You CANNOT make decent lather with six teaspoons of water ....

[chostb]

I have been useing way to much water in my lather. I had the impression that the latter should have much water in it, and therefore I used a lot of water. But I also used a lot of products to get a deasent lather. After reading your post here I tried with less water and got a great lather and not so much ekstra that I had to throw away half of it So thank you, I now have produkts that last much longer

 

[JCinPA]

You are welcome! That's why I did it!

You know it's funny, I got a PM from another long-time soap latherer who had it nailed, then started reading some of the hyperbolic posts about "thirsty" products and also started being stingy with his product and he said HIS lather got worse, too. Went back to what he knew worked and all is well again. I honestly think that we ought to make it policy to link new shavers to Jim's excellent thread in answer to any lathering questions. This one is the one I am talking about.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/21136-How-to-make-great-lather-from-a-soap-Tutorial

Jim, why not sticky that at the top of the clinic? It works, it has outstanding photography, and it is simply and clearly articulated. It should not be allowed to roll off page 1. I really believe we should refrain from reinventing the wheel and getting a dozen different replies to lathering problems -- which I know confuses people. Sticky that thread, will ya?

I'm glad folks seemed to enjoy this, but the photography is lousy and I was making an appeal to folks offering lathering advice more than aiming it at new shavers. The PM I received encouraged me that I was on to something, because neither I nor the fellow who PMd me were new to lathering, and this place confused us! We all mean well, it's a wonderful place in that regard. But I think that thread by Jim is the 'end of the story' and rather than say anything we should have that stickied in the Clinic and just refer folks to it. No more can really be said. And if we want to argue there really ARE other ways to do it, and we want to weigh dry brushes (sorry, guys, just teasing) we should do that here, NOT in the clinic.

For the most part, all we need to say in the clinic to noobs is read Jim's post on lathering and watch Mantic and Geofatboy videos on YouTube. That will get folks off to a great start nine times out of ten and anything more will likely derail more than it helps, IMHO.

 

[scot e]

Great posts everyone. I'm learning a lot from this thread. The thread Jim created is not a sticky but it is in a sticky that Jim created called "STICKY" post for soaps -Need HELP? read this!. The only problem is that the sticking is in the "Shaving Soap" part of the forums. I only discovered that sticky when I was wanting to venture out of the clinic and read some threads that were dedicated to nothing but shaving soaps. I agree with JCinPA that Jim's thread should be a sticky or even better yet his whole sticky from the shaving soap forums should be copied over to the clinic. I don't know how many noobies are like me since I stayed in the clinic and bst for a long time before I ventured to other forums that were more specific that talk about only one type of item.

 

[JCinPA]

Hey, Jim, if you are listening, you should sticky your lather thread at the top of the Shave Clinic and Newbie Checkin Forum.

The rest of us should get in the habit of simply pointing to it when noobs post about lathering problems instead of trying to 'splain it to 'em.

That's my two cents. Just a suggestion. Top of the clinic is where it should be in all its stand-alone glory, not referenced inside another list of threads.

 

[Obiwan]

Just stumbled accorss this. Great post!!!

 

[coyotewhisper]

Excellent post and tutorial on lathering. I would like to add one other thought, learning to lather I feel can be accomplished by using a quality boar brush, i.e. such as Omega, etc.
I recently added a boar an Omega boar, it is helped me in learning how to lather better. I widshed I had done so sooner.

 

[Goober]

JC, I took your advice. Since I am in Kuwait, I don't have a teaspoon or tablespoon. However, I do have a lot of Army provided water bottles. So, I started to experiment. I found that a good almond sized dollop of cream and one to one and a half bottle caps of water make an incredible lather. Must more consistent than I ever had before. Thank you very much.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Very nicely done. I could never understand why, in a group of guys dedicated to buying more soap and cream than they can ever possibly use, there are people who are so miserly with their use of the product. I also like a post that uses the word "abstemious." Abstemious, I say!

 

[Bolder]

As a 10-year face latherer I find that the water that remains on the bristles, plus whatever clings to my whiskers, is more than enough to build a good lather. I have never added more than a teaspoon -- when the lather feels a bit "dry" i just barely dip the tip of the brush into the water.

