SOTD 22-28 July 2018

I'll be honest I don't think a soap or cream should need a special 'knack' to create a lather. The manufacturer should be trying to make a product as easy to use as possible.

Agreed. But note, the purpose of the Reserve line was to accommodate users that are allergic to lanolin and make a product that lathers in a variety of water types (namely hard water).

My method for lathering Reserve is very similar to how I use Declaration Grooming's (formerly L&L) bison tallow base:

1. Start with a barely damp knot.
   
2. Load until the knot forms a sticky, gooey, stringy substance at the distal 1/4 - 1/3 end of the knot. If you get bubbles with loading, the knot is too wet, so you will have to swirl longer until you achieve this sticky phase. This does not, in any way, resemble a traditional usable lather or even proto-lather. Imagine that your goal is to glue the tips together, effectively forming a cap at the distal end of your knot.
   
3. Dunk the entire knot in your water reservoir. Completely submerge the whole knot, right up to the brush handle. The goal here is to trap this water inside the knot behind the cap you created with the goo.
   
4. As you pull the knot from the reserve water, try to keep the brush somewhat vertical (knot facing downward).
   
5. Face or bowl-lather as usual. The retained water will reconstitute and "dissolve" the gooey cap as it works through it. This will initially result in a Spanish stucco-like foundation, then a sticky marshmallow cream consistency, but as you continue to work it, it will explode into luxury lather. The usual slurry bubbly phase is skipped.
   
6. Employing this method, I rarely have to revisit the reserve water, but at this point, it's personal preference as to how thin you like your lather. I cannot drown this lather even with my extremely hard water.
   

The aforementioned procedure, although meticulously defined by me, is a very fast no-brainer process (load with barely damp knot until stringy phase, dunk and go). It works for me with badger and synthetic. Boar requires revisiting the water a few times because the thicker bristles don't trap the water as effectively.  I understand this method deviates quite a bit from Will's instructions, but it works consistently for me.  Again, I discovered this method with Declaration's bison tallow-base, but soon discovered it works very well for Reserve as well.

Followed your instructions and the results were impressive. Thank you.

I'll be honest I don't think a soap or cream should need a special 'knack' to create a lather. The manufacturer should be trying to make a product as easy to use as possible.

Agreed. But note, the purpose of the Reserve line was to accommodate users that are allergic to lanolin and make a product that lathers in a variety of water types (namely hard water).

My method for lathering Reserve is very similar to how I use Declaration Grooming's (formerly L&L) bison tallow base:

1. Start with a barely damp knot.
   
2. Load until the knot forms a sticky, gooey, stringy substance at the distal 1/4 - 1/3 end of the knot. If you get bubbles with loading, the knot is too wet, so you will have to swirl longer until you achieve this sticky phase. This does not, in any way, resemble a traditional usable lather or even proto-lather. Imagine that your goal is to glue the tips together, effectively forming a cap at the distal end of your knot.
   
3. Dunk the entire knot in your water reservoir. Completely submerge the whole knot, right up to the brush handle. The goal here is to trap this water inside the knot behind the cap you created with the goo.
   
4. As you pull the knot from the reserve water, try to keep the brush somewhat vertical (knot facing downward).
   
5. Face or bowl-lather as usual. The retained water will reconstitute and "dissolve" the gooey cap as it works through it. This will initially result in a Spanish stucco-like foundation, then a sticky marshmallow cream consistency, but as you continue to work it, it will explode into luxury lather. The usual slurry bubbly phase is skipped.
   
6. Employing this method, I rarely have to revisit the reserve water, but at this point, it's personal preference as to how thin you like your lather. I cannot drown this lather even with my extremely hard water.
   

The aforementioned procedure, although meticulously defined by me, is a very fast no-brainer process (load with barely damp knot until stringy phase, dunk and go). It works for me with badger and synthetic. Boar requires revisiting the water a few times because the thicker bristles don't trap the water as effectively.  I understand this method deviates quite a bit from Will's instructions, but it works consistently for me.  Again, I discovered this method with Declaration's bison tallow-base, but soon discovered it works very well for Reserve as well.

Followed your instructions and the results were impressive. Thank you.

That's great! I wish more people who have issues with Reserve knew this.

Pre shave Ach Brito Glyce soap
Rex Ambassador @6, 4, 3, 2
Timor Solingen blade
Shavemac custom 2 band fan 24mm
Shannon's Soap Pineapple Banana
Faena private reserve balm

Henckels Friodur 8/8
Barrister's Seville in Reserve
Saponificio Varesino 2.0 Brush in Cocobolo