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Lathering techniques

Shavin’ Yeti said:
Any tips for face lathering? So far just watching YouTube vids hasn’t worked out for me.
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Funny, because just yesterday, I went over my technique with my 92 year old father.

  1. First, I soak my brush in my Grandfather’s old mug (my avatar) while I shower.
  2. Next, I squeeze out the excess water by making a circle with my thumb and index finger and gently pulling downward. After a few times this will come naturally.
  3. Next, I gently swirl my brush on the soap puck (in the soap container, MWF ceramic, Tabac milk glass, DR Harris wood bowl, etc) for 60 seconds.
  4. Face lather starting on my chin and then the rest of my face with a light swirling motion and also a painting motion.
I have relatively hard South Florida water and generally use triple milled soaps, hence what seems like a long loading time. Lather is more than sufficient for three passes and plenty to go down the drain. I would rather have too much rather than not enough soap.

Good luck and remember that what works for you is most important, so be creative.
 
I also have a great video which is made by a guy who I know from the reddit #wetshaving subreddit.


What I like is that he shows his lathering process in every video so far, the shave vloggers I know so far don't do that.
 
shadowman12 said:
I also have a great video which is made by a guy who I know from the reddit #wetshaving subreddit.


What I like is that he shows his lathering process in every video so far, the shave vloggers I know so far don't do that.
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Thanks for posting the video. He has several great lathering tips. I have tried again on a couple of other occasions to face lather and it has definitely improved for me (still not great). I also watched a lathering technique made by Cadre member @bentheduck that was a huge help. I am improving, but still mainly a bowl latherer and will most likely stick with bowl lathering since I seem to be very consistent with the lather I get. Thanks again.
 
Here the tutorial that I made. I used a hard glycerin melt & pour soap, which is more difficult to load than other soaps, which is why it took me so long to load.

 
I have the cheap copper Turkish shave mug from eBay and I got a Fine Accoutrements lather bowl for Christmas.

I enjoy them both and get good lathers out of them. I bowl lather unless I am using a shave stick. It just works for me. I like seeing the bowl full of creamy shaving goodness in the bowl.
 
dkeester said:
I have the cheap copper Turkish shave mug from eBay and I got a Fine Accoutrements lather bowl for Christmas.

I enjoy them both and get good lathers out of them. I bowl lather unless I am using a shave stick. It just works for me. I like seeing the bowl full of creamy shaving goodness in the bowl.
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In a moment of complete idiocy, I attempted to modify my blue timeless bowl. Was going to trim the top down by an 3/4 inch, sand it, then bolt on a cabinet handle.

Since my garage looks like a war zone, I grabbed the only saw I could find... A large tooth hand saw for trimming branches and the like. As you might imagine, this didn't go so well.

So I pitched the bowl and ordered a second $8 Turkish bowl. All in all, I'm happier. No matter what I use, I always gravitate back to my copper and tin shave bowl anyway. Their wicked cheap, shatterproof, and super efficient. It's hard to beat.

Bowl #2 will supposedly have a floral patter, instead of the divots. We'll see how that works in comparison.
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Suppose the people that make those things would be surprised to know some of them are part of a luxury shave?
 
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