Mitchell's Wool Fat, my experience

[merchantbanker]

Coming from someone who soaks his brush for 15 to 20 minutes this remark is actually rather funny. Saturating the actual hairs of a brush takes five minutes max. What little extra moisture manages to creep into the depths of the knot due to capillary action during the rest of the soaking is easily balanced by using a little more water during the shave.

The brush only soaks that long because it takes me 15-20 minutes to take the dog outside, pick out my wardrobe, and shower before I shave. I would only keep it in there for 5 minutes if I didn't have this routine. The excess soak time is not deliberate. I do it first thing because sometimes, in my morning haze, I forget to soak the brush. So I've made it the first thing I do in my morning routine.

 

[OldSaw]

The brush only soaks that long because it takes me 15-20 minutes to take the dog outside, pick out my wardrobe, and shower before I shave. I would only keep it in there for 5 minutes if I didn't have this routine. The excess soak time is not deliberate. I do it first thing because sometimes, in my morning haze, I forget to soak the brush. So I've made it the first thing I do in my morning routine.

Now there's dedication for ya. Lassie is sitting by the door with her legs crossed, but he makes sure to put his shave needs first.

 

[Bulging_Biceps]

I got my puck of MWF in the mail yesterday and I had to chuck it already because I had a bad allergic reaction to it. After my shave, my face was red and burning for hours and hours after my shave. It was so bad, people asked me if I had poison ivy. I've already traded it on the B/S/T for a puck of mama bear's turkish bazaar. It did give me a good shave, but that bad of a reaction just isnt worth it.

 

[OldSaw]

I got my puck of MWF in the mail yesterday and I had to chuck it already because I had a bad allergic reaction to it. After my shave, my face was red and burning for hours and hours after my shave. It was so bad, people asked me if I had poison ivy. I've already traded it on the B/S/T for a puck of mama bear's turkish bazaar. It did give me a good shave, but that bad of a reaction just isnt worth it.

That's too bad. It happens sometimes. I had the same thing with Locitane Cade.

 

[salazch12]

I keep hearing about MWF causing problems for people who are prone to acne or ingrown ingrown hairs. Anybody have this experience?

I face lather if I'm in a hurry, but I like to lather MWF in a bowl. It takes more time than my other soaps, but man it makes the thickest richest lather I've ever seen. It just kind of Burns my skin if its already irritated.

 

[Campag Velocet]

Had my first shave with MWF today, I went for it due to all the comments here about how good it is on the skin, must say, I was impressed.

I need more practice at getting the lather rigth though as it wasn't as good as I'd like but it was still usable. I only have a cheap brush, I'm not even sure what it's made of ( it's an Omega brush that came as a set with a tube of their cream) but I'm sure I'll crack it.

 

[Balj86]

I actually enjoy bowl lathering the most even with MWF. In general i'll know that there is enough for my next few passes. But here is another site thats pretty good showing how to face lather with MWF. I'm sure you all know.

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php...oaps/124-mitchells-wool-fat-shaving-soap.html

Have a good one!

 

[salazch12]

I actually enjoy bowl lathering the most even with MWF. In general i'll know that there is enough for my next few passes. But here is another site thats pretty good showing how to face lather with MWF. I'm sure you all know.

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php...oaps/124-mitchells-wool-fat-shaving-soap.html

Have a good one!

wow, thats an awesome website.

 

[drumana]

Marco, we agree on many things (Cella, CH1, D3) but on this one I cannot comply. MWF and I do not play well together.

 

[merchantbanker]

Now there's dedication for ya. Lassie is sitting by the door with her legs crossed, but he makes sure to put his shave needs first.

 

[GeauxLSU]

I fill the sink with HOT water and soak a towel, and at the same time, wet a brush and set it in the mug with the MWF. I strop, apply the hot towel to my face, then start loading the brush, and face lather. I find that it isn't too selective as to brush type, badger or boar. It does make a better lather, IMHO, if you grate or whittle the puck and pack it into a mug. Adding boiling water to the grated/whittled soap will help it fuse into a solid puck again. But, DO NOT pour the water out. Let it evaporate.

 

[Gone Gray]

What really helped me was watching Mantic's video on how to lather with MWF. I almost got rid of my puck, but now I'm able to get three good passes with one load. What also helped was my DB brush warmer.

 

[OkieStubble]

I've only been using Mitchell's for a few weeks and I rotate between four or five soaps, so my experience with it is very limited. I am not a skilled Mitchell's user by any stretch of the imagination, but I haven't had any problems getting a great lather. I load a warm, damp, finest badger brush, and add small amounts of water to a warm "wet" bowl and that's it. I have a harder time with Tabac and that stuff supposedly lathers when air is introduced to the container.

This has been my experience also. I know I have hard water, but have had no problems lathering MWF. I also don't load my brush for very long. If I take out too much water, and overload the brush The MWF gets so thick and creamy it dries onto my face.

