I hate to say it....but i'm giving up on MWF..... :-(

[Mirrorsaw]

I'm still new to MWF, and like others have said, rubbing it on your face makes it work great. However mine expanded and is now stuck in the tin I have it in. So I load my brush for a minute (if not two minutes) then I put my brush down, and rub my fingers on the soap till the tips are pretty well covered, then I rub them on my face. I don't try to make it lather, I just get more soap on my face. Then I face lather the brush like I normally do. Works great for me. I have even been able to get the thick lather look like the lather pics people post.

I like the scent, just cuz it's really mild and uh soap smelling... Its not like any other soap I own...

 

[mandoman]

no biggie its a ok soap much better out theirs anyways I use mine about every two month if that

 

[ieschwoch]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...

I think it's just the overall "clean-ness" of the smell that people like. I personally love the smell and prefer it to the often-overdone smells in many soaps and creams. I tried Tabac a couple of times but tossed it as it smelled like I was washing my face with cigarettes. YMMV, of course.

 

[ieschwoch]

I agree with other posters that you should try some distilled water, just to see if you can get it to work. Of course, if you don't want to use distilled water for every shave and your tap water doesn't work with MWF, then maybe it's just time to move on. Some products just don't work for some people. I personally love MWF, but despise Tabac. Use the products that work for you and forget about the hype; after all, it's shaving we're talking about here, not religion.

 

[retiredguns]

While the Fat works for me there have been a couple others that I didn't care fore. I used them in the shower and they made great bath soaps.

 

[salazch12]

Buy a gallon of pure water at the store for making your lather, and give it another go, it WILL make a great lather. I will make a video if you would like but it's really not that hard.

A video would be awesome!
So do you mean distilled water? Just soak the brush and puck in it?

 

[MaxP]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work.

+1 ... and then some!

 

[rbaloha]

Ditto with MWF lathering issues. Adding any cream helps produce a good lather.

 

[The Ambassador]

"I believe only in the 100% CASH DOWN program, remaining DEBT FREE in 2012!"

+1 my friend

 

[tchudson]

Yeah, the scent is one of the things I absolutely love about MWF.

The scent is totally intoxicating. If MWF didn't work for me, I would still keep it around just to sniff! Luckily, it works great for me and gets used 90% of the times.

 

[sp514]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work.

Pretty much the reason why I gave up and sold it on BST. I'll be sticking to italian soft soaps

 

[global_dev]

i don't feel like the scent of the lather is retained on my face after washing it off... i am totally missing the awesomeness of the scent and performance of this product. it's a nice enough soap, though...

sell or PIF it or come back to it in 6 months..

 

[Steavis]

I'm still new to MWF, and like others have said, rubbing it on your face makes it work great. However mine expanded and is now stuck in the tin I have it in. So I load my brush for a minute (if not two minutes) then I put my brush down, and rub my fingers on the soap till the tips are pretty well covered, then I rub them on my face. I don't try to make it lather, I just get more soap on my face. Then I face lather the brush like I normally do. Works great for me. I have even been able to get the thick lather look like the lather pics people post.

I like the scent, just cuz it's really mild and uh soap smelling... Its not like any other soap I own...

I've been stuck on Cella for the last few weeks and probably will be for a while, but I did take a break yesterday to go back to MWF for one shave--I tried the technique of rubbing some MWF 'sludge' into my beard prior to face lathering with the loaded brush, and I did get a noticeably thicker lather.

 

[life2short1971]

I never got MWF to work either. No big shakes. Life is too short to worry too much about it.

I am not worried... I get great lathers from any Badger brush i have tried. I face lather if it matters.

 

[Ruston]

I almost gave up on it, but am now getting better results. The only reason I stuck with it is the quality of the shave and the way it leaves my skin. To echo the advice above: soak the puck, start with a drier brush, load longer, add more water than you'd think when building lather. Somewhere in this process is an almost magical transformation from a thin bubbly dry lather to "wow". My problem is I tend to stop just a bit short most times.

 

[Optometrist]

I almost gave up on it, but am now getting better results. The only reason I stuck with it is the quality of the shave and the way it leaves my skin. To echo the advice above: soak the puck, start with a drier brush, load longer, add more water than you'd think when building lather. Somewhere in this process is an almost magical transformation from a thin bubbly dry lather to "wow". My problem is I tend to stop just a bit short most times.

That's why I always use a wet brush and just load longer, but either way will work.

 

[Geordon]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work for you.

FTFY. I have no problems with MWF, and I have rock-hard water. That being said, I probably over-load everything in compensation for the water. I've gotten good lather out of almost everything that I've tried, once I figured out what I was doing.

But the sentiment is correct: If it doesn't work for you after a few attempts, don't worry about ditching it. MWF has a good following around here and you can likely get most of your money back if you want to. There are plenty of other things out there that you can probably use easily. Don't get caught up in what "everybody else says" about a particular soap or cream.

Use what you like. Like what you use. All the rest is commentary. (with apologies to Rabbi Hilel)

 

[kpg102]

Soak the puck in water.
Use a drier brush to load.
Load longer.

I gave up on it once. Then decided to give it a second chance. On the second chance I have soaked the puck each time, and I've gotten great lather each time. I'll never turn back now. Just soak the puck just like you would a brush. I let it sit underwater the whole time I'm in the shower. Then I load the crap out of a moist brush, not a wet brush. It's much easier to add a little water at a time as needed.

Exactly what I do, and I get loads of great lather. And I load the brush for up to two minutes.

 

[Kentos]

You also need to condition the puck IMO. If you use it regularly the puck absorbs water and gets just a bit softer that aids loading. If I don't use it for a week or so, it gets upset, dries out, and the first few shaves need more time loading and some soaking prior to shave. I also use MWF in uberlathers with just a bit of proraso. YMMV

 

[jwcarlson]

I leave my MWF in an unsealed container (bottom of an Old Spice mug) for months at a time using it monthly or so maybe less. Soak my brush, load 'er up, and make great lather.
If you can't make good lather buy Arko or Tabac.