OT: Ping SGH - a shaver for you? :OT

@RRP
I love it brother. But I love the Mühle R41 even more. 

The Muhle is truly an incredible sight. It’s not just a razor. It’s an unrivaled shaving machine to be revered and respected. 

@RRP
Ron, even though I have hung up the Muhle R41 until New Years, I thought I would get in a little lathering practice just to stay on top of the game. 
With that said, I thought I would take a shot at lathering Williams puck soap. It’s said to be near impossible to produce an actual lather with it. I’m not talking about simply going from puck to face, but an actual lather. 
I started off as already mentioned with 99 cent Willams soap. 

From there, into a mug. In this case, a simple coffee mug. No fancy shaving mug or scuttle. A simple dollar store coffee mug/cup. 
Right into the mug. 

Due to what I have heard and know about Williams, I thought I would give it every chance by blooming it with hot water. You may or may not consider this cheating, but being a professional latherer, I consider it using tools of the trade.  
Hot water right into the mug for a 2 minute bloom.  

After the bloom, I did about a 2 minute soap load on the Badger Brush. I know this seems like an excessive soap load, but again, I’m trying to give Williams every possible chance.  
Soap in the brush after loading. 

Here is a look at the lather “on the puck” and “on the brush after brush/soap loading. 


The above puck and brush lather is what is normally used to “face lather” when using the puck method. However I wanted to really put Williams to the test and see if it could produce a “true lather” like most quality shaving soaps. 
With that said, right into the lathering bowl I went. 

As you can plainly see, the Williams is extremely airy and bubbly. That’s not a good thing. However after several minutes of water loading and a brisk working, it produced a decent lather. 
Lather in the bowl. 

Lather on the puck. 

Lather on the brush. 

A shot of the lather on the puck, in the bowl and on the brush. 

As you can see, the Williams produced a decent lather. However it lacks the cushion, hold and massive peaks of say Tabac or Taylor Of Old Bond Street. 
My final thoughts are as follows. Williams can no doubt be lathered, which goes against what is commonly said or believed. However the end does not justify the means. With a 2 minute soap load and a 6-8 minute lather work time, it’s just to little for to much. But with that said, it’s nice to know that you can produce a decent lather with a soap that cost less than a dollar if you are willing to put in the work. 

ColbyLang said:

I can’t use those Feather Blades. They literally remove a layer of skin off of my face. Nice haul of gear you got in the mail tho! 

My brother, you can use the Feather blades, you just have to work your way up to them. Start with a reasonably sharp blade such as Gillette 7oclock and use them for a week or two. Then move to a sharper blade such as Astra. Use it for a week or two and then move to the Feathers. You face will slowly “shave in” for lack of a better term.  

@SGH

While I like a good lather and all that jazz, I’ve always found that a base coat of hair conditioner before the application of any shaving cream helps keep things slick and greatly minimizes razor burn. I know, I know.... sacrilege. 

I once told this to a lady friend and she has since said it worked wonders for her nether regions. I think you could say that the technique earned her double seal of approval.  

GrateEggspectations said:

@SGH

While I like a good lather and all that jazz, I’ve always found that a base coat of hair conditioner before the application of any shaving cream helps keep things slick and greatly minimizes razor burn. I know, I know.... sacrilege. 

I once told this to a lady friend and she has since said it worked wonders for her nether regions. I think you could say that the technique earned her double seal of approval.  

There is nothing wrong with that at all. I always recommend to folks to use Cremo (it’s a latherless cream) in place of high dollar preshave oil. It serves the same purpose at 1/10 the price.  As long as the conditioner that you use stays slick, no harm no foul whatsoever. If it works, it works is the way I see it.  
For the record, here is the Cremo that I use before applying a lather.
 

SGH said:

lousubcap said:

@SGH - I am anticipating a ladder-up the shave skill set tutorial here once you decide to get back into the game.  Especially when using that @RRP endorsed double-handled initial cutting rig. 

Remember this date brother Cap. 1-2-2019. The greatest shave that you have ever seen is coming. I’m going to shave my chest and a 5 month old beard my friend. And going to do it all with a vintage Clauss 5406 my friend. I may even video it.  

By then you will look like Santa Claus, that is if you bleach your beard white, which I hope you do.

@sgh can you tell what type of razor might have done this fine hair removal?

Honest question, which bowl looks the best in y’all s opinion?

@DMW
If you look close, one has a flared edge, one has a rolled edge, one has no edge. Also one has no edge and is not hammer finished. The other 3 all have hammered finishes. 

SGH said:

@DMW
If you look close, one has a flared edge, one has a rolled edge, one has no edge. Also one has no edge and is not hammer finished. The other 3 all have hammered finishes. 

