Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF): Optimization Results Help SOLVE the MYSTERY!

[Saltchuck]

...here is another tip if you still cannot get it work. Try this! once it starts to explode at this point just stop, then drizzle a tiny bit more water in off your finger tips, remove some soap from the brush then add a bit more soap from the puck. Now at this point you have a tiny bit of water that you added just before, now just a couple more turns in the lather just to load the brush back up. and mix the water Then try it.

ShavingByTheNumbers said
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to stick with measuring masses of soap and water in a lathering bowl and then agitating them together to build lather. Is there something wrong with this method with MWF?

@ShavingByTheNumbers, the obvious answer to your question is that MWF doesn't produce good lather for you when you use your method, whereas it does produce good lather for a strong majority of the people who use other methods [based on polling data cited earlier in the thread].

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

@ShavingByTheNumbers, the obvious answer to your question is that MWF doesn't produce good lather for you when you use your method, whereas it does produce good lather for a strong majority of the people who use other methods [based on polling data cited earlier in the thread].

The standard method of loading the brush and face or bowl lathering with small additions of water is definitely correlated with the generally good experiences with MWF, but the standard lather building methods will also be correlated with generally bad experiences with any soap because the standard lather building methods are so common. Correlation does not equal causation. The method might not have anything to do with it. The puck could be the issue. No matter how I loaded the brush or built the lather with my puck of MWF in the past, I always found that my puck of MWF wanted to explode and make a foamy lather. I found the same thing with scooped soap in the bowl and all of the water added at the beginning of lather building.

 

[TheKman]

@Ice-Man raises an interesting point regarding the puck remaining wet, mine has not had the opportunity to dry out at all.

I also just received a small package of soaps from the 'States yesterday and had an opportunity to try Stirling G&T/R this morning. I don't know if this is a useful comparison, but it took me twice as long to load the brush and the lather quality was practically identical. About the only difference I can detect in performance was that re-wetting with a wet hand following a pass remained slick with Stirling, while the Fat generally less so. This is probably consistent with the higher water ratio in MWF and the high tallow content in Stirling.

Somebody mentioned warmth made a difference, so I'm going to put my method out there just in case it resonates with anyone:

1) Soak Simpson Chubby 1 Super in the shave bowl with hot water.
2) Fill the sink and wash my face with MWF bar soap (2 mins).
3) Squeeze the water from the Chubby, gently shake once and load for about 5-7 seconds, or until I can see the bristles tips are amply covered. It should be noted here that MWF usually produces a small amount of bubbly lather on the puck too.
4) Empty all but about 1ml of water from the warm bowl and firmly whisk with the brush for about 10-15 seconds. At this stage the slightly bubbly lather will calm down and soak further into the brush. I stop before it starts building in the bowl. This is where I judge if it has enough water added and sprinkle a few drops more if required. I've never had to go back to the puck for more soap.
5) Face lather. As the lather builds I usually have to scrape some into the bowl or risk having it all over the bathroom. Brush sits bristles up at the sink ready for the next pass.

As a rule I'll have enough lather in the brush for two to three passes and ample left in the bowl for at least two more, which I rarely need.

 

[Chevyguy]

I've never understood why some people can't lather MWF, it always explodes into a thick, slick, protective lather for me and I've lathered it in both hard, and soft water. I've also used both Boar, and Badger brushes with it and had no problems. I've even face lathered, and Bowl lathered with it and had no problems.

Clayton

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Update: Sample of AlphaFrank75's MWF will be evaluated by ShavingByTheNumbers

Following my note about accepting a sample of MWF for comparative testing, @AlphaFrank75 (Dan) contacted me and graciously offered some of his MWF. Thanks, Dan!

