Mitchells Wool Fat first impression

[AimlessWanderer]

I average 1.2g of soap per use. Hard soap, soft soap, I tend to converge to this average. I don’t find it excessive.

Your usage of 0.25g per shave gives me nothing to be proud of.

I’m Not worried about saving shaving soap, just about having great shaves. It’s not a competition

That wouldn't work for me, but happy to hear it works for you

 

[Cino]

The most difficult issue I've had with shaving has been learning to waste soap. Having been raised by depression era parents I've always been frugal. Back in the 90s I'd go an entire year on a single puck of Williams and a month on a Gillett cartridge. I did not look forward to shaving.

These days I still have to force myself to waste soap but the results have been uber rewarding. I have a lot of soap to work my way through and for some reason the pile keeps growing . I think if you are using a gram of MWF per shave you must be getting some glorious shaves. Shave on!

 

[Noodles]

It's my most favorite shaving soap scent too!

The bath soap smells about the same so I use both and get a double hit of MWF!!

Mine too. It's perfect. I'll have to look into the bath soap....and, take the lotion off my list (I like the scent strength exactly as is).

 

[Timeclo]

This matches my experience.

I've gone through around 8 MWF pucks over the last 12 years.

I never soak a new puck. I never bloom before use. I don't grate it into a container.

I just grab the puck, load the brush for 15 seconds and get enough beautiful lather for 4 passes.

If I use MWF daily, just loading it with a damp brush expands the puck over time and fills the dish. No soaking or blooming.

Even in a rotation, I never experience cracking or poor performance...

My experience was that when I did soak the puck and then allowed it to dry out (as it was in a large rotation), the performance definitely dropped and I had to use it a few days consecutively to bring it back to life!

I feel soaking the puck causes more issues than it helps to solve.

I've had direct communication with the director of MWF via email and never was it advised to soak or bloom the puck.

This is my experience as well. I just pick up the soap and lather it up, let it dry, and then put it back. I don't bloom any soaps, even the triple-milled ones.

 

[Lazarus Long]

I don't worry about using 'too much' soap. When I'm done I squeeze out the lather into the mug. It gets used the next time I shave.

 

[Messygoon]

Razor: Rockwell 6S, #4 plate
Blade: Lord Platinum Super Stainless (4)
Brush: Zenith aluminum boar, 27mm
Soap: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
Aftershave: Proraso Aloe & Vitamin E
Growth: 24 hours
Passes: WTG, ATG, cleanup

Recently, I had my first experience with the iconic Mitchell’s Wool Fat, aka "The Fat."

Ever have friends say middling things about a movie, and then you go and are blown away by the film? That was me this morning with the Fat. Over the past year, I've read several negative B&B comments about MWF drying out, being difficult to lather, or leaving the skin sticky.

So, with reservations, I loaded the new Fat puck with 6-7 swirls of a moist boar. I was greeted with a soap explosion. Added more water, and the lather just bloomed. Cushion was wonderful. Cold tap water rinsed the blade quickly. And ever since the ice-cold rinse, I have experienced exquisite face feel.

The Fat is a superior soap, in many ways on par with Haslinger Shafmilch. And unlike other "sans parfume" soaps, MWF greeted my nose with absolutely no scent. None. Zilch. Just amazing performance. And, I do believe I heard sheep bleating in the distance.

Highly recommended!

 

[Noodles]

The Fat is a superior soap, in many ways on par with Haslinger Shafmilch. And unlike other "sans parfume" soaps, MWF greeted my nose with absolutely no scent. None. Zilch. Just amazing performance. And, I do believe I heard sheep bleating in the distance.

Slight digression...has anyone tried this Haslinger and HATED the scent, but love the MWF scent (or lack thereof)? I bought a Haslinger puck and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'm sure it works great, but I found the scent to be much stronger and the powdery note nearly made me gag.

 

[Timeclo]

Slight digression...has anyone tried this Haslinger and HATED the scent, but love the MWF scent (or lack thereof)? I bought a Haslinger puck and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'm sure it works great, but I found the scent to be much stronger and the powdery note nearly made me gag.

I had the same experience with one Haslinger soap. I had the Aloe Vera scent and I did not enjoy it at all and unfortunately, was drying on my skin. I like MWF a lot better.. clean and slight cologne edge to it.

 

[ChriWilson]

I keep MWF in rotation and what works for me is to prep my puck a day or 2 before using given my hard Southern CA water. Basically, I build a practice lather or 2 before putting the soap back in its container, not dripping wet, but not dry either. That said, I like to use it for at least 3 shaves in succession to maximize its hydration, returning the puck to the container in the same fashion.

My brush wetness in general varies depending on overall hardness of the soap I'm using, whether it's boar or badger, and whether I'm going straight to face or building a foundation in the bowl first. For The Fat, I only use boar or pure badger and load from the puck into a bowl. After building the foundation there, I'll take it to face and refine the final density.

Again, that's my method. The only lackluster performances with The Fat I can recall are due to my lack of lathering technique coupled with a new MWF puck.

--
Cheers

 

[Bladeforum]

Mwf is one of only a few I have ever rebought. I like the bath bar too.

 

[CarloMNL]

Post shave was good but it leftmy face feeling sticky and I did not like it.
Scent is mild and innoffensive but in my opinion verry different than Haslinger Schafmilch which is also mild and innoffensive in it's own way which I prefer.

