Italian Barber/Marco Method of Lathering

NeilJ

NeilJ

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602
Location
North Wales
I've been shaving with DE's since 2008 so consider myself reasonably experienced and a decent face and bowl latherer. During my furloughing I have been getting to grips with a Feather Artist Club SS Folding with I am very much enjoying and getting superb BBS shaves almost every day. One thing I did notice was that this type of shaving seems to prefer a slightly wetter lather and it made me realise that I had probably been under hydrating my lathers a touch as they were not rinsing off the AC blade easily.

I came across 'The Marco Method' somewhere online, I had never heard of it before and thought I would give it a try. For those who don't know, you soak the brush and just let the water fall out by gravity before taking the brush to the soap, no squeezing or flicking water out. I've tried it with Cella, MWF, Tabac, Proraso and DR Harris soaps and have had fantastic slick, hydrated lathers with plenty for 3 passes and more. I have bowl lathered using this method mainly as it can get a bit messy. Yes you do use up a lot of soap but hey we've all got too many soaps to use up haven't we. The harder the soap the longer I load, I usually load until I feel the brush dragging a little bit on the top of the puck.

I was just wondering if any other forum members use this lathering method?
 
NeilJ said:
I've been shaving with DE's since 2008 so consider myself reasonably experienced and a decent face and bowl latherer. During my furloughing I have been getting to grips with a Feather Artist Club SS Folding with I am very much enjoying and getting superb BBS shaves almost every day. One thing I did notice was that this type of shaving seems to prefer a slightly wetter lather and it made me realise that I had probably been under hydrating my lathers a touch as they were not rinsing off the AC blade easily.

I came across 'The Marco Method' somewhere online, I had never heard of it before and thought I would give it a try. For those who don't know, you soak the brush and just let the water fall out by gravity before taking the brush to the soap, no squeezing or flicking water out. I've tried it with Cella, MWF, Tabac, Proraso and DR Harris soaps and have had fantastic slick, hydrated lathers with plenty for 3 passes and more. I have bowl lathered using this method mainly as it can get a bit messy. Yes you do use up a lot of soap but hey we've all got too many soaps to use up haven't we. The harder the soap the longer I load, I usually load until I feel the brush dragging a little bit on the top of the puck.

I was just wondering if any other forum members use this lathering method?
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I've recently started to do this lathering method..I live in a hard water area, which some soaps can be a little bit trying to get a good lather, putting 'The Marco Method' in pratice with a synthetic brush has gave me excellent results,I've experimented using palm,face & bowl lathering and all have been successful..It's a great excuse to use up the excessive amount of soaps i have in my shaving den.
 
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I think the Marco Method is a really good way of lathering for beginners as for a lot of us at the start of the hobby have inferior lathers as we don't use enough water or enough soap and with the MM it ensures you use a lot of both and have a good lather, it brought me some great results at the start of my hobby for sure.

And there's no reason why it shouldn't be used by those further on into the hobby, like PFox suggested to use up soaps.

Personally, however I'm getting to a stage where I am trying to avoid loading up too much soap as I find the more soap I load, the more water it will require and the longer it will take to build a lather. The downside is my soaps seem to last even longer than they do normally (one day I will finish another soap!).
 
How long do you let the brush drain for? Does it work the same for both hard and soft soaps? And is it the same for synths and natural fibres?

I am always in to new ways to improve my lather as sometimes I seem a little inconsistent. Then again I find even soaps from the same 'family' change. Some love water, some don't.

Thank you for sharing something away from the norm and I look forward to trying.
 
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Satanfriendly said:
How long do you let the brush drain for? Does it work the same for both hard and soft soaps? And is it the same for synths and natural fibres?

I am always in to new ways to improve my lather as sometimes I seem a little inconsistent. Then again I find even soaps from the same 'family' change. Some love water, some don't.

