On the Puck or In the Bowl?

When lathering with cream, it's in the bowl obviously, but for those who use soap pucks, do you lather directly on the puck or in the bowl?  I lather on the puck and still get decent enough results.  John Moore compares the two methods.

So what's your preferred method, and why?

(03-19-2018, 10:50 AM)Michael_W Wrote: When lathering with cream, it's in the bowl obviously, but for those who use soap pucks, do you lather directly on the puck or in the bowl?  I lather on the puck and still get decent enough results.  John Moore compares the two methods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKyuO_4h_zc

So what's your preferred method, and why?

Load on the puck & lather in the bowl...however I do load the brush and then scrape the brush on the edge of the bowl, depositing the rich protolather and then I load some more.
Because I'm a head shaver I like to whip up a ton of lather which also explains why I like a nice lather bowl.
The Fine lather bowl gets the most use in my den.
I also use a bowl for the simple reason that I can add water until it's just right, without adding more soap.

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(03-19-2018, 10:50 AM)Michael_W Wrote: When lathering with cream, it's in the bowl obviously, but for those who use soap pucks, do you lather directly on the puck or in the bowl? 
So what's your preferred method, and why?

You pose a false dichotomy.  There is a Third Way, or in Zen, a Middle Road:

(this link explains)

With soaps, I load the brush on the puck then face lather.  If I bowl lathered, I would still load the brush on the puck, but then I would take the brush to the bowl.

Load on the puck and face lather but  I pretty much build the lather on the puck.  Don't care much for a dry brush method.  I go to the puck with a pretty wet brush.

You are not supposed to lather on the puck. You are supposed to load the soap, and lather it somewhere else. If you are lathering on the puck, then you are continually adding soap to the lather, which both ruins the lather, and wastes an unnecessary amount of soap.

Depends on the soap. e.g. I don't like to lather Grooming Dept, Oleo, ByLuna on the puck. These are soft and for some reason I don't like how they lather on the puck. It might have to do with what TropicalHotDog said above. I kind of do an in between adding a bit of water in an aesop bowl or palm, finishing on my face. Mystics Waters, Valobra and Mikes definitely on the puck.

Yeah, my puck is a Van Der Hagen deluxe and it seems to produce a nice slick lather in my horse hair brush.  I simply load it and then add drops of water to the bristles as needed.

I used to bowl lather in a fine accouterments bowl; the at one point in the lather pic tread I noticed some amazing looking lather and saw someone ask how they made it and they said 'I build the lather on the puck'. So since then I have been building a pretty decent amount of lather on the puck itself and then face lather the rest as needed. But you will go through soap faster with that method, and I always end up with more lather than I need but the quality of the lather is so good I don't mind the trade off.

Load your brush well. Really Well. Take brush to face. Build lather on face. All the time spent lathering in a bowl or on the puck is better spent on your face, softening, lifting and conditioning your whiskers so your blade can slice them off easily and with little to no irritation. Why waste time, energy, motion, etc. building lather in a bowl? Makes no sense to me.

(03-19-2018, 07:42 PM)TropicalHotDog Wrote: You are not supposed to lather on the puck. You are supposed to load the soap, and lather it somewhere else. If you are lathering on the puck, then you are continually adding soap to the lather, which both ruins the lather, and wastes an unnecessary amount of soap.

First off, I like living dangerously.  I'm a rebel and break rules by lathering on the puck.  (Hard pucks not soft).  Second, um, I'm going to be ok if I waste some soap sure enough.  In all seriousness though, lathering on a puck makes some sweet shiny lather and I sure feel as the brush loads it seems to be self governing on soap use.

I load on the puck but lather on my face. If you try to create a full lather on the puck you're going to keep pulling up soap which requires more water, then more soap as you work in the water, which n..... you get the point.

(03-20-2018, 06:33 PM)chazt Wrote: Load your brush well. Really Well. Take brush to face. Build lather on face. All the time spent lathering in a bowl or on the puck is better spent on your face, softening, lifting and conditioning your whiskers so your blade can slice them off easily and with little to no irritation. Why waste time, energy, motion, etc. building lather in a bowl? Makes no sense to me.

(03-21-2018, 06:43 AM)zipper Wrote:

(03-20-2018, 06:33 PM)chazt Wrote: Load your brush well. Really Well. Take brush to face. Build lather on face. All the time spent lathering in a bowl or on the puck is better spent on your face, softening, lifting and conditioning your whiskers so your blade can slice them off easily and with little to no irritation. Why waste time, energy, motion, etc. building lather in a bowl? Makes no sense to me.

I agree, too.
Though, I understand everyone has his own YMMV preference.

If I'm making multiple passes, the lather is more consistent from one pass to the next if I build it all somewhere (bowl or puck), get it just the way I want it, then apply it to my face.  If I build the lather on my face, the lather is different with every pass, unless I start over every pass and do the lather-building exactly the same every pass.

I definitely prefer to build on the puck. But not like the guy in the video does. I add a bit of water at a time as I load/lather. The lather built this way is always practically perfect, meaning there is never a time that the lather has too little water or too much because if I notice those qualities I remedy by adding water or loading longer.


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(03-21-2018, 09:18 AM)merkur man Wrote: I definitely prefer to build on the puck. But not like the guy in the video does. I add a bit of water at a time as I load/lather. The lather built this way is always practically perfect, meaning there is never a time that the lather has too little water or too much because if I notice those qualities I remedy by adding water or loading longer.


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Wondered when you would show up!  This cat makes awesome lather.

(03-21-2018, 09:18 AM)merkur man Wrote: I definitely prefer to build on the puck. But not like the guy in the video does. I add a bit of water at a time as I load/lather. The lather built this way is always practically perfect, meaning there is never a time that the lather has too little water or too much because if I notice those qualities I remedy by adding water or loading longer.


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(03-21-2018, 09:18 AM)merkur man Wrote: I definitely prefer to build on the puck. But not like the guy in the video does. I add a bit of water at a time as I load/lather. The lather built this way is always practically perfect, meaning there is never a time that the lather has too little water or too much because if I notice those qualities I remedy by adding water or loading longer.


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I do mine pretty much the same way.  Using my Vie-Long horse hair brush, I get a great lather with my Van Der Hagen deluxe puck and squeeze out the lather on top of the puck for re-loading for second and third passes.

I load from the puck with a slightly damp brush and then take it directly to the face adding water to the tips of the brush as I go until I get the desired lather.