Gave Mike's another shot, still not very good.

[JHP]

First, I've never used Mike's, but I've seen similar posts with products I do use. Will you guys that are having difficulty try one experiment on a test lather? Start with a dry brush, load your brush more than usual (even double), and then when you're building lather, slowly add water until your lather totally falls apart with big bubbles and is soupy. I'm not saying that you guys don't know how to make lather. It's just that I was surprised how much water I could add before my lather fell apart, and I've noticed different product will hold different amounts.

I was getting no-glide lather with a couple products before doing this drill. Now I add water while building lather until I get peaks that will stand-up, but the tips flop over. It's made a big improvement in the comfort of my shaves.

Just my milage.

 

[keithmax]

I live in an area where our water is classified as very hard and Mike's lathers easily for me. Again, I think this is an oddity and not just a water hardness issue. Maybe it's the type of mineral in the water.

It must be the minerals in your water. Mike's works great for me at home but it did not work as well for m on my trip to Thailand. The water in Thailand was not particularly hard and I could make lather, it just did not have the usual glide and protection. I also brought some QCS on the trip and it worked fine.

 

[noahpictures]

Very strange. My favorite soaps have been Tabac and MWF but for the last two months all I've been using are Mike's soaps. I find the lather protective and slick. One advantage it has over other soaps is that the lather stays wet longer. I have four flavors including two samples and they perform similarly.

 

[nav]

The method I use to get awesome lather from Mike's (pine/cedar) is to swirl the brush on the soap for 5 seconds then add a tiny bit of water to the brush and swirl for another 5 seconds. I repeat this process about 4 times and end up with a thick, creamy, slick and protective lather.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I think Mike's is one of the best soaps that appeared here in the last years. It is not complicated to get excellent lather form it. There are now three of them in my soap stash. Maybe use a drier brush and add water slowly.

 

[Charlie NJ]

Mikes soaps are great, even the tin he uses is easy. It's wide and shallow so you can load the brush easily when face lathering. I've heard if you have hard water it can be tuff to get good lather with it but that can be said with most soaps. For me it lathers well, is slick and protects your skin well and smells great.

 

[SafetyRZRBgnr78]

I just used Mikes for the first time yesterday and I got a decent slick and protective lather but it wasn't thick and creamy.

I did face lather and didn't at that much water or soak my sample in water either. So I'm gonna try a drier brush and soak the sample and load a little longer then add water as I keep lathering.

 

[ODJ]

First, I've never used Mike's, but I've seen similar posts with products I do use. Will you guys that are having difficulty try one experiment on a test lather? Start with a dry brush, load your brush more than usual (even double), and then when you're building lather, slowly add water until your lather totally falls apart with big bubbles and is soupy. I'm not saying that you guys don't know how to make lather. It's just that I was surprised how much water I could add before my lather fell apart, and I've noticed different product will hold different amounts.

I was getting no-glide lather with a couple products before doing this drill. Now I add water while building lather until I get peaks that will stand-up, but the tips flop over. It's made a big improvement in the comfort of my shaves.

Just my milage.

I've tried that. As I mentioned, I've made drier lather, wetter lather, etc. Dry brush, wet brush, longer loading time, etc. My lather looks legit, like all the other lathers I create that give me wonderful results, but once on my face, although it still looks great, there is no protection. With Mikes i always get irritation in a few spots and the shave isn't as close as i get with the other products I use.

 

[Big Jay]

Two suggestions before you pass on it (and many other soaps):

1) Soak your brush in a cup of warm distilled water prior to use
2) Use Marco's Lathering method.

Also, if you are using a dry brush loading method, Mike's soaps are THIRSTY.

I started using the above two suggestions for all my soaps and it made a ton of difference.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Two suggestions before you pass on it (and many other soaps):

1) Soak your brush in a cup of warm distilled water prior to use
2) Use Marco's Lathering method.

Also, if you are using a dry brush loading method, Mike's soaps are THIRSTY.

I started using the above two suggestions for all my soaps and it made a ton of difference.

Never tried Mike's, but I will second this. Whenever you are having trouble with any soap the easiest variable to deal with is water. Pick up some distilled water and give it a go.

 

[joser]

I've tried that. As I mentioned, I've made drier lather, wetter lather, etc. Dry brush, wet brush, longer loading time, etc. My lather looks legit, like all the other lathers I create that give me wonderful results, but once on my face, although it still looks great, there is no protection. With Mikes i always get irritation in a few spots and the shave isn't as close as i get with the other products I use.

