I unlocked the MWF Secret this morning!

[rosborne]

It was a great shave this morning! I purchased some MWF from Ray at Gentlemen's Best and tried it the other day. Wasn't to impressed with the lather. It was terrible actually. So went back to the threads and read about how great it is and how several men put it in their top 5 favorites. Read some more how to's and thought, well, that's what I'm doing.

This morning I started making my lather. It started looking very much like what I had previoulsy made and I was ready to grab something else because I needed to get going. But first, I looked at the bubbly mixture, at what I thought may have too much water in it and decided to add MORE water. Ka-Boom!!! A lather explosion that was perfect. The kinda of lather I had heard so much about. This stuff really likes the water and if you give it to it, it will repay you with one of the best lathers ever! My shave turned out BBS all over and I can't get over how great my face feels!

If you haver problems making lather from MWF, especially after perfecting it with other soaps, don't write it off as crap and sell it on BST. Stick with it and it will give you one of the best lathers you'll ever get.

 

[xivex]

I've had problems lathering MWF properly myself, found using cool water rather than hot water and a hot scuttle helped tremendously. Will pay more attention to the water/soap ratio next time and see if adding more water helps me. Glad you found something that worked for you!

 

[jkh]

It really is quite amazing at the varied approaches people take to make MWF work. Seriously, I think I have read everything possible for this soap: more water, less water, hard water, soft water, boar brush, badger brush, soak the puck, don't soak the puck, mill it into a shave stick, keep it as a puck, say a prayer, perform a sacrifice ... and the list goes on.

Whatever the case, when you unlock your own secret to MWF the results will be a amazing. I struggled with the soap for a good while, but now it is one of my absolute favorites.

 

[funkyb]

perform a sacrifice ... and the list goes on.

bwaahahhah!


(what happened to the rofl smile?)

 

[gaj90027]

MWF is really trying my patience. I absolutely love the smell but after 10 or 12 tries I'm starting to loose hope. I'm a soap guy and have never had this much trouble with a soap. I finally decided to mill the puck last night and give it a test lather. Same as before - completely subpar.

Main problem - no matter what I do or what brush I use I cannot get the brush loaded with enough soap. If the brush or the puck is too wet the brush will just swirl bubbles on the puck and not load the brush. If the brush or the puck is too dry I get a little soap on the brush but not enough to make decent lather with either.

My last resort will be face lathering even though I'm not keen on this method and don't see how it could make a difference.

Wish me luck!

 

[Walter Sobchak]

I have hard water and I face lather and I've had no trouble getting excellent results with MWF right from the get-go. I was worried when I first bought it, but I lather up just like I would with any other soap and it works fine. Guess I'm fortunate.

 

[McShaverson]

bwaahahhah!


(what happened to the rofl smile?)

He was serious.

 

[JPDyson]

For me, MWF is a finicky little bugger in a bowl. However, when face lathering, I can get off to the races a lot faster. I keep hoping I'll get results that good in a bowl, but for some soaps (harder soaps) the face is the way to go.

Oh, the reason I hope for good bowl results is so that I don't end up having to buy a brush scuttle

 

[media]

I have hard water and I face lather and I've had no trouble getting excellent results with MWF right from the get-go. I was worried when I first bought it, but I lather up just like I would with any other soap and it works fine. Guess I'm fortunate.

+1

I dont do anything different and it just works..well..

 

[Omnichron]

I like to face lather with it. It gives excellent results, but beware... faceturbation sets in big time!

 

[raisindot]

...We will have to kill you.



Jeff in Boston

 

[Tommy21osu]

Good to know! its on my list after i finish one of the 5 soaps i already have. SSAD really is sad. haha

...We will have to kill you.



Jeff in Boston

WHAT!!!!

 

[DESkydiver]

I agree with it being superb as a face lathering soap.

