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I finally mastered MWF !

I had never tried MWF until reading all the comments on how hard it was to lather. Thinking it would be a fun challenge, I ordered a puck. I was disappointed in the challenge, because after blooming it a little I had little trouble whipping up plenty of very good lather. 👌
 
I had never tried MWF until reading all the comments on how hard it was to lather. Thinking it would be a fun challenge, I ordered a puck. I was disappointed in the challenge, because after blooming it a little I had little trouble whipping up plenty of very good lather. 👌
To me MWF is simply one of the finest soaps, period. And I've tried just about everything. I have noticed, however, that it seems to really click using a synthetic brush. Try that. Use plenty of water in the blooming. I also almost always use MWF as a face lather. Don't give up. When you dial it in, I think you'll find it to be one of the slickest, finest soaps made.
 
To me MWF is simply one of the finest soaps, period. And I've tried just about everything. I have noticed, however, that it seems to really click using a synthetic brush. Try that. Use plenty of water in the blooming. I also almost always use MWF as a face lather. Don't give up. When you dial it in, I think you'll find it to be one of the slickest, finest soaps made.
I only have around a dozen or so soaps, so that's all I can compare MWF to, but I rate it in my top 3. And when it comes to slickness, it beats them all.
It being triple milled, means that it will last a very long time. :thumbsup:
 
To me MWF is simply one of the finest soaps, period. And I've tried just about everything. I have noticed, however, that it seems to really click using a synthetic brush. Try that. Use plenty of water in the blooming. I also almost always use MWF as a face lather. Don't give up. When you dial it in, I think you'll find it to be one of the slickest, finest soaps made.
Until now I've only lathered MWF with my boar brush due to its similarities to Williams. While I've found no need to bloom the soap I partially build the lather right on the puck and then face lather with excellent results similar to your.

Your post got me thinking that I should try my synthetics on MWF. They work well for me on all soaps except Williams and MWF where I use my boar. These are large 26mm plissoft knots that, unlike the results from a smaller Williams puck, may work well as they can take full advantage of the larger 3" MWF puck. Will see how it works.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
DE SOTD, Saturday, OCtober 15th 2022

Soap : Mitchell's wool fat hard soap, nice very mild clean soap scent but when wet the clean scent seems to magnify a little more + excellent lather qualities. I bought this soap thinking it would be a challenge to lather with and I had no issues using my method. All I did was slice a few fine slivers off puck with my pocket knife into my shave bowl and pressed into bottom of my bowl, wet my brush and squeezed out most water (2 good brush flicks will work also) and started to lather until a paste started and added some spray mist(hand drops of water equivalent) and just stirred some more and added a few drops more ......... until it was time to shave 1-2 minutes later of getting it ready. Secret is just don't add a lot of water at first and this soap is wonderful and a classic great soap formula that has been around since some of the first safety razors where developed in 1890's. I like to lather with a wet face to start with. No need to bloom with this method at all, but some folks will still bloom regardless:001_smile . Very nice classic soap IMO.
Brush : Yaqi Rainbow 26mm brown whiskers, excellent lather generator, heavenly cloud like soft tips, nice splay scrubber + excellent lather painter.

(L) October 15th 2022 Yaqi Rainbow 26mm synthetic....................(R) October 16th 2022 Yaqi 2band badger.
SOTD October 15 2022.jpg
SOTD October 16 2022.jpg

Have some great shaves!
 
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Until now I've only lathered MWF with my boar brush due to its similarities to Williams. While I've found no need to bloom the soap I partially build the lather right on the puck and then face lather with excellent results similar to your.

Your post got me thinking that I should try my synthetics on MWF. They work well for me on all soaps except Williams and MWF where I use my boar. These are large 26mm plissoft knots that, unlike the results from a smaller Williams puck, may work well as they can take full advantage of the larger 3" MWF puck. Will see how it works.
I use a very soft synthetic motherload brush and get a great lather. As long as the puck has been hydrated getting a lather is easy.
However my first few attempts, before I had given the soap it's initial soak, didn't go so well.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Schick Sunday Shave, Oct 30th, 2022

Soap : Mitchell's wool fat, nice mild scent when dry but when lathered the scent increases, all I do is cut a few slivers with my pocket knife and press in bowl and with a squeezed brush(2 flicks will do)start the lathering looking for a paste to form and then add some hand water drops or a spray mister keep stirring and add some droplets of water & stir...... until your happy 1-2 minutes later it is ready. The secret to this soap is not to over whelm it with water at first or you will just chase it IMO. Apply to a wet face. Synthetic brushes work excellent also with this hard triple milled soap like shown.
Brush : Yaqi Moka express 24mm synthetic, excellent lather generator, heavenly cloud like soft tips, gentle splay scrubber + excellent lather painter.

SOTD October 30 2022.jpg


Have some great shaves!
 
There are some of us who do it this way, and it is a lot less work: We put the puck in the container, cover it with water, cover the container, and let it soak all night. It will rehydrate (it is a dehydrated soap) and swell to fill the container. The next day, use a brush you've squeezed the water out of and load, load, load. Then, either go to your face or into a bowl like normal. After you finish shaving, don't let the puck dry out. If it does because you haven't used it, just rehydrate.

