Poor Soap Lather ?

[Deleted member 1881]

Update.
I tried to lather using bottled water and a synthetic brush.
Wow, what a difference, it whipped up a really nice creamy, shiny lather, in no time and made such a difference to the shave.
From now on, I will have a separate bowl of water on the side to make the lather and tap water in the sink to wash off and cleaning the brush and razor.
I will now experiment with different brushes and see how they effect my new lathering method.
Thanks for all your advice..

Brian.

We told ya! The water is the most important thing on the lather even someone starts now wet shaving and doesn't know how to make a lather.

Make a try with MWF too to feedback please.

 

[MntnMan62]

Update.
I tried to lather using bottled water and a synthetic brush.
Wow, what a difference, it whipped up a really nice creamy, shiny lather, in no time and made such a difference to the shave.
From now on, I will have a separate bowl of water on the side to make the lather and tap water in the sink to wash off and cleaning the brush and razor.
I will now experiment with different brushes and see how they effect my new lathering method.
Thanks for all your advice..

Brian.

Glad to hear you found the answer to your issues. But now that you know the tap water is the culprit, be careful about adding the tap water to your lather, even unintentionally. For instance, if you fully rinse off your face and leave it wet in between passes, that tap water left on your face will make it back into the lather, albeit in small amounts and could dissipate your lather a bit. Just something to be aware of and keep and eye out for. It may not have any measurable impact but if you do notice that the lather for your last passes seems lighter, that could be the reason. But it's awesome you solved the problem and can start enjoying some amazing shaves.

 

[les24preludes]

For example:
Soap: MdC
Brush: 30mm cashmere synthetic
- Dip brush into sink and sloosh thoroughly to soak.
- Shake most of the water out leaving brush damp.
- Swirl tips of brush onto dry soap for 10 seconds.*
- Dip very tips of brush into water and spread proto-lather onto face.
- Build lather with swirling motion on face, adding water by dipping tips as necessary until lather is glossy and has a yogurt-like consistency.
*With most soaps this would be nowhere near enough.

Hi Chris, this sounds exactly right to me. Nice explanation. Going back to the OP, I find Wickhams and Gentleman's Face Care Club two of the better lathers in my hard water part of London. Should work with enough time spent on face lathering. I do find some soaps dry quicker, but the lather is on the brush and all you have to do is dip the tip of the brush in water and freshen it up. Shaving can take a bit longer if you stretch the skin and use shorter strokes. I use 24mm or 26mm Yaqi synthetics - pretty easy to get a lather up as long as you have enough product in the first place. I don't soak the pucks in any way either. I probably should try bottled water, though I'm not unsatisfied with the results using the above procedure.

 

[BJS]

Glad to hear you found the answer to your issues. But now that you know the tap water is the culprit, be careful about adding the tap water to your lather, even unintentionally. For instance, if you fully rinse off your face and leave it wet in between passes, that tap water left on your face will make it back into the lather, albeit in small amounts and could dissipate your lather a bit. Just something to be aware of and keep and eye out for. It may not have any measurable impact but if you do notice that the lather for your last passes seems lighter, that could be the reason. But it's awesome you solved the problem and can start enjoying some amazing shaves.

That's a very good point, I hadn't thought of that, I will have to remember not to rinse off between passes.
Thanks for pointing that out .

 

[MntnMan62]

That's a very good point, I hadn't thought of that, I will have to remember not to rinse off between passes.
Thanks for pointing that out .

I don't know if that is necessary. If you really want to get anal about it, dry off your face between passes and then spray some of the bottled water on your face. That way your face stays hydrated and you can still rinse off in between passes.