Ok, gentlemen, here's a question for you vetrans: Those of you who use a mug to lather...do you load the brush with soap and then build a lather in another mug or bowl or do you build lather with the soap puck in the bottom of the mug? Does it make a difference? Thanks!
I ue a seperate bowl to lather, lathering on top of the soap just wastes the soap IMO. In fact I ditched all of my mugs for bowls, easier to get to the soap and gives the O. Professional more room to whip up my lather.
I load the brush with mug soap and face lather. Personally, I have had trouble making a good lather from soap in a separate bowl, always too labor intensive for airy poor quality lather. Face lathering soap is easy and allows me to use the soap to its full potential
Each of my soaps have their own bowl. I load the brush up from there, then take it to another bowl to whip it up into slick, thick, creamy goodness. That's how I do it. Should you do it that way? Only if you want to. Bottom line is to do what you enjoy doing, do what gives you a good lather, do what is going to make your shave a pleasurable spa-like experience, rather than just the daily chore of scraping your face.
I like using a small bowl for lathering after loading in the mug/container. Helps control hydration levels, where with lathering on the soap seems to prepetually pull more soap into the brush, perpetually loading. Full control of water content I would think is only possible by separating lathering from loading.
I have a bowl in a bowl. The outside bowl contains hot water to keep my inside bowl for which I lather warm. Using Proraso cream I don't have a soap bar to pick up a lather with, usually half an inch of cream in the inside bowl is enough for my entire shave. For whenever I use Williams I face lather.
I prefer to load my brush and build my lather all in the same mug/container. After I get a good lather going, I move the brush to my face and face lather. When I first started wet shaving I built my lather in a seperate bowl, but I eventually got tired of the extra step and simplified things. I still get a great slick lather but you can do whatever you feel is more comfortable. There's no right or wrong answer.
If it floats ' yer boat!! I load my brush on the soap using lots of pressure and use another bowl to whip up the lather, I pre/soak the brush and bowl in very hot water first, and have to use microwave heated distilled water for the lather as I use a well and it has some of the hardest water in the bloody world!! I also drip in water a couple of teaspoons at a time until it is hydrated to me likeing. And yes it does take a few minutes to get right, but that's what this wet shaving hobby is all about, getting it right and making the shaving experience somthing you do good just for you, the end result is worth it just, experiment, make note, mental or otherwise, find what works for you!! Have a great G/Day, your fellow wet shaver, J.Doc'
In case of very hard water. Because of very hard water I have to start my lather on the soap, really really load that brush. An actual test of hard water is how much soap it will consume. This is what I do. Moisten the soap with a few drops of water, spread it round. Soak my brush and face. Once the soap has softened, the brush is soaked, my face has had a hot flannel I start loading my brush on the soap. Flick the excess water off the brush before soap loading. Keep going to start a lather. Go some more. Now the brush is really well loaded, I place a hot flannel on my face again. Remove the flannel and wet my face with hot water. Take the brush and face lather. I have to use painters strokes, round and round won't work. Only extremely vigorous painters strokes make the rich lather I'm after. If the lather feels a little dry quickly dip just the very tip of the brush in your water. Capillary action will draw more water into the brush than you think, carry on. If the lather is still weak, back to the soap and load some more. Remember the hard water is consuming the soap all the time until the reaction has ended. Each pass I have to reload the brush on the soap. This is an extreme case of hard water but if you do suffer hard water, forget separate lather bowl. Don't bother with expensive soaps either. Most of the soap go's into the chemical reaction with the hard water. JoAnna's soaps cope very well with hard water. Erasmic glycerin soap works well too. Shave sticks are good for hard water as are face lathered creams. Remember, this method is for very hard water. Do this with soft water you will have lather coming out your bathroom window. Hope this helps some folks. David. Ps, when I flick the water off my brush I always hold the knot as well.
Very thorough and informative post, Sparticus. Me likey. Have you tried the hard water remedy of baking soda or salinity (sodium chloride, i.e. table salt)? I tried that with J.B. Williams but it didn't do much, it has a reputation as a difficult latherer and I knew my water was somewhat hard at my previous residence. I didn't notice a difference in the lather, it lathers up fine with or without the water additives. I can make a copious lather, it just seems to dry out faster than all the others I like (mama bears, wilkinson, C&E, VDH deluxe, creams like several polish (wars, pollena lider), proraso). You seem so knowledgeable and experienced, I'd greatly value your opinion.
+1 I'm with Hanzo 100 % on this... Also face-lathering has become one of my favorite parts of the shave...I like for the brush to be on my face (where it belongs ) for as much of the process as possible... At least this applies to the brush I'm using now,(omega 10029 boar), because it feels so great on my face, I'm a little sad when the lather is ready...) Also you get immediate feedback, cause you see how lather is coming together;right there on your face; as you're making it... So you asked bowl or mug; my answer is on my mug (face)...)
I did indeed buy a couple of tubs of sodium bicarbonate, I found to soften a sink full of water took a fair bit of it. Two well heaped tea spoons. I tried it with soaps, sticks and creams. It helped a little bit not enough to justify the cost for me. If my lather drys I make it with a little more water and re lather. I didn't try table salt. Didn't fancy salty water :sick007
Normally I use a seperate bowl to build lather, as the shave cream I usually use is Kiss My Face, dispensed from a bottle with a pump. If running short on time, I build lather from a bowl which I've melted a soap cake into, and just use that.
I do every variation of the above as I just like variety. I have been doing more face lathering lately because the brush is still nice and warm when it hits my face.
I like to build up the soap on my brush and then make up the lather in a separate bowl. But I also do a face lather on the first pass then go to the bowl for the rest of the passes. I think I would like to face lather for all the passes but I can't figure out how to keep loading my brush for the additional passes without lathering in a bowl. I feel like I am wasting to much soap going back to the mug for each pass. My wife bought a great lathering bowl. It is an oriental style ceramic bowl. It is very thin and I like to rest it in the sink between passes. the hot water heats up the lather very nicely. So I guess that is why I still like to use the bowl.
