Soap no lather!

gthomas04

gthomas04

...was Drubbing's first. AKA Captain Tightarse
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Location
Mt Druitt Western Sydney
Used my Burts Bees all natural Bay Rum soap for the first time today. Wet the brush that came with it, swished around the soap in its container, applied to the face. Result, a pale white film on the face. Repeated a number of times with not dissimilar results. On the other hand,the shave was nice and smooth just the asthetic of a face full of foam was missing. Was it my technique or maybe just a no frothy soap?

Thanks
 
Load up more soap on the brush? Add a bit of water and keep loading until you get a heap of 'crema' on the brush, then start adding water?

Nobody here has used that particular soap, so it is very hard to give you a definite method.

Aside, I know a Glen Thomas. He lives in Melbourne.
 
Razormonsta said:
Load up more soap on the brush? Add a bit of water and keep loading until you get a heap of 'crema' on the brush, then start adding water?

Nobody here has used that particular soap, so it is very hard to give you a definite method.

Aside, I know a Glen Thomas. He lives in Melbourne.
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Yes I was a bit unsure about how much water to mix with the soap - didnt want it to be like hand soap left in water and turn to slime!

I congratulate your friend on his fine choice of names (even the correct number of ns)
 
Don't skimp on the soap, it leads to poor lathers and shaves. You'll probably have to play around with how damp your brush need to bo to get optimal loading up of the brush, but damp, rather than wet is better.
 
Drubbing said:
Don't skimp on the soap, it leads to poor lathers and shaves. You'll probably have to play around with how damp your brush need to bo to get optimal loading up of the brush, but damp, rather than wet is better.
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Thanks I will persevere I have some idea probably gained from watching my father many many years ago, that it is only a proper shave if you are loading your brush from a bowl or mug as opposed to a bit of cream put on the brush like toothpaste. Just my little foible.
 
Even with cream, you should put the nugget of cream into the bowl and lather from there to begin with. This way you can experiment and get the feel for cream.water levels and play around with it.

I didn't face lather for ages with cream.
 
I never got on with the bowl - could never get the soap going and often drowned it with too much water to make it go.

Getting to know the way the brush and soap work is the thing, doesn't take long. If the lather isn't working after a week or so you know something is wrong and needs doing differently.
 
JugV2 said:
Even with cream, you should put the nugget of cream into the bowl and lather from there to begin with. This way you can experiment and get the feel for cream.water levels and play around with it.

I didn't face lather for ages with cream.
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I'd say the exact opposite. The best way to judge the correct ratio is to do on your face. You can feel it and even hear it so much better. But if you haven't got enough product to start with it doesn't make much difference what you do.
 
JugV2 said:
So you can't look at lather in a bowl and determine if it's the right mix?
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Of course you can but it's just a lot easier to determine when face lathering. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that bowl lathering is the most talked about subject for people starting wet shaving. Face lathering and face loading (using a stick or cream) is just so much easier.
 
Pjotr said:
Of course you can but it's just a lot easier to determine when face lathering. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that bowl lathering is the most talked about subject for people starting wet shaving. Face lathering and face loading (using a stick or cream) is just so much easier.
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Agreed; face loading/lathering is easier, once you know how to use the tools.

But I'm talking about beginners here. Maybe I went about it all wrong when I started but I used a bowl for most lathering until I was confident without using the bowl.

Anyway back on topic.

Glen, I have read a few reviews of the Burts Bees products and they all agree that th shaving products don't lather up like any other shaving cream/soap does.

So maybe it is just a thin firmly lather instead of a rich cream that you will always produce.

I'd still load buggery out of it into my brush though. Can't have too much in the brush from what it sounds like.
 
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You wet the brush that came with it?
Is it a generic brush, or branded?
Is it a boar? Might need breaking in.
 
Thanks to all. I will keep at it, the brush was something out of taiwan but much more compact and a bit stiffer than the one I got from mens biz. Like I said the soap did do its job on my face, and I do have fairly bristley bristles, but didnt give the psychlogical kick of a face full of lather does.
Still I will see how I go after a few more shaves and report back.
 
gthomas04 said:
Thanks to all. I will keep at it, the brush was something out of taiwan but much more compact and a bit stiffer than the one I got from mens biz. Like I said the soap did do its job on my face, and I do have fairly bristley bristles, but didnt give the psychlogical kick of a face full of lather does.
Still I will see how I go after a few more shaves and report back.
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Did you sort out your lather, or look up breaking in a new boar brush?
 
A small update to an old thread. My wife mentioned to her boss about the lathering problems with Berts Bees and was informed that it wasnt meant to lather!!!!

Why would a company sell shaving kit - with bowl brush and soap and have a non-lathering soap. As an added bonus one of the storemen at her work piped up and mention he just used Sorbolene to shave with. I guess it would certainly help the blade slide! :)

Mind you I went to school with a kid who used Golden Syrup as hair cream.
 
gthomas04 said:
A small update to an old thread. My wife mentioned to her boss about the lathering problems with Berts Bees and was informed that it wasnt meant to lather!!!!

Why would a company sell shaving kit - with bowl brush and soap and have a non-lathering soap. As an added bonus one of the storemen at her work piped up and mention he just used Sorbolene to shave with. I guess it would certainly help the blade slide! :)

Mind you I went to school with a kid who used Golden Syrup as hair cream.
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Maybe the soap is to wash with and they expect you to use canned goop to shave with?

Silly really!
 
Holy necrophilia, Batman!
After our covnersation, thought I'd bump this @gthomas04
 
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