Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

One thing I have struggled with when using some boar brushes is how they eat the lather, as the forum-talk goes. Sunday night I palm lathered the Maggard knot in mild face soap and then with our hand soap. Yesterday, the lather held almost through the 2nd pass before I had to return to the puck. So after shaving, I broke out the PAA brush cleaner that I had and followed the instructions precisely. The bristles went from a yellow tint to a white tint. Today, after a standard boar loading time for me, the lather was great for 2 passes, but the 3rd was too thin for my liking. Ah well, that's why the tub is there, so I can reload if necessary. Just a few swirls brought back a good lather.

I bring this up as I don't recall having such an issue back 2 years when we did that DecemBoar 2021 thread. Maybe I need to read my journal entries, but whatever. I love the feel of the broken-in boar (thanks again to mrdoug for gifting me this brush!).

Eric, maybe you’re under loading the brush?  I use boars almost exclusively and I’ve usually got enough lather leftover after I shave for two or more additional passes. I gave up the five pass shave years ago as it was too hard on the skin. I also have been bowl lathering the past few years as well. I scoop a random quantity of soap out of the tub and press it into the bottom of the bowl-it’s been a Captain’s Choice heavy copper bowl for a while now. I lather until there’s no more soap stuck to the bottom. It sometimes takes a while if I’ve scooped out too much. In any case, I generate a plethora of lather! Plethora is the word of the day

Thanks Marko that is helpful!

I tend to use my boar brushes on hard soaps and use my synthetics/badgers/etc on croaps or creams.

That said, I have taken to using a stainless steel 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon to scoop out my croaps into my HC&C shave bowl for both loading the brush and lathering. I find that 1/8 teaspoon of soap is enough for more than three passes. Using this method, I can use any brush and not worry about using excessive amounts of soaps. It also makes my soaps last longer in general.

I picked up the idea from watching a video for lathering with the Captain's Choice copper bowls (before I bought one for myself).

Thanks Marko that is helpful!

I know I wasn’t telling you anything you don’t already know. Sorry about that. I just get so darn much lather that I’ve often wondered if it could somehow be saved for the next shave. Maybe I could can it?    And we’ve come full circle

Your shaving notes are pure gold, my friend! ? It's like you're the shaving guru we all need. Your tips about getting that perfect shave and avoiding those pesky nicks are a lifesaver. Thanks a bunch for sharing your wisdom!

Thanks so much for the kind words! I mostly just babble on about whatever floats through the little Grey cells!

While exchanging a few PMs with HighSpeed, Mike mentioned using his Enders Speed Shaver. Being easily influenced , I of course used mine!



A very nice shave with probably my favorite brush/knot, the 26mm SynBad in the Nacar Oscuro handle by Trotter Handcrafts. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Resistance is futile Eric, but sometimes that's okay.

While exchanging a few PMs with HighSpeed, Mike mentioned using his Enders Speed Shaver. Being easily influenced , I of course used mine!



A very nice shave with probably my favorite brush/knot, the 26mm SynBad in the Nacar Oscuro handle by Trotter Handcrafts. Hope you all have a good weekend!

I love the Synbad knots too, Eric. I have four brushes with them now, including my Trotter Oscuro (twins!). Unfortunately, I think I got a 28mm knot by accident for this brush. The result is that it doesn't splay well at all - too tight of a fit. Not nearly as smooth as the Synbad should be. Nonetheless, they're still among my favorites.

Just be careful with ordering from APSCs.

While exchanging a few PMs with HighSpeed, Mike mentioned using his Enders Speed Shaver. Being easily influenced , I of course used mine!



A very nice shave with probably my favorite brush/knot, the 26mm SynBad in the Nacar Oscuro handle by Trotter Handcrafts. Hope you all have a good weekend!

I love the Synbad knots too, Eric. I have four brushes with them now, including my Trotter Oscuro (twins!). Unfortunately, I think I got a 28mm knot by accident for this brush. The result is that it doesn't splay well at all - too tight of a fit. Not nearly as smooth as the Synbad should be. Nonetheless, they're still among my favorites.

Just be careful with ordering from APSCs.

I have the same problem with my 28mm SynBad! I was just mentioning that today to another guy, that maybe I need to reset it higher.