Video : How to lather a soft italian shaving soap.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:12 pm

Aaron, if a lather appears over whipped, thin or frothy it contains too much water. Get the water ratio correct and there is no difference in the density of lather however it's made.

Essentially we use a wet brush to whip air into the soap/cream using water to bind the air and soap/cream together into a lather.

When I remove a new cake of soap from its box I place it in a bowl shaped container with about three to four times more volume of empty space above the soap. I then build lather directly on the surface of the soap and within the bowl.

When using cream I place a small amount (half teaspoon or so) in the empty bowl and build the lather using a wet brush, again within the confines of the bowl.

Lather comes out the same either way.

matt321 · Post by **matt321** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:26 pm

+1

I've always found the amount of added water to be key.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:58 am

Also quite true when building the lather on the face. I've found it better, though, when I start with a pretty wet brush and can avoid the necessity of adding more water during the process. I'm finding it's too easy to get too much water when I have to go back and add water more than maybe once, after I've already got the lather going.

Aaron622 · Post by **Aaron622** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 8:41 pm

Well, I would argue that bowl lathering is conducive to adding too much water because the bowl can hold as much water as you add. Plus if you start with a dry brush and slowly add water, you are constantly whipping air in as well. Obviously, YMMV.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:21 pm

Aaron, why would you use a dry brush?

Aaron622 · Post by **Aaron622** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:30 am

Squire wrote:Aaron, why would you use a dry brush?

Squire, beats the hell out of me, but people do it all the time. By dry I mean a brush that has all the water squeezed out of it (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDwoK6t_ ... re=related related to the original one).

Aaron

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 8:07 am

He sure did, I just watched the video. Apparently he is satisfied with that method.

Teiste · Post by **Teiste** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:44 am

Squire wrote:He sure did, I just watched the video. Apparently he is satisfied with that method.

And I am too.And to be honest,dont really like to make lather on a bowl at all,even when I made it for so many years.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:16 am

Thanks for the video Teiste, visuals are always interesting.