I will say that the early problem for me was not enough product. You really have to go at it

 

[JCinPA]

JC, I took your advice. Since I am in Kuwait, I don't have a teaspoon or tablespoon. However, I do have a lot of Army provided water bottles. So, I started to experiment. I found that a good almond sized dollop of cream and one to one and a half bottle caps of water make an incredible lather. Must more consistent than I ever had before. Thank you very much.

Glad to help a man in uniform! No longer being in uniform myself, I feel like I just contributed to the war effort in some small way!

And Nid Hog, you liked abstemious??? I think I used ephemeral in another post. I can't help myself. I have been accused of being a sesquipedalian poster on other forums.

 

[windrider]

Just found this. All I can say is thanks, beautiful job!!

 

[JCinPA]

Why, thank you! You are welcome! I enjoyed it!

 

[man00ver]

Glad to help a man in uniform! No longer being in uniform myself, I feel like I just contributed to the war effort in some small way!

And Nid Hog, you liked abstemious??? I think I used ephemeral in another post. I can't help myself. I have been accused of being a sesquipedalian poster on other forums.

Now THAT's a damm fine word... not quite a foot-and-a-half long, though.

 

[gstyle]

Came across this great post.

Then I had the most magnificent lathery shave yesterday evening.

 

[Saturn]

With all due respect to guys who have posted tutorials on lather-making and such, sometimes I wonder how helpful tutorials and clinic posts really are.

When I first started getting into traditional wetshaving, I decided to learn as much as I could about it before my products arrived. I watched mantic videos, I read tutorials, clinic posts. I watched other vids. I looked at pictures of shaving soap and what good lather looks like, read about how it should feel. I thought I was ready, and when my shaving soap and brush arrived, I decided to give it a try.

A bunch of lathers later, I had drastically varying results and hadn't nailed down the process any more than I did before I ever started. I simply didn't know what a good lather was like, and I kept trying to compare my lathers to those seen in pictures, and follow the tutorials, but it just confused me. Too many variables, too much info.

So finally, I said to myself, "Forget the tutorials, forget the videos. How would I lather if I knew NOTHING about the process of lather-making? If I had never heard of mantic59 or B&B, had never read a single page or forum post about traditional wetshaving, and was simply handed a tub of shaving soap and a brush... how would I do this?" And that was how I approached learning to make lather. The results were a few mediocre lathers, and then it got better. With each bad lather, I learned something about lather-making, and my skill at it improved. Now I can consistently produce a great lather from any of my products, but it didn't start to happen until I threw away everything I "learned" from the net and decided to learn it by hand instead.

So, sometimes I wonder how constructive it all is, the tutorials, the posts trying to be too helpful, too descriptive. You see an extremely detailed tutorial and you end up trying to follow it to the letter, but you'd be better off just figuring it out yourself... at least that way you'd learn from experience what works and what doesn't, which is something you don't learn if you just copy someone else's process.

 

[DOLLARBILL]

Very good job ! Just my take how will one get good if only using exact measurements? Trial and error over some 45+ years of shaving has let me know when enough is enough ! sorta like when Id watch my sister learn to bake a cake from our Mother a pinch of this a bigger pinch of that ! mine may not come out like yours but hey it works ! Again a nice job!
Enjoy Your Shave !

 

[Blue Raccoon]

way too much thinking going on.. I just run my brush under the faucet give it a shake and head for the shower, run the brush under the faucet again and give it a good shake and squeeze. if using soap I rub the stick (I grate all soaps into sticks) on both cheeks and under chin. I then take brush and later. for cream I simply take brush pickup a little cream on the tips and lather. I generally do 2 passes and a little cleanup and I'm sure I rinse more lather down the sink than I use.

 

[noctilux]

what i would like to see is some sort of device for measuring the density of one's lather. one idea would be to have a set of steel balls (like those used in ball bearings) and see what the heaviest one is the lather can keep afloat.

v.

 

[Xslim]

Really interesting post. Thanks for the heads up about a real measurement of water. I think I have probably been using too much water. Although, no where near 6 teaspoons.

 

[bettershaves]

Whoa! After watching these videos I have come to a conclusion. My lathering sucks, lol! I will practice tonight and look forward to my shave tomorrow. Mine has been way too thin and wimpy. My skin is sensitive so I think I need way more protection than what I have been giving myself. I will try and try and try. I still love the experience despite the minor redness I've been getting.