Soap lathering question

[daveyp]

Hello all-

I'm hoping that someone can help me out with this. I got a Kent BLK4 after doing a lot of reading and I love it. My face doesn't react too well to scratchy brushes, and the Kent is super soft. It's also great at lathering creams. My problem is getting a good lather with soap. The only one I have to try is Tabac, which no one ever seems to have a problem with. I am soaking the brush and putting water on top of the soap to soak. Then I dump the water off the soap and shake the brush out so it's just damp. I load the brush by swirling it on the soap until it has as much as I can get on it. Now, if I go to a bowl at this point I can get a good lather (not great, it seems thin compared to creams) but if I try to face lather it doesn't seem to happen. All I get is a thin layer of slick lather that I can pretty much see through.

So I'm wondering, maybe I don't have enough soap on the brush? But I can't see any way to get more on there. It gets to a point where it seems saturated.

Does anyone have any tips for me? Is there a better way to do soaps than with the brush almost dry? Anything particular to the Kent? I remember reading that it has 'mysterious ways' with soaps, but I guess they're too mysterious for me right now.


Thanks a lot
Dave

[Reformation Student]

Hi Dave,

I don't use soaps anymore but just trying to think through this I might recommend that after you start your lather in the bowl, a quick reload of the brush from the soap cake might help.

Another thing to try is to add water to your lathering bowl a little at a time. Too much and it will just be runny. By adding a little at a time, then mixing again, you should build a decent lather. This is what I do with my creams and it works fantastic.

That's my .0125 cents worth (adjusted for the devaluing dollar)

[Michael]

Then I dump the water off the soap and shake the brush out so it's just damp.
Dave

Perfect...until you got to the dumping stage. Dump some of that soapy water into your lather bowl...about a tablespoon of it anyway. Shake the brush til just damp. Then, load up your damp brush with soap and swirl it with about 1T of the soapy water (that you soaked your soap in) and you'll be drowning in lather. Add a bit of plain water if 1T wasn't quite enough, but it usually is.

I can make lather with any soap I've ever tried with my BLK4. No such thing as a "soap brush". Any of 'em will work great - especially the Kent. Give it a shot.

[JayKay]

I'll be honest. I'm a tad bit ashamed, but I've never been able to get great lather from a soap in a bowl. Atleast not as good as the lather I get with a cream. On the other hand, face lathering! Its the only way I'll use a soap these days. Just rub it all over your face (because you love it) and than go at it with a damp brush (shake it 4 times, give it a little dip in the water once the lather gets going, other wise your going to lather up your sink and walls as well). Now that I face lather with soaps, I use them more often then I do creams. My face just oozes lather.

[AFG]

I too have had only so-so results with soaps. Okay lather but not great, no matter what soap I tried. I had been doing exactly as daveyp and kept wondering why my lather was not better. I was about ready to give up on soaps and just stick with creams. Then I saw this post and Michael's advice about pouring the water from the top of your soap into the lathering bowl. I'm not using a Kent brush but it made a big difference and I got much better lather. I think this will work, thanks Michael and I hope daveyp has similar results.

Al

[Mottern Man]

More water on the brush and work it around the soap for a while, until you have lather going everywhere. Skip the bowl and just take it to the face.

[Michael]

Never could understand the point of face lathering. The only time I tried it was with a shave stick and I wound up with paste on my face instead of lather. Even so, it seems to me you'd have cold lather by the time you were on your second pass. Why wouldn't you use a bowl anyway?

As for my earlier post, glad it worked for you, Al. Wonder how Dave made out?

[msandoval858]

Face latherer here.

I've tried the bowl method, it works well to get a nice consistent lather once you get the hang of it. However, something about really working the soap into my beard gives me a shave that just can't be beat. Even with the method shaving stuff, I really finish off the mix process working the brush on my face.

Unfortunately, this found love for face lathering is what triggered my addiction to Simpsons. I find them to be the best brush for the job, IMO.

And I think they look cool :ashamed001

[rick]

Face latherer here.

I've tried the bowl method, it works well to get a nice consistent lather once you get the hang of it. However, something about really working the soap into my beard gives me a shave that just can't be beat. Even with the method shaving stuff, I really finish off the mix process working the brush on my face.

Unfortunately, this found love for face lathering is what triggered my addiction to Simpsons. I find them to be the best brush for the job, IMO.

And I think they look cool :ashamed001
and I would have agreed with Mike on the Simpsons plug up until a month ago......when my ShaveMac "EBillion" arrived.
This brush rocks with everything.

The face lathering thing needs a little patience and some flexibility as all soaps are NOT created equal.
When it gets to a paste-like state ( as Michael was referring to)...thats OK.
Just add some water to the BREECH and keep on swirling. This will push the lathery goodness down to the tips where you need it without spraying soapy lather all over your bathroom.
Face lathering really is superior in every way ;)
Also,
squeeze the breech with your fingers as you swirl the brush on your face. This will help push the lather out of the brush as well.

[qhsdoitall]

Typically, I have found that creams will lather up quicker than soaps in general. So don't be ashamed if you have more success with creams than soaps. I saw the comment about using some of the water that you moistened your soap with. Use about a table spoon as suggested. Face lathering is mentioned also. I'm doing that almost exclusively with soaps now. Takes some patience to learn but well worth it. Don't get me wrong, a bowl of cream/soap is a wonderful sight to see but with the face lathering, all the lather is in the brush and on your face. Paste on the face is good. Just add a little warm water to the breech of the brush and face swirl, swirl, swirl. Keep adding a little water until you get it right. When it comes down to it, If there is not enough lather then there is either not enough soap to make a decent lather in the first place or the soap is trapped in the brush and can't be released until you add a little more water. Keep trying. Oh, and if you do end up with a great lather and then you start to hear a lot of popping and then "Poof" your lather is gone? That is a different issue for discussion.

[daveyp]

Thanks everyone for all of the advice. For now I've gone back to the Proraso cream since it's been working out really well for me (and it's been 90 degrees in L.A. so I need the menthol!). I'll try all of these suggestions this weekend when I have time to practice with the tabac. Eventually I know I'll figure it out.

Thanks again
Dave