It sounds like you are bowl lathering, so give face lathering a shot. I prefer bowl lathering but am usually pressed for time in the mornings and the few times (weekends) that I have bowl lathered Mike's it doesn't turn out too good.

 

[ODJ]

It sounds like you are bowl lathering, so give face lathering a shot. I prefer bowl lathering but am usually pressed for time in the mornings and the few times (weekends) that I have bowl lathered Mike's it doesn't turn out too good.

Nope. not a face latherer. Honestly, I've given this product more chances than I have others. I appreciate all the suggestions, but I am not going to 'reinvent the wheel' so to speak just to try and get a product to work! I feel that there are so many other great products out there that do work for me, and fit into my routine and the way I do things, that there really is no reason to try and change everything else just to accommodate one product! I feel like I've given it a fair shot, and simply put, it's not for me. I'm not going to go through some ridiculous ritual, use bottled, distilled water, stand on my head, do three twirls, add two drops of water to my brush every 3.5 seconds, pray to the lather gods, and then face later! I sincerely do appreciate the suggestions, but my point for this thread wasn't to get advice. i was just simply posting my thoughts and experiences on the product from my perspective! I still think Mike's have some of the best scents out there, but if they don't perform and create a decent lather relatively easily, I'm not interested. I get an exponentially superior lather from VDH Deluxe and QCS. Thanks though, to everyone for the suggestions and advice!

 

[Big Jay]

Nope. not a face latherer. Honestly, I've given this product more chances than I have others. I appreciate all the suggestions, but I am not going to 'reinvent the wheel' so to speak just to try and get a product to work! I feel that there are so many other great products out there that do work for me, and fit into my routine and the way I do things, that there really is no reason to try and change everything else just to accommodate one product! I feel like I've given it a fair shot, and simply put, it's not for me. I'm not going to go through some ridiculous ritual, use bottled, distilled water, stand on my head, do three twirls, add two drops of water to my brush every 3.5 seconds, pray to the lather gods, and then face later! I sincerely do appreciate the suggestions, but my point for this thread wasn't to get advice. i was just simply posting my thoughts and experiences on the product from my perspective! I still think Mike's have some of the best scents out there, but if they don't perform and create a decent lather relatively easily, I'm not interested. I get an exponentially superior lather from VDH Deluxe and QCS. Thanks though, to everyone for the suggestions and advice!

It's definitely a YMMV hobby.

However, I thought I was getting great lather with my current line up until I switched to the techniques above. I was a bowl lather guy, then a hybrid, and finally now just face lather. You can use Marco's method and the distilled water for bowl lathering.

I just found that ALL of my soaps perform in a superior way. Even just switching to distilled water as a major improvement for all my soaps. So in short, give new things a try. You may find that they help EVERYTHING exponentially, not just Mike's.

 

[blackman]

I'm really sorry man. Mike's is my favorite soap. I have 3 tins of it. Use what works best for you.

 

[shave~extacy]

I only use Mike's these days as I am a loyal creature of habit, but you need to find what works for you, I find Mike's very slippery and a fine product!

+1 I havent found a better product, IMO very slippery moisturizing and protective.

 

[PomfretSteve]

Bummer, I have very hard water, but no issue making slick "cushiony" lather with Mike's. In fact the cushion it provides me is so great I have to be careful that I don't apply additional pressure because I literally can not feel the blade on my skin when using it, YMMV. If it didn't work for me I wouldn't use it either though.

 

[Attila]

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. Mike's is by far the best soap out of all of my soaps and I don't find it difficult to lather. Must be the water where you are at. Anyhow, like you said, there are other choices for shave soaps so I wish you good luck and pleasant shaves!

 

[Deltaboy]

Mill it together with a stick of ARKO and you will be set.

 

[SEnSE]

Mill it together with a stick of ARKO and you will be set.

Now that's some good thinking there. Or even KMF pumped on top. Or just PIF/Sell it and be done with it. Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I'm just glad that I get to enjoy the scents and performance. Cheers!

 

[Derty]

I really want to try Mikes and hope to get some soon. The orange, cedarwood and black pepper sounds nice. I live in a hard water area and am curious what my results will be when I,can finally score some Mikes.