#1
Hi to all. I have just heard of a thing called blooming and you use your soap to do this. I would like your personal views & opinions on this. What does it really do,how you bloom your soap & if it has any benefits or not to your shave. All your veiws will be appreciated. Cheers, enjoy your day.
#2

Member
Virginia
I used to do it with every soap when I first started. Now I find I only do it to certain soaps that I feel it aids in loading the soap. I bloom by covering the top with some warm tap water and letting it sit for a few minutes before the shave. If you look at PAA soaps labels it mentions that the scent is its best at a certain temperature thus blooming with warm water. I guess it aids in blooming the scent so to speak as I lack the technical terminology. If you do bloom your soap make sure you don't just poor it down the sink before loading your brush. Use that water on your face. It will put down a nice layer before you start lathering also I find it gives me a good indication of how slick that soap is going to be during the shave.

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Bob from Virginia
#3

Member
Metro Detroit
I prefer to bloom my soaps for a few reasons.
Warm or hot water seems to bring out the scent of many soaps. I then load the soap on a dry brush, and face lather.
I think it helps me control the amount of water I use, and makes it easier for me to make the thick lather I prefer, while increasing my enjoyment of the scent.

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#4
I do a sort of blooming ...

I'm a synthetic brush man. I like to put about a teaspoon of water directly onto the soap (so, just a quick flash of water from the tap) and then straight on with a dry brush. I get a really good loading doing that. Onto face and lather up. I don't let the water sit for any length of time and don't have to pre-soak the brush. I'd a sort of blooming.

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#5
(07-10-2015, 01:47 PM)tdmsu Wrote: I prefer to bloom my soaps for a few reasons.
Warm or hot water seems to bring out the scent of many soaps. I then load the soap on a dry brush, and face lather.
I think it helps me control the amount of water I use, and makes it easier for me to make the thick lather I prefer, while increasing my enjoyment of the scent.
This is exactly what I do and why I do it.

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#6

Member
Nashville
I used to with harder soaps. Covering it with hot water would help to soften it and speed up the loading process.

I've stopped doing it since I no longer use a soap that would require it to assist with the loading process. Blooming will wash out the leftover proto lather, which I prefer to use with my shaves.

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#7
I do it because I feel like it does help with loading. My guess is that if you are in soft water or using a softer soap, it's probably not necessary. But there's always the scent thing. I like to enjoy the scents while I sit in my chair next to the sink with my hot towel on my head.

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#8
(This post was last modified: 07-10-2015, 05:19 PM by Overlord.)
I do it with all but the softest soaps. I put hot water on top for about 10 to 20 seconds and then rub that bloom water on my face to wet it. I then load my brush and away I go. It helps bring out the scent and softens the soap a bit to help in loading the brush.


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#9
(07-10-2015, 01:47 PM)tdmsu Wrote: I prefer to bloom my soaps for a few reasons.
Warm or hot water seems to bring out the scent of many soaps. I then load the soap on a dry brush, and face lather.
I think it helps me control the amount of water I use, and makes it easier for me to make the thick lather I prefer, while increasing my enjoyment of the scent.

(07-10-2015, 02:33 PM)PJGH Wrote: I do a sort of blooming ...

I'm a synthetic brush man. I like to put about a teaspoon of water directly onto the soap (so, just a quick flash of water from the tap) and then straight on with a dry brush. I get a really good loading doing that. Onto face and lather up. I don't let the water sit for any length of time and don't have to pre-soak the brush. I'd a sort of blooming.

(07-10-2015, 02:41 PM)PhilS Wrote:
(07-10-2015, 01:47 PM)tdmsu Wrote: I prefer to bloom my soaps for a few reasons.
Warm or hot water seems to bring out the scent of many soaps. I then load the soap on a dry brush, and face lather.
I think it helps me control the amount of water I use, and makes it easier for me to make the thick lather I prefer, while increasing my enjoyment of the scent.
This is exactly what I do and why I do it.

Quite a few dry loading synthetic users here. I love it. This is precisely how I use my soulless brushes. I personally don't notice a difference in scent except among those of poorer quality where the little bit of heat pulls the oils out of the soap.

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#10
I will have to give it ago,especially if it makes a thicker lather quicker. Was given a Edwin Jagger aloe vera hard soap today. So will try it normal way & then try blooming it.

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