[EXPERIMENT] Seeking Testers for the New Formulation of Mitchell’s Wool Fat Soap

[AJMiami]

For those who are fans of Mitchell’s Wool Fat Soap, as well as for those who might not have been impressed with the previous formulation, I would like to invite you to participate in a testing experiment. Seeking your review and comparison to help us better understand this new formulation.

The plan is to recruit between 10 and 12 participants who have experience with the old formulation of the soap. Ideally, we should aim for a diverse mix - half of the participants should be those who enjoyed using the old formula, while the other half should be those who found it lacking in some way. This diversity will provide us with a broad range of opinions and insights into how the new formulation compares to the old one.

Each tester will receive a 10-gram sample of the new formulation, freshly grated from a new puck of soap. I am planning to mail the samples by Monday, enabling you to start your testing some time this upcoming week.

Here are the expectations for the participants:

• Use the provided sample for at least a couple of shaves.
• Share your honest thoughts, observations, and reviews on this forum thread.
• Compare the new formulation with the old one, offering comments on aspects such as ease of lathering, slickness, post-shave feel, and scent, among other factors.

This experiment is an excellent opportunity for us to come together as a community and explore the changes made to this popular shaving soap. If you’re interested in participating, please reply to this thread.

CONUS only to facilitate shipping the samples

 

[Unidentified_Snail]

Is this NA only? EU? I'm in the UK and would take part. I have a ceramic bowl w/puck of the old version and It's my favourite soap. My second favourite is Haslinger which is non-tallow based, so would be interesting to compare all of those three.

 

[AJMiami]

Ah good point, this is for CONUS only

 

[jaro 101969]

I would be interested in being in your experiment.... If thats okay?

 

[AJMiami]

I would be interested in being in your experiment.... If thats okay?

Yes. I’ll send PM prior to sending to get your mailing address

 

[AJMiami]

I suggest you reply, as
In, + tallow (if you have or had good results with the old tallow formula), or
In, - tallow (if you didn’t have good results with the old tallow formula)

 

[ewk]

In, + tallow

 

[Hawkeye_90]

In, - tallow

 

[jaro 101969]

In, + and - (was okay not the best) tallow...
I hope that's an acceptable explanation...

 

[Timeclo]

I'm in. + & - tallow. Had one puck that would not lather. The next is working well.

 

[Galaktus]

In, please I'll say +tallow, but I have had a puck once I had to trash because I couldn't get it to lather. I guess you could say I've had 2 great pucks and one bad.

 

[Dtownvino]

Will be watching this closely. Also had a puck I couldn’t lather.

 

[AJMiami]

Current participants:
Likes tallow:
1. ewk
2. Galaktus
3. planofman

Mixed results with tallow:
1. jaro 101969
2. Haweye_90
3. Timeclo

We have enough samples ready for 5 more participants, feel free to add your name below . Envelops with samples will go out on Monday.

 

[DesertIguana]

Nice offer for those who have used old stuff.

 

[Jayson74]

If I wasn't in Canada I would be in for this. I have tallow MWF and get great shaves with it.

Be well
Jay

 

[Lane101]

For those who are fans of Mitchell’s Wool Fat Soap, as well as for those who might not have been impressed with the previous formulation, I would like to invite you to participate in a testing experiment. Seeking your review and comparison to help us better understand this new formulation.

The plan is to recruit between 10 and 12 participants who have experience with the old formulation of the soap. Ideally, we should aim for a diverse mix - half of the participants should be those who enjoyed using the old formula, while the other half should be those who found it lacking in some way. This diversity will provide us with a broad range of opinions and insights into how the new formulation compares to the old one.

Each tester will receive a 10-gram sample of the new formulation, freshly grated from a new puck of soap. I am planning to mail the samples by Monday, enabling you to start your testing some time this upcoming week.

Here are the expectations for the participants:

• Use the provided sample for at least a couple of shaves.
• Share your honest thoughts, observations, and reviews on this forum thread.
• Compare the new formulation with the old one, offering comments on aspects such as ease of lathering, slickness, post-shave feel, and scent, among other factors.

This experiment is an excellent opportunity for us to come together as a community and explore the changes made to this popular shaving soap. If you’re interested in participating, please reply to this thread.

CONUS only to facilitate shipping the samples

Hi AJMiami, Very generous though respectfully not in.

Recommend that the evaluations focus primarily on lather and shave quality and grating the soap automatically makes it easier to lather versus a hard puck. For those who have not used grated soaps in the past you should find a container, such as a small bowl or coffee mug, and press the gratings down as hard as possible to best emulate loading from a solid puck.

Suggest that anyone who wants to evaluate lathering ease also grate some of their tallow pucks in a separate container to enable a fair comparison as even when pressed into a container, the grated soaps are always easier to lather than a solid puck. Leaned this from all my experimentation with soap blends.

Looking forward to seeing the test results.

 

[ewk]

Recommend that the evaluations focus primarily on lather and shave quality and grating the soap automatically makes it easier to lather versus a hard puck. . . . Suggest that anyone who wants to evaluate lathering ease also grate some of their tallow pucks in a separate container to enable a fair comparison as even when pressed into a container, the grated soaps are always easier to lather than a solid puck.

To be honest, that is the reason I have great success with MWF. The full puck is grated and pressed into the bowl. It really does make a big difference, and lathering has been as easy as can be for me. Even when I have not used it in a while, letting some water bloom on top for a few minutes before use, and it lathers like a dream. To my benefit, I live in an area with water that is not hard. After volunteering for this experiment, I rehydrated my MWF and have been using it to make a fair comparison to the new formulation.

 

[Cleanface]

If it’s still open I’m in +/-. Present puck makes good lather but there’s no slick whatsoever. I always suspected it was a bad puck.

 

[AJMiami]

If it’s still open I’m in +/-. Present puck makes good lather but there’s no slick whatsoever. I always suspected it was a bad puck.

Thanks for participating

 

[PLANofMAN]

I'm in. + & - tallow. Had one puck that would not lather. The next is working well.

In, please I'll say +tallow, but I have had a puck once I had to trash because I couldn't get it to lather. I guess you could say I've had 2 great pucks and one bad.

Will be watching this closely. Also had a puck I couldn’t lather.

If it’s still open I’m in +/-. Present puck makes good lather but there’s no slick whatsoever. I always suspected it was a bad puck.

For those of you who might be unaware, there was a bad run of batches, affecting both MWF and Kent shave soap.

Batch # 8287 (summer 2020) and Batch #8923 (summer/fall 2022) are the worst offenders. Considered unusable.
Batch #9207 (fall 2022) works, but is not up to usual standards.

Batch #'s are on the label of the Kent soap, inside the box flap on the MWF soap.