Put the soap in the lather bowl?

[Diggler]

Hi, I've been lurking here but have been using the DE for over a month. I'm using Col. Conk's soap along with a Merkur HD.

I am having trouble loading up the brush and getting enough soap on it to make a good lather unless I put the soap in the bowl and work it directly with the brush. This uses up the soap pretty quickly. I may have hard water, so I'm going to give it a shot with distilled water and see if it improves things.

I was curious as to how many of you that use soap actually place it in the bowl, and how many of you load it up on the brush and do it that way? Or are you SUPPOSED to keep the soap in the bowl, and I misunderstood that you can load up the soap on the brush separately?

[Big Swifty]

Welcome to the board Diggler! may we call you Dirk?
As for your soap lathering question it depends on if you are face lathering or building lather in a lathering bowl. If you are building lather in a bowl then yes you'll want to load your brush with soap then build lather in an empty bowl until you have sufficient lather to shave with. If you build the lather on your face you can put the soap in your bowl and load up your brush the proceed to your wet face to start building lather. Alot of gents here have hard water issues (myself included) and we do have to use more product to get great lather but with patience and practice it can be done. Try a hard milled soap next time as they last a lot longer than the glycerin based soaps.

[Diggler]

I'm building it in a lathering bowl.

I'll try the distilled water next time and see if that helps, and will also try some new creams or soaps. I'm kind of looking around for something that I can buy locally; I don't want to rely on ordering from the internet all the time so I'll be trying the Bath & Body Works C.O. Bigelow line.

What is a good, recommended hard milled soap that I can try? Any other national brick and mortar stores that I could try to find these kind of products?

[Julius_Rodman]

Hi, I've been lurking here but have been using the DE for over a month. I'm using Col. Conk's soap along with a Merkur HD.

I am having trouble loading up the brush and getting enough soap on it to make a good lather unless I put the soap in the bowl and work it directly with the brush. This uses up the soap pretty quickly. I may have hard water, so I'm going to give it a shot with distilled water and see if it improves things.

I was curious as to how many of you that use soap actually place it in the bowl, and how many of you load it up on the brush and do it that way? Or are you SUPPOSED to keep the soap in the bowl, and I misunderstood that you can load up the soap on the brush separately?

For lathering in a bowl...

I run hot shower water on the soap and let it soak for a few minutes while performing other prep. I think this helps loosen/soften the soap.

I then swirl the damp brush on the soap dish at least 100 times, getting up a strong lather. Then I transfer the contents to a bowl and work it for a few minutes.

It may be a bit much soap to collect up, but I've come nowhere close to finishing off the contents of a dozen or so soaps over quite a while.

The water in my life is very hard and I haven't been foiled yet.

-------------------------------

Kent

[Big Swifty]

Diggler,
The best soaps you're likely to find in the stores are probably gonna be Art of shaving in the malls. Unless you're living close to NYC, your best bet is the internet. Most gents here use the internet because the best stuff is there. locally you can get Surrey (VDH), Williams mug soap, and some Proraso cream at Bath and body works. At the natural stores like Whole foods you can find Kiss my face creams which are pretty nice. I will suggest you hunt down and buy some Tabac soap, some T&H luxury shave soap and any scent soap from D.R. Harris. Trumpers makes good soaps too.

ps~ share were you are located and some gents in your area might chime in with a secret spot to score.

[notthesharpest]

How wet is your brush? It sounds to me like maybe you're just using far too much water.

Always look for the simple solution first. If you had hard water, you would probably already know.

[Diggler]

I updated my profile, I'm near Pittsburgh PA.

I soak my brush, then give it a single good downwards shake to get most of the water out of it.

[notthesharpest]

I updated my profile, I'm near Pittsburgh PA.

I soak my brush, then give it a single good downwards shake to get most of the water out of it.

Do other soaps work well for you? If this is the only soap you've used so far, try shaking out more water. It should lather right without having to waste it all.

[Diggler]

This is the only soap I've used so far. It just seems like I'm not picking up as much soap as I need.

I'll try less water next time. How much is enough?

[Racso_MS]

Diggler,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM...

Come often and stay long...

Also, if you will establish a signature block on your profiles, our responses to your questions will be more personal...

Every member of this forum has his own method of lathering and there are pros and cons to each. I often just load the brush with the soap and lather directly on my face. Other times, I will build the lather in a mug (usually with cream) and then apply it to my face. There is no correct method. Most here will say, "Whatever works for you , or whatever you like". Experiment and see which you prefer.

After all the object of the game is to...

Enjoy your shave...

[notthesharpest]

This is the only soap I've used so far. It just seems like I'm not picking up as much soap as I need.

I'll try less water next time. How much is enough?

Your brush is not the same as mine, and there's more than one way to get the job done, so it's impossible to give an authoritative answer. I start by thoroughly soaking my brush, then shaking most of the water out, so the whole brush is very damp but not a lot more. Then I work the damp brush on the soap a little (5 to 10 strokes is enough for me, but again your brush and your soap are not exactly the same as mine). Then I work the soapy damp brush on my dripping-wet face. If I find that my lather is too dry, I just get a few more drops of water on the brush. It doesn't take much to fix it.