You are right. Not sure how I missed those details. That said, this one is still my favorite.

SGH said:

DMW said:
Not sure how I missed those details. 

Maybe alcohol

Well, that's one option. But you could also ascribe it to water. That would be incorrect, but you could. Just saying...

SGH said:

@RRP
Ron, even though I have hung up the Muhle R41 until New Years, I thought I would get in a little lathering practice just to stay on top of the game. 
With that said, I thought I would take a shot at lathering Williams puck soap. It’s said to be near impossible to produce an actual lather with it. I’m not talking about simply going from puck to face, but an actual lather. 
I started off as already mentioned with 99 cent Willams soap. 

From there, into a mug. In this case, a simple coffee mug. No fancy shaving mug or scuttle. A simple dollar store coffee mug/cup. 
Right into the mug. 

Due to what I have heard and know about Williams, I thought I would give it every chance by blooming it with hot water. You may or may not consider this cheating, but being a professional latherer, I consider it using tools of the trade.  
Hot water right into the mug for a 2 minute bloom.  

After the bloom, I did about a 2 minute soap load on the Badger Brush. I know this seems like an excessive soap load, but again, I’m trying to give Williams every possible chance.  
Soap in the brush after loading. 

Here is a look at the lather “on the puck” and “on the brush after brush/soap loading. 


The above puck and brush lather is what is normally used to “face lather” when using the puck method. However I wanted to really put Williams to the test and see if it could produce a “true lather” like most quality shaving soaps. 
With that said, right into the lathering bowl I went. 

As you can plainly see, the Williams is extremely airy and bubbly. That’s not a good thing. However after several minutes of water loading and a brisk working, it produced a decent lather. 
Lather in the bowl. 

Lather on the puck. 

Lather on the brush. 

A shot of the lather on the puck, in the bowl and on the brush. 

As you can see, the Williams produced a decent lather. However it lacks the cushion, hold and massive peaks of say Tabac or Taylor Of Old Bond Street. 
My final thoughts are as follows. Williams can no doubt be lathered, which goes against what is commonly said or believed. However the end does not justify the means. With a 2 minute soap load and a 6-8 minute lather work time, it’s just to little for to much. But with that said, it’s nice to know that you can produce a decent lather with a soap that cost less than a dollar if you are willing to put in the work. 

i must be a miser with lather, i get 3 years off a mitchels woolfat puck

Was inspired by your comments on the Merkur Futur and it arrived yesterday.  Been using a 34c and an omega boars brush for at least 5 years.  The boars brush once broke in is great for soap shaving.  First shave with the futur was solid.  Working my way into the aggressiveness and started with silver blues so I didn’t shed too much blood.  Feathers will come later.......

RedSkip said:

Why do you prefer a bowled lather vs a face lather?  Or was it just for the sake of demonstrating?

For this Williams test I used a bowl to give the Williams every chance of producing a  big, heavy lather. You can build different styles of lather in a bowl where on your face you are much more limited.  Williams is actually intended to be used for face lathering. Right from the puck to the face. I was just trying to see if I could take a 99 cent soap and produce a lather on par with soaps costing 10 to 20 more than that. 
I do prefer bowl or scuttle lathering over face lathering for shaving. Why? Several reasons for me. First, it’s almost ritualistic and I really enjoy every aspect of it. It starts with the blooming of the soap, then the soap loading, then the lather building and working. 
Second, I like to build different lathers. I play around with different uberlathers, superlathers and even straight lathers. At times I like to see how far I can push a lather before it “breaks” just to see what soap has the highest breaking point. 
Third, I like to combine soaps depending on what I’m shaving with that day. This is much easier and far more convenient in a bowl versus trying it on your face. 
Fourth, it’s how I started out and what I learned first. It’s hard to break old habits. 
With all of the above said, I’m not against face lathering. Quite the contrary. I sneak in a puck/face lather once or twice a week myself.  Especially if I’m in a hurry or pushed for time. But I do prefer and enjoy a bowl or scuttle lather more for the reasons mentioned above.  
I keep a few mugs and puck scuttles on hand at all times so I can puck/face lather if I chose to. Here are a couple of my puck set ups. 
First, an empty Tabac soap dish. It’s made of glass so it makes an excellent holder for pucks. 

Second, an actual puck scuttle. 

Third, a simple coffee mug with a flared top. It’s great for pucks.  

Fourth, a medium size Bill Bowl. It’s great for pucks or just straight lathering.  

This pic posted out of order. It’s the same puck scuttle as above.  

Hope this helps my friend. And happy shaving.