Bowl lathering - excess lather

[Fido]

I heard an observation on one of the many videos which said "the lather is in the brush, not the bowl"
If this is the case, what is the point in generating huge amounts of lather in a bowl? Does it serve any useful purpose? Is it not possible to make sufficient lather for three or four passes within the brush without creating too much excess. Is a lot of lather a sign of too much water being used?

 

[Frederick]

I definitely believe a lather can be over-whipped when using a bowl. I want to shave with a slick coat of lather on my beard which really lubricates the shave and protects my face.I don't see the point of generating a mountain of lather: most of it is just air not cream. And as beard hairs extend only a few mm, why do we need an inch thick lather, the so-called rabid dog look?

 

[Pete]

Experience with your brush and soap will sort it out, I would always prefer to waste a bit than run out.

 

[rangers62]

I definitely believe a lather can be over-whipped when using a bowl. I want to shave with a slick coat of lather on my beard which really lubricates the shave and protects my face.I don't see the point of generating a mountain of lather: most of it is just air not cream. And as beard hairs extend only a few mm, why do we need an inch thick lather, the so-called rabid dog look?

I concur. I know it is totally a personal choice, but, why make your lather in a bowl when you can make it on your face and help soften the beard and condition your skin at the same time.

Regards

 

[Pig Cat]

I definitely believe a lather can be over-whipped when using a bowl. I want to shave with a slick coat of lather on my beard which really lubricates the shave and protects my face.I don't see the point of generating a mountain of lather: most of it is just air not cream. And as beard hairs extend only a few mm, why do we need an inch thick lather, the so-called rabid dog look?

I know it is totally a personal choice, but, why make your lather in a bowl when you can make it on your face and help soften the beard and condition your skin at the same time.

I agree with both these comments. I've never quite understood the need to produce mountains of lather when most of it ends up down the sink. Even when I face-lather I end up with excess left in the brush that I squeeze out after my shave. Also, too much lather on the face just covers the razor up and you end up having to rinse it a lot. On B&B there is a lot of emphasis on the amount of lather guys can produce. I would suggest that this has some Freudian basis to it but I am not sufficiently educated to back up this claim.

 

[hunnymonster]

I've never quite understood the need to produce mountains of lather when most of it ends up down the sink.

It's the Colman's Mustard business model - Jeremiah Colman said (back in the day) that his profit was formed from the excess mustard left on the side of the plate, not that which was consumed. Perhaps those over-latherers have bought into a similar model of consumption from the soap & cream manufacturers :lol: (It would never have happened in the War...)

 

[Fido]

I definitely believe a lather can be over-whipped when using a bowl. I want to shave with a slick coat of lather on my beard which really lubricates the shave and protects my face.I don't see the point of generating a mountain of lather: most of it is just air not cream. And as beard hairs extend only a few mm, why do we need an inch thick lather, the so-called rabid dog look?

I concur. I know it is totally a personal choice, but, why make your lather in a bowl when you can make it on your face and help soften the beard and condition your skin at the same time.

Regards

Since switching to this 'hobby' world of shaving my approach is to enjoy what I am doing and to try popular techniques and products before deciding what is right for me. I actually enjoy using a bowl, particularly for creams and that is why I do it. There is no rational case for it as far as I can see. As for soaps, I suspect I will soon switch to face lathering to avoid the need for what feels like two lots of lathering before getting to work on my face.

 

[sonny]

My Bowl/mug contains the lather. I'm not sue if my brush can 'hold' 3-4 passes worth of lather all by itself. Also, the bowl keeps the lather/brush warmer than if the brush was standing on it's own. As a noob, i go slow and the brush would definately lose it's temperature if standing on it's own. With a bowl, i can place it in a small container full of hot water, or in a sink full of hot water, which heats the bottom of the bowl, and therefore the lather.

After shaving, i put away the bowl with my pre-shave oil and cream all inside it. The bathroom looks a lil tidier too - as less items can be seen. It's a small bathroom.