Experiment - but keep in mind this is supposed to be simple and easy, and so the goal of your experiments should be to find the simple easy way to do it.

[gruffydd63]

+1 on what NTS said.

I had trouble when I first started using soaps until I started with a somewhat dry brush. If it looked like I wasn't getting any lather on the brush I would add a couple drops of water to the soap. When I went to the bowl to build the lather I again looked at how the lather looked and added water until it was right.

You can always add water - you can't take it out.

[TOB9595]

Welcome Diggler
Just the other day I opened a puck of Col. Conk Lime Glycerine soap and got a really nice lather.
I Store Col. Conk in plastic tub with lid.
First off I:
Hot water in sink
soak vintage Ever-Ready brush
Soak puck of soap, in tub, and float in hot sink water

After time it takes to shower...
Remove soap tub from sink
Spill out the water from soap tub
Take brush out and wring it once with my hand. Not tug just squeeze
I rub, pummel, shisk, load up the brush in the tub of soap. This makes a bit of lather in the tub. NO problem with that.
I take the loaded brush into a warmed bowl.
I mash, swirl, etc making lather in the bowl.
I add DROPS of water till I get the lather I want.
Drops of water from my hand dipped in the hot sink.

I was quite pleased with the lather and shave from the Col. Conk Lime.
I do experience that a drop ...YES! A drop of water can make a difference in the lather.
Practice and experience....will get a nice lather...tho water quality will affect the lather.
I don't see distilled water as a good mixer...Any bottled water would be a good determinent to see if your water is a problem or if it's your technique that needs to be modified.

Bestest
Tom

[notthesharpest]

Tom: Soaking Col. Conk soap is absolutely unnecessary and is not helping you. It is already soft and easy to get on the brush, and soaking it just wastes a lot of soap for no reason. The rest of the advice sounds great.

[sturgeon]

Diggy,

Check out the Crabtree and Evelyn stores in the mall (Monroeville by me). They have better than average soaps and creams which have nice scents, too. I have tried the C.O. Bigelow green tubed cream and it is nice. I ended up ordering Tabac off the internet (from Amazon.com) and it is great. The scent is a little strong, but it is growing on me. All of the above choices are WAY BETTER than Col. Conk, IMO.

Tim

Irwin, PA

P.S. GO PENS !!!!

[TOB9595]

Tom: Soaking Col. Conk soap is absolutely unnecessary and is not helping you. It is already soft and easy to get on the brush, and soaking it just wastes a lot of soap for no reason. The rest of the advice sounds great.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I'm in the habit of doing this with all my soaps from high price to low.

Try as many different soaps and creams as you can..It's quite a nice road to travel
And do try some super lather with cheap soaps and a dollop of cream for bursting lather....
Tom

[notthesharpest]

Tom: Soaking Col. Conk soap is absolutely unnecessary and is not helping you. It is already soft and easy to get on the brush, and soaking it just wastes a lot of soap for no reason. The rest of the advice sounds great.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I'm in the habit of doing this with all my soaps from high price to low.

Try as many different soaps and creams as you can..It's quite a nice road to travel

I agree - if you're not worried about money, try different things.


About soaking: If you have a lower quality soap that won't work for you, the soaking trick is worth a try. But for the vast majority of decent or better soaps, there's no point, and you're just washing soap down the drain for nothing. Example: Williams soap is not soft and requires a lot of product to get a good lather. That's one that I might soak. But all the top quality soaps work great without soaking.

[Diggler]

I did things differently this morning.

First off, I used bottled water. Also, I picked up some CO Bigelow cream from B&BW yesterday and tried it... it worked well, I think I still need to work on how much water and all but it was nice to use. Could have been a little thicker, but I think I got a little too much water in it.

Not a nick, though... I'm going to see if bottled water makes a difference with the Col. Conk's, just to see, but I like using something I can easily get locally if I have to, so I might stick with the Proraso-made stuff for a while.

[notthesharpest]

I did things differently this morning.

First off, I used bottled water. Also, I picked up some CO Bigelow cream from B&BW yesterday and tried it... it worked well, I think I still need to work on how much water and all but it was nice to use. Could have been a little thicker, but I think I got a little too much water in it.

Not a nick, though... I'm going to see if bottled water makes a difference with the Col. Conk's, just to see, but I like using something I can easily get locally if I have to, so I might stick with the Proraso-made stuff for a while.

Bottled water is just tap water, and no use at all for shaving. (Well, I mean, of course you can shave with it, but there's no advantage.) You truly need "distilled", if you want to make a difference. Distilled water is always clearly marked as such on the label.

[TOB9595]

WAY TO GO, DIGGLER!!!

Wetshaving is such an individual thing. Everything from what works or feels good on your face to how we make lather.
You have an open mind and you experiment. That's the way to get maximum enjoyment from this.

With your using bottled water. Try using tap water with the Proraso

If you want....
Give me a pm and I'll send you a small sampler of soaps and creams I have.