Regular use is the key with this and other hard soaps. I have a water softener. The lather from MWF is incredibly slick.
Problems with Mitchell’s Wool Fat
- Thread starter AUvet14
- Start date
I tried this today and wow... What a difference! First, I was getting the same airy later that dissipates and thought it was too dry. Based on my results today I think it was too wet. Literally drops of water in order to get sure peaks. Too much water gives it too many bubbles and you have to work it to get them out. Thanks for the tips! Probably the first time I really enjoyed MWF!!
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Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
That's great news!!!
I rotate soaps based on my mood, and admittedly I seem to have cooperative water. But there is something to be said about the puck being hydrated. Mine lives next to the sink regardless of a 1:10 day average use. I treat it like a house plant, I drip enough water on top of the puck to cover most of the surface. Not submerging the puck. Then I cover it up. Sometimes there is a little water around the puck, I’ll pour that into the lid then back on top of the puck. With this system, the brushes load well enough, but the soap is still pretty firm.
It's a great soap! Never any issues. Enjoy
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Great description! I never managed to put my finger on it myself, but milky is perfect! And very nice it is!
For the few stubborn soaps I’ve encountered, nothing loads and lathers faster than a soppy-wet badger brush.
I've been using MWF for a decade and it's still my #1 soap.
I'll tell you what I've told every other person having troubles with it...
Your problem is not too much water, it's not enough water!
This sounds counterintuitive and I feel this is why the soap trips up so many.
When you see lather that is fluffy or light or disappearing or "flaking off your face", you need to add more water and keep working it.
It will thicken up into a very creamy, dense and shiny lather.
No fancy tricks needed. Just load and lather up adding water and watch it thicken up like magic!
MWF takes a ton of water so your brush should feel heavy when it's full of optimal MWF lather.
MWF is one of my favourite soaps. It won't take long to dial it in and when you do you will find its a wonderful product. Enjoy!
I have literally spent the last few weeks of my life trying to nail Mitchell’s Wool Fat. I tried every suggestion I came across online... Soaking it for 24 hours, different brushes, bathing it in unicorn tears etc you name it....
I just could not get beyond a weak lather that disappeared quickly.
However the last 2 shaves and I have made significant breakthroughs in making it work for me. Essentially I found it’s all about the ratio of soap to water, combined with some elbow grease. IT NEEDS MORE WATER.
Here’s my method step by step.
1. ‘Bloom’ the soap, fill the dish it’s in with hot water and leave for 10 mins, maybe whilst you shower.
2. Empty the water and take your brush that should be wet/just been soaking. Shake off a little water but not so much that it’s dry. Now give it a really good loading on the soap for about 30 seconds. I mean it, load it like you are trying to kill it. Lather should be spilling out of the dish at this point.
3. Start to whip the soap in a shaving bowl, I use a stainless steel Grutti bowl but anything will do. You won’t see much of a lather building at this point.
4. Splash your fingertips in water and sprinkle this into the lather, keep on whipping the soap and work any escaping lather back down into the bowl.
5. Add another ‘fingertip’ sprinkling of water and keep on working it. At this point you should see a fair amount of lather, maybe climbing out the edges of the bowl by now.
6. You think you’re done but you’re not. Add another fingertip sprinkling of water in the mix and keep on whipping up the lather.
7. At this point the lather should be going everywhere, thick, ‘peaky’ and very slick, you will know when you’ve got the water right because the lather creation will just come alive.
8. Paint onto a wet face with you brush and enjoy a super slick shave!
And to put the water hardness argument to bed.... I live in a super hard water area.
Also, so far, regardless of the fact I am now getting a really nice lather, there is still bubbles in it, but perhaps that’s normal. Or maybe they will go if I work it in the bowl longer. However the above process already takes a couple of minutes and it’s just some god damn soap. I cannot stress enough that this soap likes a bit of water, it looks somewhat ready before it is, add more water and keep going from there and you will be rewarded.
I was working to an expectation that MWF will produce a lather of the same consistency as a really easy to use cream such as Taylor’s. However I am not sure that will ever be the case... it’s a totally different product. And despite what people go on about online, I have yet to see a picture of MWF lather that looks like bubble free whipped yoghurt, only those that look like foam from a soap, which naturally will have some bubbles in.
