In yesterday’s post and the comments that followed I figured out that loading in the brush is a thing—something that repays mindful attention—so today I selected another soap sold in full (rather than partially empty) containers and tried loading with minimal mess.
It turns out to be pretty easy (but then I’ve had a fair amount of experience in brush-loading, so I am better able to recognize when the goal (a fully loaded brush) has been achieved). I picked the Vie-Long horsehair brush shown, and wet the knot well before showering. Then I held the knot under the hot-water tap to get it dripping wet, gave it a shake or two to leave the right amount of water in the brush (the Goldilocks amount: not too much, not too little, but just right—and, obviously, this is where experience pays off and where learning occurs), and then brushed the soap briskly and with focused attention.
It took very little time—my impression is that it took no more time, but when an activity is the focus of mindful attention one’s sense of time passing is distorted, but I didn’t feel that it took any longer than my usual brush loading, and it was indeed more interesting.
I got an excellent lather—it’s quite a good soap—and picked up the red-tipped Rocket, the British version of the Super Speed, made to a higher standard of manufacture and noticeably more skookum. (Tomorrow I’ll use the regular Rocket.) Three passes, very comfortable, BBS result.
A good splash of Pinaud’s Lilac Vegtal, and we get underway.