For some reason, i can't come to terms with having the concentrated shaving cream go directly from the brush onto my face. I need it to be 'diluted' with the water from the brush IN A BOWL/MUG first. Kinda stupid considering my gillette shave gel days where i had no bowl and use to slap that stuff directly on my face.

I have a bad case of OCD.

 

[fozz77]

I definitely believe a lather can be over-whipped when using a bowl. I want to shave with a slick coat of lather on my beard which really lubricates the shave and protects my face.I don't see the point of generating a mountain of lather: most of it is just air not cream. And as beard hairs extend only a few mm, why do we need an inch thick lather, the so-called rabid dog look?

I concur 100% Frederick.

I face lather whatever im using. The advantages are you are massaging your beard/face & the product is on the beard for longer. It also means less product can be used I am not lathering twice & have less to clean up.

All the brushes i own hold enough for 3 passes & a touch up, easily.

However, the name of the game is enjoyment.

 

[Arrowhead]

However, the name of the game is enjoyment.

That, I think, is the key to it, otherwise we'd all be using electric shavers. If there's no need to hurry, sometimes knocking up a bowlful of lather is a pleasant thing to do in itself and makes a change from face lathering. But I do agree that it tends to be wasteful.
I think that I may have converted one of my friends to using cream rather than canned foam the other night by showing him how easy it is to make a lot of lather in a bowl; at any rate he immediately asked me to get him a big Omega brush. The point being that using a bowl (and a cream) is an easy way to start out for someone who's used to the ready-made stuff.

 

[Frederick]

Forgot to mention that I do start the lather in the palm of my hand. This is just to get it going, to mix the blob of cream with, say, a teaspoon or two of water. Most of the lathering does happen on my face, but the 'hand phase' increases the overall lather volume contained in the brush for subsequent passes.
With soaps, there is no blob to be mixed, as the soap covers all the tips of the hairs evenly. But I do the palm thing just the same to increase the volume a little.

Of course, this is a little messy: one of your hands get covered in lather. I do, however, rub this 'proto-lather' into my beard prior to lathering up with my brush, sort of as a pre-shave. Works very well.

 

[Audiolab]

Most days I face lather and this is why I moved to using just a brush scuttle most days, I only use a bowl when using creams now. I find the extra time spent building the lather on the face than in a bowl helps my shave a lot. I tend to use the stiffer brushes on the puck soaps and the silvertips with shave sticks. For me it works well.

 

[SoapAlchemist]

One reason I heard for wanting a big lather was from a barber who bought a bowl of my soap. He specialises in doing the main men for weddings. Apparently they like to have pictures taken of themselves, presumably replicating some sort of wild west barber shop set up. They like to have a lot of lather on the face for that.
Other than that, I am informed by my shaving consultant that the important thing is lubrication, not lather. It is possible to get better lubrication from a soap that doesn't give a huge lather, so the two do not necessarily equate.

 

[henkverhaar]

I agree with both these comments. I've never quite understood the need to produce mountains of lather when most of it ends up down the sink.

Err, because quality and quantity (of lather) (unfortunately for some ;-) ) go hand in hand? Most soaps need a good whipping to get to the stage where the lather is wet and stable enough to lubricate and last on the face. Most soaps will then also generate that 'mountain' of lather. The only way out of that is to lather on the cake, rather than in a bowl, as this will create a finely aerated cream rather than a lather. Drawback of that is that you will use up your soap even faster...

Henk

 

[SoapAlchemist]

Unfortunately for some once again Henk and I must disagree; some soaps will give a lot of lather but still not have the lubricating and 'slip' qualities of a soap that might have less lather - IMHO.

 

[rangers62]

Unfortunately for some once again Henk and I must disagree; some soaps will give a lot of lather but still not have the lubricating and 'slip' qualities of a soap that might have less lather - IMHO.

Hi SA
If above is correct, wouldn't shavers be better served with a shaving oil :shock: Heresy I know! whatcha think?

Regards