I don’t use shaving soap or brushes. I just wet my face, rub it with a bar of soap - Ivory will do although I use Shea’s - and lather up. Shave. Repeat for the against the grain pass. Done. Takes me about 5-6 minutes total if I do a good job. Sometimes use canned shaving cream for the second pass.
Good point about the soap. I shave in the shower after washing as the hot water softens my beard. I just soap up my beard again and shave.
Also, blades will last considerably longer if you dry them after use.
I do exactly the same thing (Dial soap)...except in the shower and with a Bic disposable. Two passes...down and up...leaves my face smooth as a baby’s behinny. After shaving, I adjust the sprinkler head to the small-diameter single stream spray mode and blow out the detritus between the blades. Get more mileage outta the disposables. Cheap, efficient and a great end-product.
We share the shaving technique, in every detail.