Even though I am making progress, I think I could still do better. But I am really feeling like I know the answer now. This soap needs water, much more than you might think.
The pictures below show my work with only 2 sprinkles of water, I added a third after these pics and it really really started to come alive, and even then I think another sprinkle of water is in order.
Can’t wait til next time!
I just could not get beyond a weak lather that disappeared quickly.
However the last 2 shaves and I have made significant breakthroughs in making it work for me. Essentially I found it’s all about the ratio of soap to water, combined with some elbow grease. IT NEEDS MORE WATER.
Here’s my method step by step.
1. ‘Bloom’ the soap, fill the dish it’s in with hot water and leave for 10 mins, maybe whilst you shower.
2. Empty the water and take your brush that should be wet/just been soaking. Shake off a little water but not so much that it’s dry. Now give it a really good loading on the soap for about 30 seconds. I mean it, load it like you are trying to kill it. Lather should be spilling out of the dish at this point.
3. Start to whip the soap in a shaving bowl, I use a stainless steel Grutti bowl but anything will do. You won’t see much of a lather building at this point.
4. Splash your fingertips in water and sprinkle this into the lather, keep on whipping the soap and work any escaping lather back down into the bowl.
5. Add another ‘fingertip’ sprinkling of water and keep on working it. At this point you should see a fair amount of lather, maybe climbing out the edges of the bowl by now.
6. You think you’re done but you’re not. Add another fingertip sprinkling of water in the mix and keep on whipping up the lather.
7. At this point the lather should be going everywhere, thick, ‘peaky’ and very slick, you will know when you’ve got the water right because the lather creation will just come alive.
8. Paint onto a wet face with you brush and enjoy a super slick shave!
And to put the water hardness argument to bed.... I live in a super hard water area.
Also, so far, regardless of the fact I am now getting a really nice lather, there is still bubbles in it, but perhaps that’s normal. Or maybe they will go if I work it in the bowl longer. However the above process already takes a couple of minutes and it’s just some god damn soap. I cannot stress enough that this soap likes a bit of water, it looks somewhat ready before it is, add more water and keep going from there and you will be rewarded.
I was working to an expectation that MWF will produce a lather of the same consistency as a really easy to use cream such as Taylor’s. However I am not sure that will ever be the case... it’s a totally different product. And despite what people go on about online, I have yet to see a picture of MWF lather that looks like bubble free whipped yoghurt, only those that look like foam from a soap, which naturally will have some bubbles in.
Even though I am making progress, I think I could still do better. But I am really feeling like I know the answer now. This soap needs water, much more than you might think.
The pictures below show my work with only 2 sprinkles of water, I added a third after these pics and it really really started to come alive, and even then I think another sprinkle of water is in order.
Can’t wait til next time!
I wish I read comments like yours sooner. I have just spent the last few weeks experimenting with MWF to finally come to the same conclusion the hard way. This soap needs more water.
I'm so glad you got to discover the potential of MWF!!
I have 70+ soaps in rotation and MWF is the only soap to give me the closest shave and smoothest post-shave feel. Others have also mentioned this unique factor of MWF.
Yah, exactly!
I describe it as a heavy yet silky lather.
It's unique compared to the thick yoghurty lather of other soaps.
Used the Fat this AM I with outstanding results!! For me, MWF is about as good as it gets!! Around here the two keys are: #1. ‘Load it like you hate it!’ Then, #2. Water, and more water! 
I have had trouble lathering this soap since I started in 2008. I used to only get suds with it, and now use it with a cream for a superlather.
I recall about ten years ago there was a reversal in the wisdom of soaking the puck as someone claimed to write to MWF on the issue and they claimed it negatively effected soap.
Looks like that isn't an issue anymore ...
I recall about ten years ago there was a reversal in the wisdom of soaking the puck as someone claimed to write to MWF on the issue and they claimed it negatively effected soap.
Looks like that isn't an issue anymore ...