I take whatever brush I use, fill a tumbler with hot tap water, dip the brush quickly, drip the water from brush just enough coat the top of the puck, little else. Then I let the soap and brush soak for a couple minutes while brushing my teeth. To load the brush I shake almost all the water out of the brush, almost like just before hanging to dry and start swirling the brush until the water on the puck is absorbed into the brush, just enough to coat the tips with a good thick layer and apply to face. If there is excess water, I tip the dish over and drip into the brush. Once on the face coat the face and neck as complete as possible then dunk the tips of the brush into the soaking tumbler to apply to the face. Work the added water all over for a minute or so with mixed push/swirl and brush stroke and have a build up left on the brush for 2 + more passes.

I notice that over time of daily use the soap retains some of the moisture making it softer and expands within dish.

EDIT: Didn't mean to sidetrack from the thread How to lather: Mitchells Wool Fat or Kent Soap

 

[gaj90027]

...just enough to coat the tips with a good thick layer and apply to face.

If I could get a good thick layer of soap on the brush I wouldn't have a problem making lather. Gently swirling the brush on the soap doesn't load any soap onto my brushes, mashing the brush into the soap violently helps just a little.

So strange that this is the only soap to give me attitude

 

[Fozz7769]

If I could get a good thick layer of soap on the brush I wouldn't have a problem making lather. Gently swirling the brush on the soap doesn't load any soap onto my brushes, mashing the brush into the soap violently helps just a little.

So strange that this is the only soap to give me attitude

What brush are you using gaj?

 

[DESkydiver]

If I could get a good thick layer of soap on the brush I wouldn't have a problem making lather. Gently swirling the brush on the soap doesn't load any soap onto my brushes, mashing the brush into the soap violently helps just a little.

So strange that this is the only soap to give me attitude

This does sound quite strange. I use all of my brushes, Simpson's Wee Scot & Case, Vulfix 375, Merkur Best Badger Chrome, Kent BK4, and a VDH Boar, all without problems lathering, using the same 'quick dip, drip and 2 minute soak' identified in my previous thread. I always get a thick layer of soap, enough to coat my face evenly throughout, then add another quick dip of water to build the lather.

I hear many say "it's all in the water"... maybe your water sucks... at least for lathering MWF. Maybe try some bottled / distilled water... room tempurature should be sufficient, at least to eliminate that part of the equation.

 

[gaj90027]

This does sound quite strange. I use all of my brushes, Simpson's Wee Scot & Case, Vulfix 375, Merkur Best Badger Chrome, Kent BK4, and a VDH Boar, all without problems lathering, using the same 'quick dip, drip and 2 minute soak' identified in my previous thread. I always get a thick layer of soap, enough to coat my face evenly throughout, then add another quick dip of water to build the lather.

I hear many say "it's all in the water"... maybe your water sucks... at least for lathering MWF. Maybe try some bottled / distilled water... room tempurature should be sufficient, at least to eliminate that part of the equation.

Good point regarding the water, I will try bottled. I have 2 brushes and neither have worked on MWF. I have a TGN Grade A Silvertip and a Rooney 3/1 best badger.

 

[JPDyson]

Good point regarding the water, I will try bottled. I have 2 brushes and neither have worked on MWF. I have a TGN Grade A Silvertip and a Rooney 3/1 best badger.

I've used the following, all very successfully, with MWF:

Rooney 3/1 Super Silvertip
PenWorks custom (2-band Finest)
B&B Essential
Rubberset with TGN Grade A Silvertip

I'm sure I'll be adding a B&B '09 LE to that list soon. Face lathering works best on all of the above, but I have bowl lathered with the B&BE and the Rubberset successfully.

 

[taffy]

I had to post for help on this soap a few weeks ago but after all the helpfull replies got a way that suited me which was, soak puck and brush, swirl then transfer to bowl.

 

[SiBurning]

Whatever else you do, don't toss the bubbles while you're working the puck because (supposedly, anyway) you'll lose too much of the lanolin.