You all got me into trouble!

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by JayKay, Feb 13, 2008.

  1. Leisureguy

    Leisureguy Read My Blog

    Well, the lather problem should probably go in a new thread in the soap forum, but do tell us what you can about the problem β€” e.g., what brush? what soap(s)? what sort of hard water do you think you have? tried any shaving creams? etc.
     
  2. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    I have a soft Vulfix pure badger brush and I think that could be one of the problems. It doesn't have much of a backbone. I might need to try soaps with a harder boards head brush. I've been testing it with the TSD Orange soap which you all say is easy to lather and makes lots of it. I live in an apartment with its own water heater and hard water. Very hard water, lots of minerals.
     
  3. Leisureguy

    Leisureguy Read My Blog

    Well, okay. Still think this would do better in a separate thread.

    The Vulfix is too soft for me. My own personal favorites are the Rooney Size 1 brushes in Super, or the G. B. Kent BK4, or some of the Simpsons. These will all do a great job.

    You might want to try a shave stick: that makes the lathering process very easy, and it's all confined to your beard. The D.R. Harris shave stick provides exceptional lather (Vintage Blades LLC), but is somewhat pricey. The Mama Bear, Honeybee Spa, and QED shave sticks are also good and not so costly. Razor and Brush has the Arko shave stick for $1.49 and it does a great job. (He also has the Boots shave stick, also good.)

    Shave stick is just shaving soap in stick form: rub it against the grain all over your wet beard, and then build the lather by brushing your beard vigorously with the wet brush.

    For the hard water, you might try something like the Sunbeam Hot Shot ($20), which heats up a pint of water to 180ΒΊ in less than 2 minutes. That's plenty hot enough for shaving---in fact, you can add some driblets of cold to take it down a few degrees. Drugstores sell distilled water by the gallon (for steam irons and steamers) very cheaply. Whether this is worth it depends on how hard your water is.
     
  4. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    I dont think the water is too bad. I might just have to try a shave stick although I shave every day so there isnt much of a beard to lather anyway. I'll give the harder boars head brush a try tomorrow to see if the harder bristles make more lather. As for the brush, the vulfix was the only brush I could afford and was in the 35$ price range I was looking at. For now, it'll have to do. It works wonderfully with shave creams.
     
  5. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    So I tried the soap again with my harder boars head brush and was able to make much more lather but it still wasn't as thick and didnt cover my face as well as the creams. Hmmm... Maybe I need to use less water next time?

    And the SS with the feather blades give me one hell of a smooth shave but I still wind up with the random infamous feather nicks.
     
  6. Leisureguy

    Leisureguy Read My Blog

    If it's any consolation, I at first had considerable difficulty getting a lather I liked using soaps. So much so, in fact, that I gave up using shaving cream entirely to force myself to learn to use the soaps.

    Try this: Wet your Vulfix under running hot water, squeeze it out, and wet it again. Then give it 2-3 good shakes. Rub the tips briskly over the surface of soap until you start to see a lather. The continue rubbing for 30-45-60 seconds---really coating the tips with soap.

    Rub that over your wet beard, and work it vigorously with the brush. Add a driblet of water to the center of the brush (since there will probably be too much soap vs. water for a good lather), and brush it vigorously again, all over your beard. This should build a good, rich lather. You might have to add one more driblet of water.

    That, together with daily practice, should soon make you proficient. You'll get superb lathers from D.R. Harris, Truefitt & Hill, Geo. F. Trumper, and TOBS with this. The glycerin soaps (Mama Bear, QED, Honeybee Spa) should also produce good lather, though of a somewhat different character.

    Hope this helps.
     
  7. Michael

    Michael Duke of Kent

    Derby :happy088

    JoAnna likes Sharps, but they didn't work so well for me (so I sent them to her :)).

    As for lathering soaps, here's how I do it...

    Cover the soap with hot tap water (about 1 Tblspn)
    Soak brush and squeeze out all the air bubbles.
    Pour water from soap tub into lather bowl
    Shake brush til mostly dry
    Load it up in the soap tub (never counted the number of swirls, but probably 20-30 seconds)
    Whip up the lather with the loaded brush in the tablespoon of soapy water.

    Works every time.
     
  8. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    Very nice. I'll have to give both of these a try. I just picked up the c.o. biggelow shave cream from bath and body works on an impulse buy and will see how that works. As for the razors, back to some treet carbon steel razors later tonight. Than I'll practice making lather with soaps =-]
     
  9. Michael

    Michael Duke of Kent

    I just realized the above list seems to be missing something. I have used Harris, Trumper and MB soaps. NONE are any better than JoAnna's TSD soaps. Trumper's not bad, but the other two don't even come close.

    Michael (and anyone else reading this)...you owe it to yourself to try some! Seriously.
     
  10. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    I guess I'm fortunate than that the soap I've been practicing with is the TSD orange soap.
     
  11. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    Ahhhhhahh!!!!!!!!! I Can Make Lather With Soaps!!!!!!!! Woooohooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  12. Queen of Blades

    Queen of Blades Mistress of Mischief Staff Member

    Moderator Supporting Vendor
    Congratulations! :happy088
     
  13. JayKay

    JayKay 3000 posts and all I got was this lousy title

    I am rather proud of my self. It takes a bit more effort than creams, and I'm not sure I like it as much, but its nice to have some other scents to try. I think that means you have to change my little title under my name. SuperSpecialSoapLatherer! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!
     

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