So tonight shave was the best yet. I followed the same procedure with lathering MWF before except this time I added another sprinkle n a bit of water and damnnnnnn the lather really comes alive. Becomes very very slick and there’s loads of it in the bowl.
Seems I have cracked it. Plenty of water, more than you might think, and all of a sudden BOOM there it is.
Next time I’m going to use some more water again and find the breaking point, then I think I’ll find the sweet spot of maximum slickness but it’s already very good.
Seems I have cracked it. Plenty of water, more than you might think, and all of a sudden BOOM there it is.
Next time I’m going to use some more water again and find the breaking point, then I think I’ll find the sweet spot of maximum slickness but it’s already very good.
I got my first pick of MWF yesterday and tried out what you said but with double the time. I still got a quickly dissipating foam instead of proper lather. I also tried to work it in for 7 or so minutes before I gave up out of fear of brush burn. I dipped my tuxedo knot brush into warm water, shook out all the excess to where there were no drops coming out of the brush but it was still damp. I put pressure on the puck and vigorously loaded for around 3 minutes because I was getting froth instead of paste. After 3 minutes it was still frothy, but I stopped there. Then I painted the froth on my face and it sort of turned into a paste but it was dissipating quickly. I kept adding water to the brush and re-painting hoping it would thicken up but it never happened. It just stayed as a not so thick but kind of runny soapy heavy water. I splayed the brush and got to work on lathering but after 3 minutes it was just producing bubbles and foam. I added a little more water to the brush because I thought it was a little dehydrated and went back to work vigorously scrubbing, trying to work down the foam into lather. It never happened. Like I said earlier, after 7 minutes I gave up because I was afraid of brush burn and I settled for a one pass shave instead of my usual 2 or 3.
I'm going to try again today but I'm not sure the results will be different.
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MWF is my favorite from the first time I used it.
I have the soap in its porcelain case. I fill it with water, and leave it for about 10 minutes. The same I do with my brush. I leave it for about ten minutes in warm water.
I rinse my face very very well. So in ten minutes, I take all the water out of the soap. Not even a drop. The soap is ready. The same I do with my brush. No water. All out.
Then, I work with my brush and soap for about 20-30 seconds. My brush is full of soap and sticky to the soap. That's how it tells me to stop and it is ready.
I rinse my face with water again and I start lather on my face. About two times, I use some drops of water on my brush.
That's it. Perfect lather. Everything works from the first time.
I have the soap in its porcelain case. I fill it with water, and leave it for about 10 minutes. The same I do with my brush. I leave it for about ten minutes in warm water.
I rinse my face very very well. So in ten minutes, I take all the water out of the soap. Not even a drop. The soap is ready. The same I do with my brush. No water. All out.
Then, I work with my brush and soap for about 20-30 seconds. My brush is full of soap and sticky to the soap. That's how it tells me to stop and it is ready.
I rinse my face with water again and I start lather on my face. About two times, I use some drops of water on my brush.
That's it. Perfect lather. Everything works from the first time.
Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
I'm sorry your having such trouble with the MWF. It sounds like you've put in the time for both loading and lathering. I would suggests being VERY stingy with the water. You may want to dry out the brush a bit more before loading....the frothy "runny soapy heavy water" suggests to me that there is still too much water. I've found that my synthetics (I've got a half dozen different Yaqi's) really hold the water. So even though I plunge the dry brush into a bowl of warm water before starting, I end up squeezing the bristles to get the water that's trapped inside the brush to fall out. Then I do a shake (wrist flick) to get that out, and then start the load. Basically when you're loading, it should be paste-like, I may drop 2 or 3 droplets of water on the brush using my fingers if it looks like it would help me get more paste on the brush. After the load, I dampen my face and start the face lather. Again, I'm stingy with the water as I'm building the lather (dropping only a few drops at a time on the brush).
Others may have better advice, but that's what I'd try next. Now all of that said, I don't ever get a Santa Claus beard from MWF, it's better than "clown paint", but my lathers tend to be more thin. But if it's dissipating, then there's a definite problem....the lather may not be as fluffy as cream from a can, but it definitely should not be disappearing.
I hope that helps, and please post back and let me know how it goes.
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