Beginners Magic: Disappearing Lather

Brush novice here, so ignorance is a defensible shield! For now.

To date, have tried inexpensive boar, horse and synthetic brushes.  Soaked the boar and horse in shampoo water for a day, then cold water soaked for 2 days.  The shaving results have been the same.

Tried a pre-shave cream lather with a moist brush. What little was there, it disappeared. Then a cream lather on the face with a moist brush.  It disappeared. Luckily, a slick-enough film was left on my facial surface to complete a DFS shave, but no lather.

Pulled out an old can of Edge gel, hand-lathered it up to a thick cloud, then brushed. It disappeared.

WTF (WHERE'S THE FOAM)?

Help. Please.

I hear people say hard water can cause that problem. I know I have gone through the work to try distilled water and that not happening to eliminate hard water minerals as a problem to no help. The only thing that really helps is more product with boars, and horses. Synthetics shouldn't have that problem, and have never noticed that. My only problem with synthetics is they like to sling lather. None of those hair types hold water like badger does, even pure badger. That retention is the most common problem it seems like. It doesn't quite make sense. I know I have to load up a bit heavier with horse and boar, and touch up with more water and product at times during shaving. Even dense badgers have the problem that they like to keep the lather to themselves and can need more product. It's not to say more product will be guaranteed to help either. I seem to remember folks saying that didn't help, but forgot if they figured out what was going on. Sometimes the product itself just isn't a good latherer. Arko shaving soap has always been a prolific latherer for me if you like the scent. Van Der Hagen as found at department stores never worked well for me, nor Williams. Sterling works well.

Boars have worked better for me the more I have used them letting them break in. The tips split over time. I personally don't believe in any ways of trying to speed up the process, to just let it happen naturally. More product helped in the meantime for me personally.

I guess you are not loading the right amount of soap. Boar brushes are notorious as far as lather dissipation is concerned.

A tablespoon of warm water to bloom the soap for ease of lathering while you prep your face. Good 15-20 swirls is what is needed with a boar brush. You may also use distilled water, RO water for ease of lathering.

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Load more soap, need to form a slurry on the knot and then dial it in