Nannys soaps

E

Evan

Joined
Friday December 14, 2012
Bought myself some old grey bristle test from nannys and have to say having just shaved with it, I tore myself to ribbons

Just could not get a decent lather going at all.

Any ideas ?. My water is on the hard side

Never had any probelms with any other soaps or creams

TOBS, Crabtree and Evelyn, body shop or proraso
 
Just received some Old Grey Bristle test from Sharon, along with some Scotch Pine, have not used either yet, but have used lot's of other soaps made by Sharon & they always perform extremely well, very slick & I rarely get any nicks ..... Could be the water, my water is very soft & all soaps lather well here. Just may may a question of getting the soap to water ratio just right ? Let us know how you get on.
 
I have had a similar problem, but I have just got the sample splodges so was putting it down to their awkwardness to use because of the bag etc. I tried today tearing the bag open and taking the brush to it that way. Was slightly better
 
I've found (so far...still improving with this) that firstly it helps to shake a bit more water out of my brush than I would with say, a TOBS or Proraso. Next I use my finger behind the brush to actually get a smear of the soap on the brush, then face lather as usual. If I lather it my usual way it ends up too watery, but doing it this way it's fine and gives a nice rich lather.
 
Shake the brush out well then load it, then go to your bowl or face & add water slowly until you have the lather you prefer.

I face lather so after loading the brush I wet my face then get lathering. when I need to add water I spread the knot open with my fingers then drip water into the knot, again with my fingers. This worked for me when i lived in a hard water area.
 
I have exactly the same soap and also ran into trouble trying to get a good lather at first. I have since transferred it to a bigger container, a 9cm tin, which makes it much easier to load the brush as the stock jar is quite small/narrow. I personally found that starting with a wetter than usual brush makes it easier to build up a lather, although it still itakes a bit of time. In any case, the result is a very protective, slick lather that works a treat.

I think that if you persevere you will end up liking it a lot, and the scent is heavenly!
 
FrankieG said:
I have exactly the same soap and also ran into trouble trying to get a good lather at first. I have since transferred it to a bigger container, a 9cm tin, which makes it much easier to load the brush as the stock jar is quite small/narrow. I personally found that starting with a wetter than usual brush makes it easier to build up a lather, although it still itakes a bit of time. In any case, the result is a very protective, slick lather that works a treat.

I think that if you persevere you will end up liking it a lot, and the scent is heavenly!
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This!

The bigger bowl works. First try I couldn't get a lather... yesterday it was like my own private foam party
 
I'm glad I'm not alone, it took me a few attempts to get a decent lather. I do find you need to start with a drier brush than normal, no idea why, then add water as you are lathering.

I don't know why starting with a wet brush doesn't seem to work as well.

Once you have it mastered you will have more luxorious lather than you know what to do with.
 
I find the product/water ratio required for a good lather with Nanny's (hard) soaps to be more critical than most of the other soaps I have tried. I sometimes find that by the third pass, what with all the water I have splashed on my face between passes and the time this has taken, that the lather can be a little thinner than when I started.

Despite this, I still think it is a very good product.
 
This is the reason ive not yet tried "Artisan" hard soaps yet , there does seem to be a bit of hit and miss with them , from what ive read , also they do seem to be often more expensive than the more established brands !!
 
I've used most of Nanny's soap flavours, in fact I use one of them every day, and all of them are super soapy without exception...
Our water is soft, and I face lather straight from the soap...Wet the brush, half squeeze the water out, swirl the brush on the soap cake and away we go...super lather...
 
I find the two hard soaps I have so far tried from Nanny's very easy to lather. I have a couple of jars of soft soap which are in my reserves. I will take on board the comments here when I get round to trying them including transfering to a larger container.
Hard soaps are good value 140g blocks around the £6.50 range even less with this months discount offer.

Brian
 
I have three Nannys hard soaps and they all lather beautifully (though I am in a soft water area).

I also have a soft soap and find that works well if I smear a dollop on the bottom of my scuttle.
 
Lose the beard said:
I'm glad I'm not alone, it took me a few attempts to get a decent lather. I do find you need to start with a drier brush than normal, no idea why, then add water as you are lathering.

I don't know why starting with a wet brush doesn't seem to work as well.

Once you have it mastered you will have more luxorious lather than you know what to do with.
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A very big +1 on using a dryer than usual brush to start with and add water as you go.

I cannot stress this bit enough. TRANSFER IT TO A BIGGER CONTAINER.

I live round the corner from Nanny and have been her guinea pig/lab rat for the last couple of months for the purpose of developing her new marzipan soap. Sharon will back me up here in that initial results were not brilliant and I tried lots of different things to improve the situation. I then remembered the problem I had with Cella (little red tub) I transferred it to a bigger tub and Mr Whippy appeared on my brush and the water round here is as hard as nails.

This is why, as Paul says a smear in a bowl works great for non face latherer's.
 
mrlimbo said:
This is the reason ive not yet tried "Artisan" hard soaps yet , there does seem to be a bit of hit and miss with them , from what ive read , also they do seem to be often more expensive than the more established brands !!
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Hi there,

Over the years I've bought lots of small vendor soaps in similar situations as like what Toots does. The vast majority have been problem free, when the stuff's made by experienced people and not as an experiment.

Usually I noticed the pricing is low when compared to the large companies...sometimes extremely low. Tough for me to recall anyone selling their soap for $20 a pop. I can recommend a few soapmakers and mention others that are now extinct. A number of these soaps are pretty damn good at any price point.

To me you're kinda limiting yourself by not at least trying some home made items. Steve's Bay Rum is another good example of something done really well, no matter what it costs.

Anyway, it's just how things seem to me. Everyone has their own druthers.

Martin
 
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