I'm having trouble getting a thick lather on my face.

Here's my opinion on that set... The brush CAN be used, but with how inexpensive really good boar brushes are from omega and Semogue I'd try to upgrade.

 

Or the Stirling or razorock synthetics. Razorock Plissoft is an amazing brush and its only $10.

 

I googled myself yesterday and it said medium hard. I guess it's relative.

When I bloom it's because I want to. I just want to pick up soap a little easier.

I soak Williams and mwf because everyone says it's better that way. In case of MWF it was correct, in case of Williams.... That soap has no save

 

These are all great suggestions but guys I started with a VDH brush and I use it still almost everyday, it sheds yes but it worked nicely out of the box and now it's softened well and splays beautifully. I think something is wrong with the methodology here. Just my humble opinion.

 

@TheManWithNoName how thick is it right now? I'm thinking if you are comparing to the goo that comes out of a can. Maybe you won't get the lather as thick.

You can get it very thick, but you don't need a thick coating of lather as long as the slickness and the protection is there.

If you are getting a nice shave with a little "thinner" lather then you are doing it right =)

But as others have said, you will need to practise a little =D is this the first time you use a soap and brush?

 

True words. Given the choice, I would rather have a thin, slick lather than a thick, pasty lather that in most cases is too dry.

 

I just lathered with VDH this morning, had a great shave with it and thought about this post.

For the first 2 months, I couldn't get a decent lather out of it and didn't understand why. It was thin and watery. I looked online and that's when I found this forum and I'm glad I did.

After reading various posts way back when, I tried cutting back on the amount of water I was using and then cut back some more. After a few practice lathers, I had it figured out. A wet, but not dripping wet brush will do. After soaking the brush under warm tap water for about 30-45 seconds, I give the brush a gentle squeeze to wring out the excess water and then begin a vigorous lather.

Try reducing the amount of water on the brush. If it's a new boar brush, it needs about a dozen uses or so to break in. I'm not sure what type of brush came with your set. My VDH set came with a boar brush, but yours could be a badger. Make some practice lathers until you get a consistently creamy lather. Lather vigorously and put some pressure on it. I can get a great lather in 20 seconds out of VDH. Note that it will never turn out like Gillette Foamy or Barbasol, but it will reward you with a slickness the canned goo cannot provide.

Look, VDH is not the best of shave soaps, but it's not bad at all. For $4 a puck, plus it lasts for months, it's a bargain and works well once lathered properly.

 

You can get it very thick, but you don't need a thick coating of lather as long as the slickness and the protection is there.

 

Great post, totally on point.

 

Hrm.....

 

HAHAHA. Only when I flex =D

I meant "I googled it myself" it=being a scale of softness-hardness scales

 

I know what ya meant. Just messing with ya

 

I was wondering when someone would've bit on that. I just didn't have the "courage"

 

That's my opinion, too. I suspect more than anything, it's my technique, or lack thereof, more than the products I'm using that's causing the issues for me. But after following the advice here—mostly just using less water when building up the lather—I'm getting a much better consistency with my lather.

After I posted my last comment, I thought about this very issue, and I think that's probably the issue here. Because I just started lathering up with the VDH soap a couple of weeks ago, I had no frame of reference to compare to other than that junk out of the aerosol can. Even though I'm still shaving with one of those crummy cartridge razors, the difference in my shave has been quite noticeable (for the better) since I started using the soap

Thanks for all the great advice everyone has posted here!

 

That's what I mean. I think this has a little to do with no frame of reference. The lather needs to cover the skin but it's not necessary to be very thick.

As long as it's providing protection and helping the razor glide then you are doing it correctly.

I don't think you need to buy other soaps at the moment. I live in Sweden, but I know that many on this forum from the US start out with VDH and some still use it today even though they have other soaps. Now there is soaps that are better which I believe you will eventually want to try. But there is no hurry, the important thing is that the soap you have now gives you good shaves and you say that your shaves has improved since you started with a soap and brush.

Did you watch the videos I posted? The youtuber using VDH

 

I did watch the videos you posted, and the weird thing is the guy in the videos was actually using more water than I was before I reduced the amount of water I used to get a good lather with my VDH soap. So then I used a little more water and got a great lather. I'm now convinced that my concerns weren't really an actual issue. I just had no frame of reference. But after I did what the guy in the video did, I got a really good lather. It had a really good consistency to it, it took me less time to build it up in the soap bowl, and it was real easy to get a good coating on my face. Thanks for your help, Omelmad.

 

That is very good! Im glad you have found a good water/soap ratio.

A part of the problem might have been that you needed more soap. Did you maybe load it a bit longer?

Anyways, I'm happy I could help =D

 

Honestly, with all the experimentation I've been doing, I'm not 100% sure what the problem was, though it seems the water:soap ratio was the most likely culprit.

Actually, once I got the water:soap ratio right, I spent a lot less time loading the brush and working up the lather in the bowl. Thanks again for your help, Omelmad.

 

You are very welcome =) This is what we are here for.

I had a similar problem when I started out, but kind of the opposite =P it was thick and very dry. When lathering a soap we gotta find that sweet spot where the combination of water and soap is good

 

I use the same brush. Mine is pretty soft already and working like a charm