Usual lather problem

G

Guest

Guest
Hello all

I'll cut straight to the chase...

I am a newbie having trouble creating a decent lather. I am using a silvertip brush and palmolive soap stick. I also live in a hardwater area, which I see might be a slight issue, or at least involve a bit more work.

My current method is to soak the brush for a couple of minutes, then rinse. I soak the shave stick, then rub the brush on it to pick up as much soap as possible. I then start rubbing the brush around in the bowl, and add a bit of wather here and there.

I have Taylor of Bond St. Sandlewood soap in a bowl. Would that be any easier to use than the Palmolive stick? Should I have maybe opted for a cream over a soap - I hear that these are a bit easier for the newbies amongst us.

Cheers

Mark
 
try face lathering

usual prep then rub the dry stick on your wet chops and start build the lather with your brush on the drier side of damp, you can always add a wee bit more by dipping it and working it more
 
Well you could always rub the stick onto your face beard to release more soap or grate the stick into a container and compress it to form a cake which you should find easier to use. As always it's about getting the right soap to water ratio with your brush, your silver tip holds comparatively a lot of water but wont pick up much soap because of it's softness, give it a good squeeze to remove excess water and add water later if you need to. I'd also pick up some Palmolive cream, it'll get you going with the stick in the mean time.
 
I've found that the Palmolive sticks work well for me when grated into a bowl.
This wasn't necessary with other sticks though, just Palmolive :?
regards, beejay
 
Rubbing the stick on the face is a good idea, as face lathering (for me) always gave better result and resulted in less faff in the bathroom.

You should be fine with the ToBS, just load up the brush for 30 seconds and start throwing it around your face till creamy.

We live in a HW area and I have never had any problems with either.

Just remember it is easier to add more water, than take it away.
 
TOBS Sandalwood is one of the few soaps I've had problems lathering. Then again I did use it early on. I suspect I needed more soap in the brush, perhaps I wasn't taking enough time to load it up. I would say go for the Palmolive first. Lather is almost guaranteed. :shave
 
I think that soap sticks are designed to be rubbed on the face, first and foremost, so I suspect that you're not getting enough soap on the brush.

Prep your face as usual and leave it wet. Dip the stick in some warm water and then rub it all over the area to be shaved. Take a damp brush to your face and start to work up the lather. Add a few drops of water to the brush every so often until the lather on your face is sorted.

Ian
 
Being a newbie myself, I tried a Palmolive soap stick recently, even rubbing it over my first first only produced a very mediocre lather, then I read on hear about grating into another container. I did this and it works a treat, but please compress it in its new container, otherwise you land up with shredded soap all over your face! Mind you that gives the kids a cuckle :D
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I had a pretty decent shave last night and I think for me face lathering is the way to go, with the Palmolive stick at least. Grating it into a container also sounds like a pretty good idea.

I really want to try the ToBS soap, but think that I will save it for a while.

Out of interest, do people rate expensive soaps more than the cheap Palmolive sticks? Are they worth the extra money? It seems that a lot of guys on here think that the palmolive stuff is sufficient.
 
There are very good cheap soaps and creams like Palmolive, Boots and Ingram but also duff ones like Erasmic (IMHO). The dearer soaps and creams tend to have a much better fragrance and perform a bit better, but the law of diminishing returns applies here.
 
Thanks. I think I am goign to have to try the ToBS soon - the temptation is too much! You think it should perform better than the palmolive?
 
Well the TOBS cream I have is a bit better than the Palmolive cream, but I've not tried the soap. That said Palmolive soap is IMHO a great performer so you may not see a huge improvement.
 
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