Thread: Shaving Soap Questions

hello all, I have a few questions about shaving soap.

1) What do I keep the soap in?

2) If I keep the soap in a soap bowl, do I make the lather in the bowl?

3) Where do I make the lather? do I transfer the soap to a mug? How do I transfer it, and do I transfer the whole thing or do I cut off a bit of soap with a knife?

In fact, it would be really helpful if someone could outline the steps of using shaving soap.

Thanks!

Hello,
I'm using D.R.Harris in a wooden bowl. I load up the brush for 20-30 seconds, till i think i've got enough, then go to a warmed bowl. Previously tried the palm of my hand & straight to the face, but the bowl makes a superior lather that is more controllable. You can adjust the consistency easily. I leave the bowl in a basin of hot water & it gives the most fantastic warm lather!
I just rinse the soap & wooden bowl after the shave & leave it upside down while i let the alum do it's thing. When i'm done, just put the top on & it's ready for next time.
From what i can tell there are many variations. Everyone develops their own ritual. Glean what you can from many, then enjoy finding your favourite method!
Ben

Originally Posted by redcannon

hello all, I have a few questions about shaving soap.

1) What do I keep the soap in?

2) If I keep the soap in a soap bowl, do I make the lather in the bowl?

3) Where do I make the lather? do I transfer the soap to a mug? How do I transfer it, and do I transfer the whole thing or do I cut off a bit of soap with a knife?

In fact, it would be really helpful if someone could outline the steps of using shaving soap.

Thanks!

Here is a link to a pretty good tutorial with pictures: How to make great lather from a soap ~ Tutorial - Badger & Blade

I find I do better lathering directly on my face after loading the brush with soap. If the soap doesn't come with a container, I like the small ziploc plastic food containers. You have to experiment and see what works best for you.

Jordan

My method is pretty simple:

1. Drop puck into coffee cup.
2. Drop brush (bristles down) into coffee cup.
3. Fill cup with hot tap water.
4. After stropping (or 4-5 mins.), pour out hot water.
5. Give brush a shake to get rid of some of the water (not all of it).
6. Swirl brush around on puck and work it a little like a piston to build lather.
7. Wet one side of face with hot water again.
8. Lather up that side of face/neck/chin/'stache.
9. Shave.
10. Wet the other side of face with hot water again.
11.Lather up the other side of face/neck/chin/'stache.
12.Shave.
13.Rinse brush and shake it dry.

That's really all there is to it. You can lather again for the second/third pass if you want or just re-wet the face with hot water. With some soaps, there is still plenty of lube left and you don't always have to re-lather for the second/third passes.

Of course, everyone has a different beard, razor sharpness, shaving angle, etc... so YMMV but this has worked for me.

I use several different measures for lathering. I do occasionally lather on my face, but I prefer to lather in a mug. The face is quicker, but the mug is easier to control the water content.

Method 1. My Mama Bear's came in a plastic container, I soak the brush in hot water along with my mug and the closed container of soap (I don't like soaking my soap puck, but I use fairly soft soaps). I load the brush
and get close to building a lather on top of the soap, then I transfer to a mug for the vigorous whipping and adding of water if needed. From here I just put it on my face really only moving the brush to work in in and around the hair.

Method 2. I have a puck made by some folks I met at the Austin meetup. I used a double boiler to melt it into a mug. I soak the mug and brush in hot water, but I don't put any water on the soap (this is a very soft soap). I both load the brush and build the lather in the mug. When I'm done shaving I let the soap dry for a bit, then I flip the mug upside down to store it.

I am going to give you some links that have tons of ideas in them....
Keep in mind that some of this pertains to Uberlather, but you can still use the lather making ideas, with out making Uberlather....


http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...berlather.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...den-again.html

I got some ultra-cheap soap from Walmart ($1.97), threw it in a coffee cup (fits perfect), got a ultra-cheap brush from Walmart ($5.00), pour some water on the soap in the cup, dump the cup out, swirl brush around until there is suds, apply to face and work it around with brush, then shave. I don't know but this works well for me, some people on here use $100 worth of soaps and other concoctions while shaving and that works for them. I like to keep things simply and people shaved with straights for years without all the fancy stuff we have now.

Thanks a lot for all of the help, guys. I think I've really got the soap thing down, now I just have to get a puck!

And Glen, that's one incredible shave den.