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Is Mitchell's Wool Fat the best ever shaving soap?

Is Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap possibly the best all around shaving soap ever? Sure, there are some soaps that do one thing better, but Mitchell's seems to excel in every category. It has very good slickness, very good residual slickness, builds an amazing creamy lather, feels good on the face, leaves the face feeling fantastic after the shave and it is washed off, and smells very nice. It isn't perfumed and the scent is light and uncomplicated. Some might not like it because it doesn't smell strongly, but to me, that is a plus. I have a soap that is very slightly slicker, but it fails in the other areas in comparison. I don't know what more anyone could ask of a soap.
 
for me not even close :) but the old YMMV

SV is my fav soap but the CC cream is beating it in post comfort these days which is very important to me and I can say if I could have only one at this point would be the CC cream these days which I did not see coming that anything could surpass SV for overall ! scent wise SV slickness during SV again but the post and overall CC Cream !

for scent I think MWF is blah and many others are way nicer and so so many that smell wonderful

as far as building lather and slickness I do have hard water and that effects some soaps big time but the fact others can do just as well in hard water also makes me say WHY cant MWF or others do that :) hmmmmmmmm

again if folks love MWF or whatever that is their best soap I never take this as my soap is better than yours etc.. just what we prefer and why so many soaps are out there and popular
 
I think so. It's a real close call between it and Tabac for me. I have hard water and have no problems with the stuff. The post shave is the best ever. It's fairly inexpensive and lasts a long time. I like the mild and soapy scent, so that fits the bill, also.

Yeah, it's a pretty close for me as "best ever".
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
MWF is a good soap for sure but my Yardley retirement pile will take some beating. Not long until I retire 😁

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Of the soaps I've tried, MWF sits right up there, hard water or no. I've had hard water for close to 30 years where I live and that makes zero difference to lathering MWF. Great product. I also have good luck with Speick, Palmolive, La Toja, and Arko.
 
Is Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap possibly the best all around shaving soap ever? Sure, there are some soaps that do one thing better, but Mitchell's seems to excel in every category. It has very good slickness, very good residual slickness, builds an amazing creamy lather, feels good on the face, leaves the face feeling fantastic after the shave and it is washed off, and smells very nice. It isn't perfumed and the scent is light and uncomplicated. Some might not like it because it doesn't smell strongly, but to me, that is a plus. I have a soap that is very slightly slicker, but it fails in the other areas in comparison. I don't know what more anyone could ask of a soap.


No, I don’t think so.

“Best…ever” suggests that there is no improvement possible, which I doubt on principle.

MWF has also too many reports of people who struggle to get an acceptable lather from it, which is a serious shortcoming in my book. So much for “best all around shaving soap” and “excel in every category”.

As much as I enjoy MWF and like its performance, I would not put it on a pedestal where it does not belong.
Of course, if someone should decide that MWF is the best ever shaving soap for himself that is entirely a different matter.


B.
 
Agree that Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) is one of the best all around shaving soaps that I'm happy to have in my rotation. Really like its core shaving performance where I'm easily able to generate really great lather in a minute or two with a boar brush lathering on the puck. Lather is rich, long lasting and provides plenty of initial and residual slickness. Mild aroma to me is a pleasing scent of "clean".

@Doc Dan you are right that MWF excels on an all around basis. Do recognize that with YMMV others may prefer different soaps for unique characteristics such as scent or a softer croap-like texture (e.g. many artisan soaps) that lather almost instantly. As a result shavers will determine what the best is per personal perferences.
 
It is a good quality soap, comparable to the late lamented Williams Mug Soap in my experience.
Hi Owen, coming from a DE shaving journey that started with Williams I've also noted the similarity and posted accordingly in the past. Top three ingredients are the same. Very similar in core shaving performance with the differences in the area of a more pleasing mild scent and better post shave feel from MWF.
 
Is Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap possibly the best all around shaving soap ever? Sure, there are some soaps that do one thing better, but Mitchell's seems to excel in every category. It has very good slickness, very good residual slickness, builds an amazing creamy lather, feels good on the face, leaves the face feeling fantastic after the shave and it is washed off, and smells very nice. It isn't perfumed and the scent is light and uncomplicated. Some might not like it because it doesn't smell strongly, but to me, that is a plus. I have a soap that is very slightly slicker, but it fails in the other areas in comparison. I don't know what more anyone could ask of a soap.
The qualities you look for in a soap appear the same as mine and I would be hard pushed to think of another soap that does ALL these things quite as well.

There are soaps that do some things better but none that I can't think of that "covers the spread" like The Fat.

Close but ultimately no cigar for me are:

Tabac - performs like a dream but the scent is a bit much.
Artisan "Italian style" croaps - smell & perform great but all that "skin-food" make them a pain in the arse to rinse off.
ARKO! - a classic and a superb performer but the post-shave is, shall we say, somewhat drying...
Proraso Green - a doddle to lather but leaves a hefty residue on everything it touches.
TOBS Sandalwood (hard puck) - best scent ever, not the best lather ever.
 
It's a great soap for sure, not easy for me to lather, so I don't use it often, but I love the scent.
 
MWF is a top tier soap for me but not the best ever. I do plan on getting a replacement puck but need to use up some of the other stuff that I already have
 
Bests....
Price point
Scent
Slickness
Longevity of the soap itself

Non Bests...
Can't think of any at the moment

The slickness of MWF does not compare well against the slickness of La Toja, nor the price point of another of my favorites.

ARKO
 
The term; 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', can be applied to shaving soaps, razors, whatever. It's what you personally think is the best that really matters.
I had never tried MWF till I joined this forum, and read so about it. after trying it I found that I had no trouble whipping up some very nice lather, and the post shave feel was great. But I'm not ready to call it the 'best' ever. Not yet anyway. 🤫
 
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