This is a beautiful soap and I think my favorite.
 
I grated it and made a stick with a deodorant container. Find it works wonders like that for stick/face lathering. One of the best.

I also buy their bath soaps direct from Bradford. Hard to find in shops. Good stuff.

Gareth
 
I grated it and made a stick with a deodorant container. Find it works wonders like that for stick/face lathering. One of the best.

I also buy their bath soaps direct from Bradford. Hard to find in shops. Good stuff.

Gareth
Picked up a few of the bath soaps in a recent Connaught Shaving order. Really good in the shower. Amazingly slick, even slicker than any shave soap I have though the lather is not as dense and tends to dissipate as is typically the case with many bath soaps.
 
I plan to try the bath soap when I finish my current bar. I hope it smells like the shaving soap and had a good, moisturizing effect on my skin.
 
I keep their bath soap on hand. It smells nothing like the shaving soap but it's still a very good shower soap.
 
Ah the olde MWF is hard to lather story.
First a few observations.
People are saying don't let it dry out? It's a triple milled soap, it's supposed to be dry.
People talking about the soap cracking and shrinking. That's presumably from blooming it over and over. It's unnecessary.

I never had a problem lathering MWF but I have had problems with Trumpers new formula soaps where they swapped potassium for sodium if I recall correctly. My solution was a different harder brush.
On a seperate note @Wid mentioned recently he had trouble lathering a new puck when he never had problems in the past. I hope they haven't changed their formula and destroyed over 100 years of soap that works.

Tips:
MWF is a hard soap, use a stiffer brush. I find a high density badger to be best.
It definitely is a soap that needs longer loading than normal simply because it's hard. Until you're successful load for a full minute.
Try loading the brush upside down to get more into it. On harder soaps I load the outside of the brush first by poking at it at a 30 degree angle while rotating the brush. Once I can't get anymore on the outside I go to 90 degrees and swirl and splay to load the center.
I really think the amount of water in the brush is important. It needs to be very damp but not wet.
This is a thirsty soap and has a huge water window so keep adding water even if you think you've enough. Maybe do a few hand lathers to practice and identify just how much water it will take.

If all else fails and you just can't get it to lather submerge it in about 1cm/1/2 inch of hot tap water for a few minutes and use it as a shave stick. Try with a few days growth so you're essentially grating it on your sandpaper face. Hydrate your face well first.

PXL_20220706_162552013.jpg
 
Ah the olde MWF is hard to lather story.
First a few observations.
People are saying don't let it dry out? It's a triple milled soap, it's supposed to be dry.
People talking about the soap cracking and shrinking. That's presumably from blooming it over and over. It's unnecessary.

I never had a problem lathering MWF but I have had problems with Trumpers new formula soaps where they swapped potassium for sodium if I recall correctly. My solution was a different harder brush.
On a seperate note @Wid mentioned recently he had trouble lathering a new puck when he never had problems in the past. I hope they haven't changed their formula and destroyed over 100 years of soap that works.

Tips:
MWF is a hard soap, use a stiffer brush. I find a high density badger to be best.
It definitely is a soap that needs longer loading than normal simply because it's hard. Until you're successful load for a full minute.
Try loading the brush upside down to get more into it. On harder soaps I load the outside of the brush first by poking at it at a 30 degree angle while rotating the brush. Once I can't get anymore on the outside I go to 90 degrees and swirl and splay to load the center.
I really think the amount of water in the brush is important. It needs to be very damp but not wet.
This is a thirsty soap and has a huge water window so keep adding water even if you think you've enough. Maybe do a few hand lathers to practice and identify just how much water it will take.

If all else fails and you just can't get it to lather submerge it in about 1cm/1/2 inch of hot tap water for a few minutes and use it as a shave stick. Try with a few days growth so you're essentially grating it on your sandpaper face. Hydrate your face well first.

View attachment 1559074
Well, that lather looks terrible, all creamy and shiny and dense looking and stuff... How in the world could a guy shave with that??? MWF is simply not capable of that sort of lather quality. Haven't you read B&B?? ;) ;)
 
The Woolfat has been my soap for years and this was the first time I couldn't get exceptional lather from a puck. Not giving up I tossed that puck and have another on order, bad puck? Maybe, I don't know
 
It's not a mass production product so it could be something as simple as an apprentice let loose on the production floor before they were ready. Or maybe the master called in sick that day and the Nooby said right I'll show them how it's done. You are not a jedi master yet noob.
 
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I just used my stone dry puck of MWF with my hard water (18g) and a Vulfix mixed boar and badger brush (good backbone). The brush was wetted and dove into the puck with no blooming, soaking, etc. I bowl lathered and added bits of water as needed to the bowl. Wonderfully thick, creamy, slick lather with maybe 20-30 seconds of loading. More than enough for my 3+ passes and all the touch-up I end up doing to get to BBS.

Don't believe anyone who says this isn't terrific soap. What you can believe is they simply don't know what they're doing. Sorry, not sorry if that offends those of you who have not succeeded with MWF lathering. It's stupidly easy if you understand soap to water ratios vary with different soaps and creams.
 
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