Lather Tutorial ~ Hard Soap

Great writeup, now feel a bit more confidant to order a hard soap as been using cream for about 4weeks now.

Just a quick question though, when you're loading your brush in the soap, do you then wash the lather from the soap before putting it away?
I'm sure you do but just want clarification.
 
So, after all that we're going to call it a "Round". Great, then the slice off the top of a stick is a 'round' too.
Worked up a 'Lather' just thinking about it!
 
You should rinse the brush out thoroughly removing all soap residue after use, a couple of shakes and a towel rub to remove excess water and allow to dry.
 
I'm a believer!

All hail, antdad!

One rather excellent tutorial and my shave this morning was as none before it - the smoothest, closest most pleasant. My shaving experience transformed!
 
Blyth Spirit said:
This tutorial was the catalyst for my conversion from the easier cream, face lathering option. Good soap lather takes the shave to an altogether higher level, in my humble opinion.

The point is also well made, by Antdad, about the cheaper Wilky brush; I keep banging on about it but, once broken in, it is a top performer. Don't dismiss it to soon.

+1 on the Wilko brush.

The setup I keep at the girlfriend's includes what I consider a damn near perfect setup for me: Black handled SS, Astra Platinums, Wilko brush, Palmolive stick re-milled into a D E Harris mahogany bowl, and an Old Spice shaving mug (with lid!). At some point I may swap out the soap (it's running out anyway), but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it.

The Wilko is, for the money and with a proper soak, one of the best brushes going.
 
A couple of questions for you, Ken TM, if you'd be so kind.

What is a black handle SS, please?

How do you 're-mill' one shaving soap into another bowl?

I now have my Edwin Jagger puck - and cake of EJ soap rattling around in a cylindrical, plastic, lidded tub. I find this very unsatisfactory, especially as the plastic tub costs an extra £3.00 over a refill cake.

So I'd like to buy a mahogany bowl and re-mill the EJ cakes into it so I finish up with a soap dish that looks like the one in AntDad's photo at the beginning of this thread.
Or
Is there a bowl designed to accept EJ cakes snuggly, does anyone know?
 
Bechet45 said:
A couple of questions for you, Ken TM, if you'd be so kind.

1. What is a black handle SS, please?

2. How do you 're-mill' one shaving soap into another bowl?

I now have my Edwin Jagger puck - and cake of EJ soap rattling around in a cylindrical, plastic, lidded tub. I find this very unsatisfactory, especially as the plastic tub costs an extra £3.00 over a refill cake.

So I'd like to buy a mahogany bowl and re-mill the EJ cakes into it so I finish up with a soap dish that looks like the one in AntDad's photo at the beginning of this thread.
Or
Is there a bowl designed to accept EJ cakes snuggly, does anyone know?

But of course! Only too happy to be of help:

1. Black handled Super Speed Gillette (not to be confused with the Black Tip Super Speed). My favourite razor:

1966+Gillette+Super+Speed+Black+Handle+Silver+Tip.JPG


EDIT: Apologies for the tatty example in the pic - it was the only one I could find which would upload to the board...

2. Use a medium cheese grater. No, really. Then pack the soap shavings into the desired bowl a small handful at a time, squeezing out the air. The soap will take the shape of the bowl quite easily, as most soaps are surprisingly malleable when grated. Better than nuking it in the microwave, for sure.
 
Thanks for that, Ken.

Super Speed! should have guessed.

I think medium grated EJ soap into a wooden bowl of choice is going to be the most economical way to go but I await a quote from Hampshire Wood-Turners Association - well, see if anybody wants the commission first - for a tailor made bowl so the EJ refills just fit snugly into it. I've asked for Rosewood or Kingwwod.

These grandiose ideas all seem to have started with the white LEDs illuminating my re-fitted bathroom and a rather swish suite - "uber chic" B&Q describe it. It's so wonderful to be able to see in a bathroom. That, and the pleasure of an improving technique.
 
Bechet45 said:
I think medium grated EJ soap into a wooden bowl of choice is going to be the most economical way to go but I await a quote from Hampshire Wood-Turners Association - well, see if anybody wants the commission first - for a tailor made bowl so the EJ refills just fit snugly into it. I've asked for Rosewood or Kingwwod.

Hi there,

Couple thoughts about the EJ soap and what kinda bowl to use might be in order here. Yeah, I have the Sea Buckthorn, which is a nice fruity mango-like scent.

It's a small puck, being just over 2 ounces, and a fitted bowl might well be a pain to lather with as far as the mess goes. I really don't know, but it's something to consider. Personally, I prefer a bit of room to work my brush around in whatever the puck's stuck to.

Most soaps I have are in 2 cup Pyrex cups with plastic lids. I heat a little water to boiling to get the bottom real hot, pour out the water and stick the puck to the bowl. Works out pretty well for me. The other thing you might try would be to rub the puck on your face for maybe a minute. Then shake your brush out just a little less than usual and try face lathering. Give it a minute or two, adding little dribbles of hot water to the brush as needed. That kinda lathering works very well for me. I don't believe there's a need to do any milling or grating when using these methods instead.

Anyway, it's something to think about,

Martin

The pictured puck is Rivivage, which is about the same size as the EJ product.
 

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The plot thickens!

It seems, dodgy, you use the method I originally thought was "the" way to create lather from a cake of soap - cake in shaving bowl, atttack vigorously with brush, create lather. But then I found AntDad's tutorial and discovered how to load the brush from the cake (in it's own dish/bowl/puck) and then work up a lather in the shaving bowl.

This side of the pond no-one sells a puck, only shaving bowls and soap-in-a-bowl. Should have realised (-ized) that if there are two ways of doing something there will be ten options in TSR!

Having practiced AntDad's tutorial method for a whole two mornings, I must say I like it - but will add face lathering to the process, freshen the lather, as it were.

I'm much impressed as I discover the various sub-groups of DE shavers, if over-lapping, contiguous circles can be called sub-groups. Perhaps highly individualistic folk with an occassional shared practice suits TSR better.
 
New soap users tend to start with too much water and not enough soap so the tutorial is a back to basics grounding of building lather from scratch with a dry brush while slowly hydrating the lather, with practice you'll be doing it in no time, identifying any problems early and adding your own twist on proceedings. I need to update the tutorial but as you mentioned it, my routine starts by face lathering and then moving to the bowl to create more lather for the second pass...keeps everything warm civilised for the second pass.
 
Many thanks for the tutorial, and I use a hard C&E soap and the same WS brush - I squeeze and shake the brush, and I can load until I'm blue in the face and I NEVER get an amount of lather like that. Not even half of that. Actually, for my second pass I usually quickly load the tips again and face lather to get a better layer of protection. Any of you fine gents able to offer some advice?
 
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