I just let my brush drain naturally without shaking any of the excess water out. Load the brush on the dry puck for 15-30 seconds and start face lathering. It will start out bubbily and airy, but consisently thickens into a nice creamy lather with peaks if I just keep turn the brush on my face. I haven't even found the need to add water as I go.

I also seem to get the exact performance whether I use my short stiffer baby pro omega or my floppy shea moisture badger brush.

Since buying MWF, Cella and Tabac at the exact same time and rotating them every three days I have got to realize first hand that all three give amazing performances and lather, however they all lather differently.

We should not expect a "great lather" from different soaps to be identical.

MWF, is a very rich & creamy lather. Cella is very moist with lots of volume. And Tabac is very dense and smooth.

They all appear different on my face, but just as good....

 

[sleekandsmooth]

Great post indeed! I got mine today in the mail...got the whole dish and puck in brand new package off of ebay for $37.00 Canadian...complete steal! I LOVE IT!

 

[tester]

Marco, I just read your post about MWF for the first time. I must admit that like yourself, I LOVE Italian soaps.

Nonetheless, you have given me hope for MWF. Put me on the side of shaver's that has had a lot of troulbe lathering MWF. With your technique noted, I'm going to give MWF another try.

 

[wknicholas]

As for the amount of swirls: it really depends. If you want lots of lather, you load longer. If you use a dry brush, you load longer. If you turn the top of the puck into soggy mush, you load shorter. If you want soapy lather, you load longer. If you want watery lather, you load shorter. If you have a hard brush, you load shorter. If you have a soft brush, you load longer. There is no single magic recipe. For me, 15 to 20 seconds on a puck with my Rooney 3/1 st yields a relatively little and light lather I can't really shave with.

However, hundreds of problem threads indicate that shavers, especially newcomers, grossly underestimate the amount of product they pick up. It also doesn't help that several tutorials mention generating 'tons of product' with 'just a few swirls' when in almost all cases the answer to the problems turns out to be not picking up sufficient product. Loading longer—making more swirls—is then one of the ways this amount can be increased. It automatically eliminates one issue when confronted with a new soap.

Once you're experienced and know what your skin and beard like and how your brush behaves, you can do whatever you want, and take shortcuts. You should take shortcuts, in fact. But for general advice, to create a common baseline, when you're not sure yet what you're up against? Long load times with high swirl counts, no doubt about it.

+1 Excellent observation. My experience exactly!

 

[Sir Ronald]

first shave with the MWF today. I don't whether its the fact that my Omega #48 takes to soaps like a duck to water, but I found lathering an absolute breeze. I followed Mantics tip of face lathering & dipping the brush tip in water periodically. easy peasy.

put me down as another fan of 'the fat'

 

[du212]

Mitchell’s Wool Fat is certainly one of most popular and well known soaps on the market today. But it’s also one of those soaps that people seem to love or to hate. I love it. This shaving soap is, in my opinion, a fantastic soap. I just finished my first puck and already got a new one yesterday. Now I would like to share my experience with my B&B’s mates regarding this great English gem. And I want to discuss what appears to be one of the biggest issues regarding MWF: how to get a good lather. This subject has already been debated for a long time and surely makes sense, since this isn’t the easiest soap to make lather with. From my modest knowledge, and keeping in mind the advices of more expert fans of this traditional English soap, I have come to the conclusion that, in order to get a wonderful lather, I have to follow a few important points:

1. MWF works much better for me if the surface of the puck is previously softened with some drops of warm water;

2. Using warm (not hot) water during the entire lathering process gives me the best results;

3. To my knowledge Mitchell’s Wool Fat seems to love stiff brushes. The best lather I get is, in fact, using my boar brushes or my badger brushes that have great backbone. I like to use any of my Semogue boars and some of my favourite Simpson badgers. I particularly enjoy making lather with my Chubby 1 Super and with my Duke 3 Best;

4. My shaving brush has to be very heavily loaded. I load it for about one minute, which means making over 100 swirls on the surface of the puck. Then I slowly add a few drops of water to the mix and the lather progressively becomes thick, cushioning and slick;

5. This soap, like my beloved Cella, gives me a much, much better lather when face lathering. I do not know why, but bowl lathering with MWF for me fails miserably.

Following the five points above allows me anytime to obtain an incredibly good lather and a very close, comfortable shave. Mitchell’s Wool Fat is one of my all-time favourite shaving soaps.

I agree, but for me worked very well if you out of the MWF bowl with a big boar brush as omega 10098 or semogue 1800, 1305 or 2000.....but very well drained. MWF is very hard in this way you have to load it more tim than other soaps

 

[Luecke2326]

Bump, excellent soap! This is the best way to lather it in my opinion, ymmv! Thanks as always Marko!

 

[Brasso]

Holy Resurrection Batman!