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Lathering techniques

Shavin’ Yeti

Sr. Shave Member
I mainly bowl lather in a bowl (made by a former colleague of mine) and the inside surface is fairly smooth with a few imperfections that help to build lather. My question is, would purchasing a Captain’s Choice type bowl with large rings in the bottom help to build a bette lather or should I just save the money (since that’s why we all wet shave 🤣) and keep using my current bowl? I have tried face lathering, but find it worse than when I bowl lather (I know, I have poor technique). A60B51C0-015C-486B-BE8C-94ADE24CEAD7.jpeg
 
Nothing cheaper than your face! :ROFLMAO:

Some find that the ridges or slight irregularities of bowls help whip it into shape a bit easier. A few guys here use cheap Turkish hammered copper bowls for that reason. It’s all preference though.

If you go for the CC bowls, I’d think it’s more looks factor than value.
 
Glue some pennies etc in the bottom as some have to see if ridges would help but I'm a face lathere and have a Turkish Copper Bowl for sample lathering @$7 shipped
 
Nothing cheaper than your face! :ROFLMAO:

Some find that the ridges or slight irregularities of bowls help whip it into shape a bit easier. A few guys here use cheap Turkish hammered copper bowls for that reason. It’s all preference though.

If you go for the CC bowls, I’d think it’s more looks factor than value.
So the raised rings wouldn‘t be any better than what I am using now?
 
Glue some pennies etc in the bottom as some have to see if ridges would help but I'm a face lathere and have a Turkish Copper Bowl for sample lathering @$7 shipped
Do you have a link for the Turkish bowl? Or at least a shop name to search for? $7 is almost as good of a deal as the $0 I paid for my current bowl.
 
Pick your poison and feedback preference verses price (y)



 
Pick your poison and feedback preference verses price (y)



Thanks, I will check them out.
 
I saw the topic and came to post about the same bowl. I used to use the blue timeless bowl, cheap at about $12. That $7 Turkish bowl beats the timeless for me... Beats it bad!

Because it's metal, if you drop it, it'll probably be all right. More than you can say for ceramic. Always good when you're working with water and slick soap.
 
I most certainly have a CC bowl. I'm a face lather...er, but it's great for samples, which is what I mainly use it for. The bottom of the bowl does a great job of agitating. I also have a WCS bowl, but it's not nearly as cool, although it does do the job.
 
I most certainly have a CC bowl. I'm a face lather...er, but it's great for samples, which is what I mainly use it for. The bottom of the bowl does a great job of agitating. I also have a WCS bowl, but it's not nearly as cool, although it does do the job.
Thanks for the information. Since I am horrible at face lathering, I think I will put the CC bowl on my Christmas wishlist.
 
Any tips for face lathering? So far just watching YouTube vids hasn’t worked out for me.
Its just practice. How do you load soap? By scooping from soap into the bowl or loading the brush from soap and working in the bowl?
 
Its just practice. How do you load soap? By scooping from soap into the bowl or loading the brush from soap and working in the bowl?
I load soap by scooping from the tub and pressing it into the bottom of the bowl. I then work up a lather in the bowl with my synthetic brush. I’ve tried to load the brush from the tub, but just made a mess and didnt get enough soap to get a good lather. That is probably due to my brush (currently only have one synthetic brush).
 
Any tips for face lathering? So far just watching YouTube vids hasn’t worked out for me.
I'll try to get a video made up for you in sometimes the next 3 days. What soap do you mainly use? I might maybe have it and do the video based on that soap and a synthetic.
 
I
I'll try to get a video made up for you in sometimes the next 3 days. What soap do you mainly use? I might maybe have it and do the video based on that soap and a synthetic.
I mainly use Stirling soaps. I also use Proraso green in the tube and Victory Shaving Co. “Angels 12”. Thanks for doing a video.
 
I load soap by scooping from the tub and pressing it into the bottom of the bowl. I then work up a lather in the bowl with my synthetic brush. I’ve tried to load the brush from the tub, but just made a mess and didnt get enough soap to get a good lather. That is probably due to my brush (currently only have one synthetic brush).
So the learning curve will be figuring out how to get that same amount of soap you normally scoop (probably even a bit less) loaded onto the brush instead of a spoon. Being that you use a synthetic, which makes things really easy, you need only a moderately to slightly wet brush for most soaps. The fact that you’re making a mess without making usable lather probably means the brush has too much water in it.

After you wet the brush just give it a decent shake or two, then swish the brush over the puck for 15 ish seconds (linger for harder soaps, less for softer). Apply that load to your face, it should look like a thin film over your shaving areas, maybe a little pasty feeling. Add a few literal drops of water to your brush, work into the paste on your face; repeat adding water drops until you have the consistency you like.

I started with bowl lathering, but quickly moved to face lathering. It just seemed easier for me, and I knew on the fly where my lather consistency was at, because it was already on my face.
 
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