Thank you for sharing something away from the norm and I look forward to trying.
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I soak the brush in a jar whilst in the shower then take it out and let the water fall out by gravity over the sink until it stops dripping then take it to the soap and using only very light pressure (no splaying) swirl for required time. I've only been trying this method for a week so still dialling in how long to swirl the brush on the soap for. As a rough guide I swirl for about a minute for softer soaps like Cella, 2 and a half mins for Tabac and 3 mins for something like Pré de Provence or DR Harris. I do sprinkle a few droplets of water on the soap to soften whilst in the shower.

I was actually really surprised how much water soaps actually need. I used this method with MWF and got the slickest lather I've ever had out of any soap ever, the blade just slid over my face and is the reason I'm really going to try and master this method.

I've only tried it with badgers and boars as I don't use synths now but I've read it works well with synths too.

I've been trying a lot of practice lathers to get an idea of how long to load the brush for. I think it's like everything, the more you do it and understand the soap it'll come naturally
 
Thank you very much and at least I have some kind of a guideline. I shall give it a whirl on my next shave.

Most appreciated and I shall report back as to how it played out and what I found to be best. Perhaps more so as I am totally a totally synthetic man.. ......a silcon life form.

Another tick in a box I hope
 
I'd be really interested to hear how you get on using this method, there are a few videos on YouTube to give you an idea. I quite enjoy testing out new techniques as it keep this hobby fresh.
 
I've been using this method for a while, being Italian myself and having learned from my barber back when I was living in Italy. I soak the boar and give it a very tiny squeeze. I would say that if the brush soaked contains 100% of water, I would squeeze it to remove about 20% of it. I then start loading for a while until the initial squeaky and bubbly foam become thicker. I do not press/smash the brush on the soap. Just swirl. The next step is to lather the face and add just a bit of water (few drips) ever now and then to get the right consistency. I find this method to work very well for me when I'm using my boars and a hard soap or a croap. However, I don't use this method when using a synthetic brush as I don't feel the need to (my personal opinion).
 
Danielsan87 said:
I've been using this method for a while, being Italian myself and having learned from my barber back when I was living in Italy. I soak the boar and give it a very tiny squeeze. I would say that if the brush soaked contains 100% of water, I would squeeze it to remove about 20% of it. I then start loading for a while until the initial squeaky and bubbly foam become thicker. I do not press/smash the brush on the soap. Just swirl. The next step is to lather the face and add just a bit of water (few drips) ever now and then to get the right consistency. I find this method to work very well for me when I'm using my boars and a hard soap or a croap. However, I don't use this method when using a synthetic brush as I don't feel the need to (my personal opinion).
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Yes this method works well too and is roughly what I did before, I've never been one to flick water out of my brushes. The only risk using this Marco Method is if you don't load your brush with enough soap as it will end up too watery which is why I'm airing on the side of caution until I get used to it and loading plenty. I have found boar brushes to work slightly better than badgers up until now but I'm still experimenting with loading times.
 
I've just had a shave with MWF using this method with a Simpson Captain 2 and whipped up a fantastic lather, I actually had to sprinkle a few drips extra into my bowl after the first pass. It's surprising how much water these soaps can take.

Fortunately I've never had a problem lathering MWF but for those who struggle I think this could be a great way of getting the best out of this top performing soap.
 
Tried this method this evening using my wee barrel white/grey synthetic brush and Captain Fawcett's soap. The soap is particularly hard and very thirsty usually needing a bloom prior to use.

Soaked the brush for some five minutes or so then let it drip out. No problem at all picking up the soap and whipping up a lather in a bowl. Possibly a bit too much water remained in the brush and it did end up looking like an Arko comical lather. Transferred to my face, a bit of face lathering and everything seemed to click in to place and actually on the face a very usable medium.

One great shave with the new General V2.

There is plenty of scope for improvement and playing around, but for a first time out I am rather impressed with the results for something which cost nothing but time and patience. Certainly removed the blooming aspect. Did it use any more soap than normal? Debatable.

A bit of experimentation and I am sure I'll find a happy medium.

Everyday is a school day as they say

Thanks @NeilJ
 
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