Discovered a new tweak

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brothers
Posts: 21507
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Discovered a new tweak

Post by brothers »

New to me but probably old hat to others. Since my fellow cavemen invented the brush and the multi-pass shave, I've been re-lathering the whiskers between passes with the brush just as I have been taught. Yesterday I accidentally forgot to re-lather and conducted all 3 of my passes in one sweeping pass up/down/sideways, etc. (Really did forget - loaded the brush on the soap for 15 seconds, built the lather on the face, and shaved. Then I picked up the forgotten brush to rinse it, and only then did I realize I only put one coat of lather on the face.) I did splash a couple of drops of tap water on my face when it felt a bit dry, all on auto pilot. So today I did it again, on purpose this time, using the DE razor and blade as is my habit. Worked! The slickness and cushion inherent in the soap - Mike's Natural Lime - came right back and the result was just as expected. Eureka! Onward and upward.
Last edited by brothers on Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
CMur12
Posts: 7457
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:41 pm
Location: Moses Lake, Washington, USA

Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by CMur12 »

That's interesting, Gary. I have done that with Oliveology and you have reported doing it with brushless creams, but my brush-built lather hasn't seemed to last that long. This could be because I favor a wetter lather, but I'm not sure.

Do you do anything different when you build your lather to this effect?

- Murray
brothers
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Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
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Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by brothers »

CMur12 wrote:That's interesting, Gary. I have done that with Oliveology and you have reported doing it with brushless creams, but my brush-built lather hasn't seemed to last that long. This could be because I favor a wetter lather, but I'm not sure.

Do you do anything different when you build your lather to this effect?

- Murray
No Murray, come to think of it, I just load it and apply it as usual on the first go around. It's a weird feeling seeing the beautiful 15 seconds of lather going down the drain, except that is an illusion because it always goes down the drain 100% of the time anyway. So nothing's changed other than the elimination of my superfluous re-lathering machinations. I've only been fooling myself! :)
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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fallingwickets
Clive the Thumb
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Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by fallingwickets »

Ive tweaked too. For what seems like forever, I always used an ultra dry lather, but recently Ive progressed(?) to using a wetter brush and I must say that I'm really enjoying the results. I'm still. trying to figure out what happened. Maybe the skin composition changed with age (like eyesight) and effected the lather dynamic? Lather was always more than enough for one pass and then out of the blue, by the time I got to my upper lip, the lather had dried into the skin. Im glad it happened, because a wetter lather seems to up the experience quite considerably for me, especially with soaps like MdC

clive
de gustibus non est disputandum
brothers
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Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by brothers »

Clive, is it still working for you as well as it did 6 months ago? I'm happy to report that switching to a single pass has become a pleasant habit for me now.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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JayTrek
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Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:38 am
Location: Decatur, AL

Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by JayTrek »

I have to relather. If I have too much water in the face...my blade starts skipping.

Not fun.
Regards,
Jason

Upon Further Review...
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BPman
Posts: 414
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Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by BPman »

brothers wrote:New to me but probably old hat to others. Since my fellow cavemen invented the brush and the multi-pass shave, I've been re-lathering the whiskers between passes with the brush just as I have been taught. Yesterday I accidentally forgot to re-lather and conducted all 3 of my passes in one sweeping pass up/down/sideways, etc...

How could you forget to relather? Are you shaving in the dark? :?:
brothers
Posts: 21507
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Re: Discovered a new tweak

Post by brothers »

BPman wrote:
brothers wrote:New to me but probably old hat to others. Since my fellow cavemen invented the brush and the multi-pass shave, I've been re-lathering the whiskers between passes with the brush just as I have been taught. Yesterday I accidentally forgot to re-lather and conducted all 3 of my passes in one sweeping pass up/down/sideways, etc...

How could you forget to relather? Are you shaving in the dark? :?:
It really did happen, and I think it was the result of some distraction and sub conscious self-evaluation on my part. From that day to this, I have permanently stopped re-lathering. I just splash some water and if I've got the right soap or cream the follow-up latherless experience is totally efficient. Having the right razor and blade helps a whole lot too.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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