Probably will not restock due to sticky after shave feeling .

MWF was either the second or third soap I ever tried. My water isn't all that soft but isn't terribly hard either. (My kettle starts to show mineral deposits after three or four months between de-scaling, if that helps.)

I never had an issue lathering it. My weather is humid so the puck never dried out. Slickness was insane but the post shave sticky feel wasn't something I liked. It was hard to rinse off my face and my skin started to break out. I am not sure if this stickiness is due to the lanolin content because Haslinger never gave me trouble.

 

[wulfgar1976]

Mitchell's Wool Fat is one of the few traditional hard soaps that I recommend. Once lathered, it gives a decent shave. I used to recommend Tabac as well, but since they have gone to a vegan formulation, I have not tried it

Mitchell's works best if you use it as your primary soap. If it stays wet, it is much easier to load and lather. If you use it as part of a rotation, it tends to dry out and has to be rehydrated. Since I have a large rotation of soaps, I sent my puck of Mitchell's to someone who uses it every day.

I find it doesn't give the best lather at first - it's as though the edge of the soap differs in composition, and I have to add water very slowly. Once broken in, as it were, I can go months without using it with no issues but I am face-lathering.

If the scent is objectionable, Kent do the same soap but it doesn't have the same scent.

 

[ask4Edge]

...Kent...doesn't have the same scent.

In what way is it different?
Used to be the same.

 

[wulfgar1976]

In what way is it different?















Used to be the same.

My Kent smells buttery whereas the MWF smells flowery. It could be that the Kent is ancient and the scent has changed.

 

[hairless wonder]

I've used MWF for all my shaves this month (I shave about every two or three days). It's been a struggle. I bowl lather and get inconsistent lathers. The only consistency is that the lather dries really fast.

Though I plan to continue using MWF for the rest of the month, I am beginning to despair of being able to make a good lather with it that lasts throughout my shave. I am now eagerly looking forward to this month ending so I can move on from MWF (after having given it a fair shake). Even my lather from my last shave, which was my best lather with MWF to date, was drying out between passes. But it really shouldn't take over half a month of shaves (about two to every three days) to learn how to build a halfway decent lather with a shave soap.

Maybe MWF just doesn't work well with hard water. If that's the case, I would encourage those with hard water to use other soaps. I personally prefer TOBS, Tabac, and Captain's Choice, among others. They didn't take nearly as long to dial in and they created slick and cushioning lathers. Best of all, they never left my face feeling sticky after a shave.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I've used MWF for all my shaves this month (I shave about every two or three days). It's been a struggle. I bowl lather and get inconsistent lathers. The only consistency is that the lather dries really fast.

Try face lathering with MWF. Paint on a layer of soap to begin. Just add water to the brush very gradually as the lather builds. For me, that works reliably.

 

[RobD57]

I use MWF at least twice a week up to as long as a month once. I have hard water and never bloom it.
I face lather with a synth brush and it always works for me.

It's a hard soap. It doesn't start out with as much water in it as even
a soap like Cella Extra, not nearly as much as a cream. So it does take more
water and time to get it to it's true slick, cushy greatness.

The only problem I've had with it is, after 25 days straight I starting getting
a few zits. It's not an issue if I don't go more than a week at a time. I was told
by a skin doctor friend that it's the lanolin. It can build up and clog pores if it's
not thoroughly rinsed off.

 

[hairless wonder]

Try face lathering with MWF. Paint on a layer of soap to begin. Just add water to the brush very gradually as the lather builds. For me, that works reliably.

I actually rub the soap puck on my face after I stop swirling with my brush (and before I start making the lather in my lather bowl) in order to remove the excess wet soap and prevent the puck's top from cracking (I didn't do that the first time I used MWF and the puck's top wound up developing some cracks). After making my lather, I apply some water to the soap on my face before applying the lather to my face for my first pass.

Unfortunately, by the time I finish my first pass, the lather in my bowl has dried out and needs to be rehydrated before my next pass.

 

[hairless wonder]

I use MWF at least twice a week up to as long as a month once. I have hard water and never bloom it.
I face lather with a synth brush and it always works for me.

It's a hard soap. It doesn't start out with as much water in it as even
a soap like Cella Extra, not nearly as much as a cream. So it does take more
water and time to get it to it's true slick, cushy greatness.

The only problem I've had with it is, after 25 days straight I starting getting
a few zits. It's not an issue if I don't go more than a week at a time. I was told
by a skin doctor friend that it's the lanolin. It can build up and clog pores if it's
not thoroughly rinsed off.

I'm actually tend to be more of a fan of hard soaps than of creams and croaps. I absolutely love TOBS Sandalwood hard soap, for instance. It's much less finicky than MWF has proven to be and lathers much easier for me. MWF seems to be a softer hard soap (relative to the triple milled ones like TOBS) so I thought it'd be easier to work with (as was Tabac, which I also really like). Unfortunately, MWF seems to relish proving me wrong.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I actually rub the soap puck on my face after I stop swirling with my brush (and before I start making the lather in my lather bowl) in order to remove the excess wet soap and prevent the puck's top from cracking (I didn't do that the first time I used MWF and the puck's top wound up developing some cracks). After making my lather...

What is this lather bowl you speak of?

Face lathering does not use a bowl at all. You build the lather on the face, literally. Most brushes can hold enough lather for three passes easily. Please give it a try with MWF. It might give you better results!