Both Simpsons and Kent advised me to...

[jww]

Martin I use a circular motion because that makes the best lather for me. Damage has yet to appear on brushes I've used for years so I'm not worried.

+1

I too, got all discombobulated when I received my Duke2 last spring and thought I was killing my brushes softly by swirling, so I tried the paintbrush method, and actually have to admit that I simply just do whatever I need to in order to produce a good lather. Very fast paintbrush strokes after swirling and mashing seems to put a nice finishing touch on the lather application, but it's not my main lathering stroke, that's for sure. ymmv.

[divotmax]

Can anybody make lather in a bowl without using a circular swirling motion?

[jww]

Can anybody make lather in a bowl without using a circular swirling motion?

If you face lather, does it matter? Just sayin'.

[brothers]

It's been a while since I took up bowl lathering and stopped face lathering. Who's to say I might not go back again, however. Back to the subject, another question would be: Can anybody face-lather from start to finish without using a circular swirling motion? I think swirling is involved in both. After I've finished with building the lather in the bowl, and start transferring lather onto the face, I use a lot of paintbrush activity, but not 100%. Probably 75/25 in favor of painting on the face, and a full 100% swirling and pumping the brush in the bowl. I can't recall using a paintbrush motion in the bowl.

[fallingwickets]

there are members here who proclaim to be 100% 'painters' I keep asking for video of this incredible feat, but none has ever been posted

clive

[Squire]

I expect there may be a few closet painters as well Clive but we mustn't be judgmental.

[Raze R. Blade]

I have almost always used paintbrush strokes for no particular reason. It is what I did when first starting traditional wetshaving, it worked, and so I had not reason to change.

It stands to reason that both Simpsons and Kent know far more than most folks about shaving brushes. If they say that circular motions are bad for the brush, then that would settle the matter. Neither Simpsons nor Kent would make such a statement without good reason, right? It does beg one question, however. If circular motions are bad for the brush, what about lathering soap in a mug? Isn't that pretty much the same as face lathering or applying lather with a circular motion?

It might be that worrying over such details is over-thinking things just a bit. It's your shave, so why not just do it the way you like? The brush will wear out many moons from now no matter what one does.

[Squire]

Quite true, I have larger issues than brush life.

[brothers]

We can get it settled once and for all. We take two badger hairs and hook them up to a couple of simple little machines, one going back and forth and the other around in circles. Then we set the timer and see which one breaks in two first. I think Simpsons and Kent would not be making these declarations in the absence of this scientific testing results. Maybe if I ever get a Simpson brush, maybe I'll slavishly follow my orders and not make the hairs go around and around. I presume Omega, TGN, Plisson, Shavemac, Thater, Semogue, Vulfix, etc., do not care which way my brush hairs move because I've not received any such mandates from them, nor have I witnessed any brush failures. Kent's instructions, on the other hand I have personally proven to be untrue, just as every single person who has posted here. There have been no written reports of brush failure due to incorrect directional hair movement. I have three Kent brushes and no "brush failures" to report. It's all lies, I say!

[Squire]

I blame the communists.

[Johnny]

This has been an interesting read. After 50+ years of wet shaving I actually had to pay attention this morning to just how I was lathering. My policy has always been, if it feels good, do it. Well when loading hard soap I use circle motion lightly and just load the tips of the brush. When I apply that to my wet face I use short choppy paint strokes and when I get what I want I then use a light paint stroke to smooth out the lather. When using a shave stick, I just apply the damp brush to my face and use the same short choppy paint strokes to build the lather. No actual circle motions on my face, just in the brush loading process. Same holds true when I am using a cream and building a lather in a bowl.

[Squire]

So far I haven't lost any sleep over it.

[gil3591]

i do circular and finish with a paint brush stroke with each application. circular is rewarding,sensually, but paint brush strokes seem to unload the lather better.

[Squire]

Pretty much the way I use a brush as well.

[M6Classic]

I have always used straight back and forth strokes for building and applying lather. I used one brush exclusively and it was going strong when I replaced it after thirty-five years.

Buzz

[bernards66]

Bob, Actually you can make good lather in a bowl ( with cream ) by using just back-and-forth paintbrush type strokes....not that I normally bother, you understand, I did it just to see if I could. With hard soap it would be more difficult I think. I use only paintbrush type strokes on my face, not because I'm overly concerned about brush longevity but because my skin seems to be more comfortable with that approach. Now, if Buzz was into swirling his brush around that Plisson probably would have only given him 25, not 35 years of service ( chuckle ). As someone pointed out earlier, I do think that brutally mashing the brush down on the face and then swirling it about would break down the bristle markedly faster but the early version 'method' shavers said they didn't care....and they were all using high end big Simpsons. Whatever works for you.
Regards,
Gordon

[jww]

Motivated by this thread, I have been "experimenting" with my lathering technique, and I actually think that I got this paintbrush thing figured out. I still rely heavily on swirling about for the initial suds up ... but have found that I can use this rather fast back-and-forth paintbrush stroke and it does quite a good job of applying lather. I add a smidgen of water to the brush each pass, and have been quite impressed with the actual quality and quantity of lather. The faster I go -- to a point -- the better the lather production.

I would still say that I use a hybrid stroke --- with the swirl and back-and-forth paintbrush ..... I think, to be fair, I may have been doing this for some time now, but didn't really realize fully what I was doing. ymmv, obviously.

[bernards66]

Wendell, Ah then!...you see? 'Paintbrush' type strokes do indeed work quite well once you get it down. In some ways they produce a better lather on the face I think. Again, I really got into this style mainly because vigorous circular strokes seemed to somewhat annoy my skin, but I've never felt cheated in the lather department doing it this way.
Regards,
Gordon

[jww]

Gordon, as always, you are quite correct.

[brothers]

Applying a nice rich lather to the face I have noticed is a paint process pretty much exclusively.