Dan has two pucks of MWF from B&B vendors, one puck purchased from Italian Barber on March 23, 2017, and the other puck purchased from Shaving.ie on April 4, 2017, so both pucks were bought around nine months ago. Dan never blooms his pucks and always wipes his pucks dry and lets them air-dry for at least several hours. The puck of MWF from Italian Barber is kept in a screw-top plastic jar, while the puck of MWF from Shaving.ie is stored in a MWF ceramic bowl with its lid. Possibly due to the different storage methods, Dan has found that the puck from Shaving.ie that is kept in the MWF ceramic bowl "doesn't have much of a smell at all", but the puck from Italian Barber that is stored in the airtight plastic jar has "a noticeable, pleasant scent". There is also an apparent difference in performance, since it seems to Dan that the puck from Italian Barber that is kept in the plastic container produces lather that is nicer and slicker. Given these differences, it makes sense that Dan has chosen to share some of his MWF puck from Italian Barber.

It is important to acknowledge that while some make what they consider to be thick, rich, and slick lather with their pucks of MWF, @AlphaFrank75 (Dan) considers lather made with his MWF to be "somewhat" thick, rich, and slick. Dan does not consider his MWF lather to be airy at all, but kind of like whipped cream that holds peaks in the lathering bowl during the whole shave. His normal lather from MWF is not very slick, but "slick enough" to not have any issues with drag from the razor. Dan does not know exactly how soft or hard his water is, but he is sure that it is definitely not hard, so water hardness does not sound like an issue regarding his opinion of MWF.

Dan is sending 0.8 oz. of MWF, placed in a plastic bag and flattened with a rolling pin. That will be more than enough for experimentation. I plan on comparing Dan's MWF, which makes a somewhat thick, rich, and slick lather in his opinion, with my MWF, which makes an airy lather with slickness that ranges from awful to pretty good in my opinion, as discussed in the OP. Pictures and results will be shared here. I'll keep you posted!

 

[TheKman]

Awesome!

 

[rockviper]

The postman brought me an envelope from @ShavingByTheNumbers this morning, but it was after I shaved as he arrived later than 6:30am. Nevertheless, let me run the sample though its paces.

Presenting..........The giant puck of unlatherable Mitchell's Wool Fat!

Even though I had already shaved, I quickly rinsed my face to try to remove some of my aftershave so it would not affect the lather. Then I used the mighty Puck'o'Doom as I would a shave stick and smeared it on my wet face.

Quickly face lathered with a horse brush. Yes, there are bubbles but this was just a quick 30-40 seconds. After lathering, when I went to rinse off, the residual slickness that MWF is well known for was there.

Could the lather have been better? Sure, but there may have been some AS still on my face and I do face lather longer than the 30-40 secs that I did here. Even without gobs of creamy goodness and just this mini-bubble lather, I would probably have been able to perform a water-only pass after rinsing it off. It was that slick.

Wet down the Slab'o'Fat and pressed it into my old Dr. Dittmar bowl.

Loaded my @Graydog horse brush for about 10 secs or so.

Palm lathered. Nothing wrong here at all. The pic doesn't capture the shininess of the lather and it sure doesn't capture the slickness.

Summary
The lather might look different than what you think you need, but as they say... "I don't shave with pictures." Even now, about 20 mins after taking the pics and washing my hands, my fingers just slide off of one another when I rub my thumbs and forefingers together.

There's nothing wrong with this puck in my book.

 

[rockviper]

I'll face lather with it tomorrow morning or later tonight after I get out of the shower. That should provide a way to remove any residual aftershave or face oils that may have existed today, and would be more indicative of my normal routine.

 

[nemo]

Looks good to me (palm method). I've never tried face lathering stick style without at least some stubble to grab soap. Seems fruitless.

Well, I guess that settles the bad puck question for me.

 

[rockviper]

I'll use my Edwin Jagger Super brush instead of the horse for the next tests.

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

I'll face lather with it tomorrow morning or later tonight after I get out of the shower. That should provide a way to remove any residual aftershave or face oils that may have existed today, and would be more indicative of my normal routine.

Thanks, Sam! Your preliminary results are interesting. I look forward to more official results later.

 

[qVAMPIREp]

Yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words. Unless you're into "Razor Burn Nostalgia Shaves" I don't get the attraction to MWF when virtually every other product in the world is superior. I put my MWF in the garbage can where it belongs and never looked back!!!

