Campbell Lather Machine

For Christmas I got a hot lather machine. It clamped on top of either gel or shaving cream dispensers, and it heated the lather pretty good. I mostly liked it, but it was a pain to change containers, both gel and shaving cream tended to get watery when heated, and when you first pushed the button it would do a brief high pressure spurt.Then I remembered that when I used to go to barbers they had hot lather machines, and I figured I should be able to buy one. I poked around on the net and found only one: the Campbell Lather Machine. You can buy it at any number of barber shop suppliers for between $175 and $200. I figured, "What the heck," and bought one.And I love it! I've had it about two months and it works great. Does anyone else out here have one of these? I have a couple questions that I've been wondering about. I'll be answering these questions myself with a little experimentation, but that will take time.One question is about the soap solution - what is it? Do I have to continue ordering it from barber shop suppliers? Or is just some kind of commonly available soap?Another question is about the thickness of the lather. I tried doubling the amount of soap in the solution to get even thicker lather, but the machine stopped producing lather and I had to refill it with the recommended mixture. Anyone had any luck producing thicker lather?Another question is about the cleaning solution. Is it something special, or is it really just what it smells like, which is regular old isopropyl alcohol?--PercyThis message has been edited by Percy, Wed, 04-19-2006 05:39 PM

I haven't shaved since 1982, but I'm guessing it would have to be Campbell's Soup.

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Oops! Spell checkers are okay, but what I really need is a "what I meant" checker. I'm fixing the OP.--Percy

Percy, thickness (viscosity) of a foam is primarily a function of the liquid:gas ratio - soap solution to air in this situation, I suppose. If there's a way to get a little more air into your mix, you should get stiffer lather.As to the nature of the soap, my bet would be that it's fairly generic stuff. But unless the label on your current container lists "laureth-3 sulfate" and the like, it's pretty hard to guess exactly what to try. I've got chemical company formularies for bunches of cosmetic stuff like shampoos, whitewall tire cleaner, and Windex, but I don't remember shaving foam mix in any of them. Let me know, though, if ingredients are listed on the stuff you get.Hot lather! Maybe I can find by genuine badger-hair brush and buy a cake of shaving soap somewhere.....edit - kant spelThis message has been edited by Coragyps, 04-19-2006 06:57 PM

They sell this stuff in Walmart (unless you're really serious about genuine badger-hair). I gave it a try. It takes a minute or two to whip up enough lather, and it's all soapy and no creamy, I didn't really like it. The Campbell machine's lather is more soapy than shaving cream (which isn't like soap at all), but not so much that it bothers me (probably because it's whipped far more than you can do it by hand), and it seems to give a better shave than regular shaving cream.My wife tells me that her father used to soap his face and then apply shaving cream over it, but I hear he had a really tough beard.--Percy

The solid soap I used to use with Mr Badger was Crabtree & Evelyn, and it was just about as creamy as the aerosol stuff. Kind of expensive, but hey - a cake lasted over six months.

Hmmm. So maybe better soap is called for. But I seem to recall another drawback to this approach. I'd add a little hot water to the shaving cup and stir things up with the brush to get lather, but by the time I had lather it was at room temperature. Did you have better luck getting hot lather this way?--Percy

It appears that classicshaving.com rejects the Campbell machine...I wonder why? Could it be that they are purists who wanna go back to the days before electricty? Truthfully, Percy...I use cheap blades that I buy in an 80 pack from Cosco, so I am no lather expert. I hope that your machine works well for you, though.This message has been edited by Phat, 04-20-2006 08:39 AM

Throw out that infernal machine, Percy--patronize a good barber, help stimulate the economy, and save a grand institution from extinction.In Asia I could afford to do that, and it was a constant joy. Every haircut was accompanied by a thorough massage, manicure, and pedicure.And there's something about a straight razor gliding over your throat in the morning that snaps the day into focus.This message has been edited by Omnivorous, 04-20-2006 11:46 AM

I found that site, too, before I ordered, and decided to ignore it. Once I received mine a possible reason became clear - it comes with no instructions. The company I ordered mine from included their own page of brief instructions, and it kept me from doing what was my initial inclination - just pour the container of soap into the hopper. This is far too concentrated a soap solution (by about 30 times) and would jam up the machine. I experimented a bit and found that just doubling the recommended soap concentration was enough to jam up the machine. When that happens you have to pour out the soap and solution and refill the hopper with the right solution to unjam it, and it takes a bit of playing with before it unjams. I shave with one of those vibrating razors from Gilette that has three blades. I A/B'd it with both a non-vibrating 3-blade razor, and a non-vibrating 5-blade razor - it beat both. They all shave smooth - the difference can only be discerned about 8 hours later.Coincidentally, my son called me just a couple hours ago and said he'd used my lather machine for the first time because he'd run out of shaving cream - he said he couldn't believe how much closer a shave he got. He usually uses an electric shaver, but he lost the cord a couple months ago, so he can't recharge it.--Percy

Percy, how much of a difference would it make on legs? I loathe, detest and abominate shaving my legs, but I have to since they're short, fat and hairy. At least by shaving them they're only short and fat. Thing is, I just rub on ordinary soap, scrape with a cheap disposable and my legs are velcro-ed to my soft furnishings within 2 days. Does shaving foam in general give a closer shave on legs?Any chance you could experiment and find out which is best for legs - bar of soap, can of shaving foam or your super duper lather machine? I'd do the experiment myself, but you've got the machine and I haven't.

the thought of someone with a straight edge razor that close to my throat would do that.

My only barber-shop facial shave ever was from a barber who I swear had the beginnings of Parkinson's disease - his hands shook up to the point that he applied that bare blade to my skin, and then he turned just as steady as you'd like him to be. Strange experience.Percy, I'd always wet just the brush and get warm - not barbershop hot - lather. Better than cold from an aerosol can.Trixie - try canned shaving foam after warm water, and let the foam soak on your legs for half a minute before starting. I don't know if Gillette sells in bonny Scotland, but try something sharper than a "cheap disposable." Gillette's Sensor is as comfortable as I've found, and comes in gray for boys or pink for girls.

I'm interested to see the experiment Percy would do, though, to prove his gizmo is the best. Would he shave his own legs or would he, in the interests of scientific accuracy, enlist the help of numerous leggy females? And do we have any volunteers to assist him?

I'd volunteer to inspect their legs to determine the quality of the shave.