring out by trial and error about how much total water is needed for a particular type of soap and a given size brush, and applying all of it to the soap, then dumping it into the lather bowl. Since I stumbled onto this by hit-and-miss, I'm no longer sure why I thought this was important. Upon reflection, it probably isn't, since I usually have to add a little water anyway later on. The major thing, as you say, is getting a nice gob of soft, creamy soap on the tips of the brush, very similar to starting out with shaving cream.

Thats it!-only shoot for a fully loaded brush not just the tips, work the paste into the brush.

 

[Shablabar]

Just brilliant! This helps enormously.

 

[Rog1]

Holy lather...Batman!

This was a great tip...Thank You!! I tried it with Mama Bears rosemary mint and of course I was spilling lather all over the sind and mirror. I also tried it with my Proraso green bowl with amazing results thick lather and filled the bathroom with rich Eucalyptus smell.

Thanks again!

 

[Prince]

I wish I'd read this last night. I'll have to try this tomorrow.

Thanks to all involved with this.

 

[L. Martino]

Hi Jim,
Thanks so much for taking the time to put that pictorial together .I've been experimenting using your method for my last 5-6 shaves, and my lather making has definitely seen an improvement. You see, loading up the brush that way makes sense to me. I still can't understand members who post about using just 'a few' or 8-10 swirls and getting amazing lather. I was doing 50-60 laps around the soapbowl with a wet brush in order to get the lather to where I wanted it to be. This is about the same amount of time involved, but the lather's even better now. Plus, I don't have to work it as much in the bowl before lathering on my face, which takes less time as well.
I'd read a post by a member many months ago (sorry no idea who) about the amount of soap he used as opposed to creams. Measuring out creams is easy, obviously, and the advice this member gave regarding the soap amount made sense in the same way as your excellent post.
He suggested trying to visualize loading the brush the same amount of soap as you'd use for creams. No piddly amount....no 'couple swirls', since there's no way you can do that with a soap in such a short time. Looking at the amount of soap on your prepared brush shows how much to actually use.Your idea of using a mostly dry brush was something I would NEVER have thought to do, but it helps me, once I spent a few times getting the hang of it.
So, thanks for putting the time and effort into this..........makes my shaving even more fun now.
Martin

 

[Prince]

UPDATE- I followed these steps this morning, and wow, what a difference. My QED lathered like it never has before. Thanks for the detailed steps. They made a big change.

 

[TNoahr523]

thanks I learned alot from this

 

[charleton]

I know I'm getting into this discussion late, but this really works. Getting good lather has always been a challenge for me, but this works.

Thanks.

Gene.

 

[Isaias]

Good method. However, what i do before putting the soap's water into the bowl, is to rub my finger around the soap. It has more friction than the brush and it does not retain any water. this staurates that water with soapy goodness ready to be loaded on the brush. Helps me save time.

 

[bishop]

I'm using a puck in a shaving mug (locally made pottery). The puck is smaller than the mug so I've got a gap between the walls of the mug and soap puck.

How does one modify this method to use with my setup? I usually soak the brush in the mug, dump the water out, shake brush, and start building lather in the mug with the soap. I don't use a bowl. My lather, at least with this soap, is thin, but it lubricates well. I'm trying to get the good lather but using a different setup is causing me confusion.

 

[fritz]

I'm using a puck in a shaving mug (locally made pottery). The puck is smaller than the mug so I've got a gap between the walls of the mug and soap puck.

How does one modify this method to use with my setup? I usually soak the brush in the mug, dump the water out, shake brush, and start building lather in the mug with the soap. I don't use a bowl. My lather, at least with this soap, is thin, but it lubricates well. I'm trying to get the good lather but using a different setup is causing me confusion.

1. Take the soap out of your mug, place in a smaller container.

2. Follow the original instructions, except where they say "bowl" use your shaving mug instead.

 

[mnealtx]

What about a "superlather" with this method? Is it effective?

 

[footandmaff]

This looks to be a great tutorial, thanks for the hard work and I'll definitely be trying this out tomorrow.