Ive never bloomed any of my soaps ... i just soak my brush then load for 20-30 seconds and then build my lather in my bowl
I always bloom on hard soaps, softens em up a bit to get them to load easier. And the bloom water is a great pre lather. Some soap manufacturers even recommend it.
Some yes but most no! Crabtree and Evelyn soaps need to be bloomed for me to get a good lather with my water. And I can get a good lather with Williams by blooming. Other than those I don't bloom.
Even though it's not necessary, I like to bloom my hard soaps for the following reasons: – I like to soften the top layer, because I find it easier to load the brush when I do this – I use the bloom water when I need to add water the lathering bowl (I always start out with not enough water; I can always add more, but I can't remove it once it's in there. I find this much easier than adding more soap or starting over.) – I use the bloom water before I lather the first time and between passes, too
Well maybe it doesn't matter but I have always put a little water on my soaps. Now let me explain why. My grandfather taught me that to get good lather from anything u need a good load of soap in the brush. He always used mug soaps. Brand doesn't matter. He would soak his brush and always had some water on the soap to soften the surface. Then he would start to load his brush. Adding water slowly to the brush and then back to the puck. So he essentially built and then hydrated his lather directly on the soap. Always achieving a very good lather. I have done the same thing thru my journey in wetshaving. I don't skimp on my soap usage so this may not b well received by all. But I will say that I have had incredible shaves this way with all soaps I have tried. So I guess I have always "bloomed" my soaps as well.
A good bloom looks nice, but that's as far as it goes, if it isn't slick. I will take a thin, slick lather, over a big bloom, any day.
I do for both soft and hard soaps. I can't say if it makes a better lather, but it sure seems easier.
I usually don't bloom soaps initially, but if I have bad or sub-par lather with a product then I may try blooming next shave to see if that improves things.
I bloom soaps, wet the bowl to heat it up as well. I guess I lightly bloom. because there is very little runoff.
I never bloom soaps. I think it's pointless. Every soap I have is easily loaded when dry, so drowning the soap serves no purpose.
I really dislike the term 'blooming' and when I hear it, my first thought is that someone is substituting it for a curse word. It's a poor descriptive word as well, evidenced by the occasional person who hasn't heard the reference before and has to ask what 'blooming' a soap is. As best I can tell, the word was inspired by algal (algae) blooms, as the closest thing that makes any sense, and was started by a YouTuber and picked up by redditers, where it slowly infested the other shaving forums by osmosis. I do soak some of my pucks, notably, MWF, which recieves the full hydration treatment (a 24 hour soak).