Puck Lathering VS Bowl Lathering - Wet Shaving 

I'm fairly new to using a safety razor and have struggled to get a good lather, so this really helped. And as a Brit, I could listen to John's voice all day - beautiful smooth Southern accent!

I bet your left ears are loving the soundtrack. WOOPS! I guess I accidentally pushed it to the left when editing. I need to start wearing my headphones...

I'm afraid there is a lot of misinformation about bowl lathering in this video. He says he's showing the difference between a puck lather and a bowl lather, but it's really more like a puck lather, and a really bad bowl lather ... which obviously is not a fair comparison. It's probably not his fault, he's just reporting on something that he just doesn't have enough experience in. 1. He's right when he says that most of the time you use more product when you lather from the puck. 2. He says "it's more voluminous when you lather from the bowl" which is not true. Maybe the way he does it. It's just soap and water. You end up with a voluminous lather when you use more/too much soap. 3. He loads the brush, for his puck lather, for about 50 seconds, which is probably about twice as much soap as is actually needed. But that's a personal preference thing. Soap is cheap, and if you want to use more than is needed, you do you. 4. He says to get the right amount of soap for a bowl lather, you go by the feel of the brush dragging on the soap. I don't really think this is true. And it may be why he ends up with so much dry lather when he bowl lathers. He's just loading way too long. In many cases, a 15-30 second load is all you need. If you have problems, load for a bit longer until your technique improves. I scoop a little less than 1/4 tsp out into the bowl and press it in, and that way I know I've used exactly as much as I need. This is a great way to make sure you don't waste soap, especially if you've splurged for an expensive tub of premium stuff. 5. He says you end up with a huge lather in the bowl when you do it like this [meaning bowl lathering]. But as we've mentioned, he's just loading too much soap. That means he has to keep adding water until things equalize into a usable lather. 6. He says more water gives you larger bubbles. And that it tends to dissipate quicker. Both are false. How quickly you add water often does affect the bubbles. But it has nothing to do with whether you're bowl lathering or puck lathering. And if your bowl lather dissipates too quickly, then you haven't done it right, or you've got a crappy soap. My bowl lathers have lasted 45 mins and more with all manner of different brands. 7. He says a bowl lather is not as rich and not as slick. Again, false. It's all about soap and water. Any lather you can generate from a puck, you can also generate from a bowl process. If your bowl lather is not as rich, you may need to use more soap, or a bit less water. Same goes for slickness ... and he demonstrated a too-dry lather right at the end, when he held up the big glob and waved it around... that one is not as slick ... not because it's from a bowl... but because it's too dry (relatively speaking). If you end up with a lather that looks like that, try adding more water, and you'll likely find the slickness you're looking for. 8. He says that Astra blades are "really sharp", but they're just as sharp as pretty much any other. But what he might be meaning is that they just cut well for him. And of course, that may be true. Blades are very subjective and so the same blade may perform very differently for someone else. Astras do well for many users, including me, but they're not in some special, premium sharpness category. Some hate Astras. So it's best to find an assortment and see which ones work for you. www.TryABlade.com has a "Top 10 sampler" which is a great start and Amazon has some assortments as well. eBay has some, but they are often over-priced, in my experience. So in the end, I mean no ill will. John's preferences in lathering process are his own and we all get to choose what we want. But he was making claims about bowl lathering in general that just weren't true. There are some good bowl lathering vids out there, like mantic59's "How To Make Traditional Shave Lather" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dd7Aj9vwrtc.html

Good video, great backdrop.

Thank you for explaining the difference!

Thanks for the video I'm pretty new to using a safety razor and am just using cheap shaving jell. I hear using the proper cream with help get a better shave so I purchase shave soap. Thanks for showing how to do it.

Nice comparison. Thank you.

Thank you, this was very helpful

shaving tips from a guy with a beard??

You don't just lather on the puck though. You take that and face lather afterwards where you can add a bit more water and really create a rich lather.

Just let your brush soak in warm water for a couple mins and squeeze the water out so the soap doesn't get too thin but the bristles are nice and soft. Add soap into a big lather bowl (it gives a way better experience imo instead of making these small motions in a tiny bowl). And just dip the tips of the bristles in your brush cup or what ever you call it if the lather is too thick. I think people start off with to much water when they use a big bowl but it doesn't have to be that way. You can mix it how ever you want if you use your brain.

I love hw he says thats what is what I shave with... Seeing his beard.

I find the decor in fascinating.

What is he shaving? His back?

thanks a good reminder of how to lather the right way!

How do you clean the luck when you are done ? Do you wash it off or leave the suds for next time ?

I puck lather with soap . Bowl lather with cream .

Assume I choose to lather on the puck option. What is the cleanup procedure after the shave?

I'm confused..... are we talking about..... lather? haha. cool vid man.

I lost count on the lather

121st like and 14th comment so early lol. #awake #3:13am

Those peaks are looking like meringue.!

Poor representation of using the puck to lather. You are just simply loading that brush for do a face shave where you will be adding the water then. With the bowl, you'll already introduced the water.

lather

Try buying a plastic shaving container from Stirling Soap Company and then getting a puck of Van Der Hagen Luxury Scent Shaving Soap from Walmart or target or where ever...Melt the puck in the microwave for 25 sec then pour it into the container and let it hardened and you're golden....No need for a bowl or any of that type of stuff and you have your soap in a nice container..Look into their synthetic brushes too...Life Changing =)

Ummmm...you have a beard.

Yeah it just grazed my buttcheeks there betwixt them

It is voluminous... not volumous. LOL~

That's way more work than necessary. I wet my face... Rub the puck on my face... Rub it around on my face. Works great... No bowls no brushes to mess with and clean up. About 30 seconds tops and I'm done. My last puck lasted close to 2 years

A lot of misinformation in this video, albeit good intention.

Rifles, Banjos, and Soap. This Will Not End well...