 

[RazorPete]

The postman brought me an envelope from @ShavingByTheNumbers this morning, but it was after I shaved as he arrived later than 6:30am. Nevertheless, let me run the sample though its paces.

Presenting..........The giant puck of unlatherable Mitchell's Wool Fat!

Even though I had already shaved, I quickly rinsed my face to try to remove some of my aftershave so it would not affect the lather. Then I used the mighty Puck'o'Doom as I would a shave stick and smeared it on my wet face.

Quickly face lathered with a horse brush. Yes, there are bubbles but this was just a quick 30-40 seconds. After lathering, when I went to rinse off, the residual slickness that MWF is well known for was there.

Could the lather have been better? Sure, but there may have been some AS still on my face and I do face lather longer than the 30-40 secs that I did here. Even without gobs of creamy goodness and just this mini-bubble lather, I would probably have been able to perform a water-only pass after rinsing it off. It was that slick.

Wet down the Slab'o'Fat and pressed it into my old Dr. Dittmar bowl.

Loaded my @Graydog horse brush for about 10 secs or so.

Palm lathered. Nothing wrong here at all. The pic doesn't capture the shininess of the lather and it sure doesn't capture the slickness.

Summary
The lather might look different than what you think you need, but as they say... "I don't shave with pictures." Even now, about 20 mins after taking the pics and washing my hands, my fingers just slide off of one another when I rub my thumbs and forefingers together.

There's nothing wrong with this puck in my book.

I think you used a bit too much water for your testing...
Here is a tip that works well for me: I use a badger rather than a horse brush, not sure if that makes a difference or not. But I generously (really generous) load the soap onto a somewhat dry brush where most the water has been shaken out, face lather it on a bit dry then add small bits of water to your brush until you dial in the desired consistency. Used like this it works like a dream, giving very creamy lather.

 

[RazorPete]

Yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words. Unless you're into "Razor Burn Nostalgia Shaves" I don't get the attraction to MWF when virtually every other product in the world is superior. I put my MWF in the garbage can where it belongs and never looked back!!!

Sorry you are having a bad experience, I can only say that MWF is my favorite

 

[rockviper]

@RazorPete that was actually the first time I used MWF with a horse brush. Having shaved earlier in the morning, I'm fairly confident that there wasn't near as much soap on my face as when I used my P.160 Tipo Morbido stick a few hours earlier in the day. I'm more than happy with the way the palm lathering worked out. The horsie brush has way less backbone than even a floppy Kent silvertip, but the flowthrough is great on it.

 

[major_works]

I had a great shave with MWF this morning. I used a squeezed out Stirling 24-mm synthetic, and loaded gently and slowly on the tips only for about a minute. While building lather on my face, I intermittently dipped the brush tips into a bowl of warm water. The result was a creamy, slick lather with more than enough for three passes.

For me, the key has been less water, more soap in the loading stage, then adding water as I go. I had trouble with MWF until I started approaching it that way. Since then, it's worked very well for me.

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Update: AlphaFrank75's MWF has been received by ShavingByTheNumbers

Good news! Today's mail included a hefty sample of MWF from @AlphaFrank75 (Dan)!



I took the sample and pressed it into a clean plastic jar with a proper label on the screw-on cap:



Over the coming days, I will compare Dan's MWF, which was purchased from Italian Barber on March 23, 2017, to my MWF, which was purchased through Amazon on June 26, 2016. Pictures will be taken and shared with my evaluation. I'll keep you posted!

 

[qVAMPIREp]

I applaud your efforts ShavingByTheNumbers.

 

[Saltchuck]

Yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words. Unless you're into "Razor Burn Nostalgia Shaves" I don't get the attraction to MWF when virtually every other product in the world is superior. I put my MWF in the garbage can where it belongs and never looked back!!!

I for one would have been delighted to have taken that puck of MWF off your hands to save it from such an ignominious fate!

 

[nemo]

I for one would have been delighted to have taken that puck of MWF off your hands to save it from such an ignominious fate!

Sad, indeed.