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Mitchell's Wool Fat - What Happened?

Add some water to the bowl, and just let it sit overnight. The Fat will absorb the water and swell up, and then lather like you want.
That doesn't help a duff puck. I can lather a good puck with no issues from the unopened wrapper with no blooming or overnight soaking, or bathing it in the tears of virgins or what other suggestions you have. A duff puck is a duff puck.
 
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I just ordered a puck from Jeff Bezos that should be here tomorrow. I will photo the codes and post them up here. Let me know if I received a "duff puck" so I can return it.
I'm trying to work out where the duff pucks are, and how much of an issue it is. I've a code of a confirmed duff and similarly a good puck. As Rockthrower above, many may have just discarded the box possibly along with the soap.
 
I'm trying to work out where the duff pucks are, and how much of an issue it is. I've a code of a confirmed duff and similarly a good puck. As Rockthrower above, many may have just discarded the box possibly along with the soap.
My original dodgy puck was in a crock package. I don’t know if that has anything to do with your count, but some are likely in the set. Since they probably sell fewer sets, there are likely more in the pipeline.

I’ll look in the bathroom trash to see if the box is still there from my new puck. If so, I’ll take a photo of the code and post it. The new puck came from Amazon. The original puck came from WCS.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
My puck was ordered from Fendrihan around May 2020. To their credit after considerable back and forth they gave me a refund. They even sent me videos on how to lather it. Mine was a replacement puck without the ceramic jar.
 
My puck was ordered from Fendrihan around May 2020. To their credit after considerable back and forth they gave me a refund. They even sent me videos on how to lather it. Mine was a replacement puck without the ceramic jar.
That was good of them. I hope they took it up with Mitchells. Did the video show you anything you didn't already know? Don't supposed you still have the link to the video?
 
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That doesn't help a duff puck. I can lather a good puck with no issues from the unopened wrapper with no blooming or overnight soaking, or bathing it in the tears of virgins or what other suggestions you have. A duff puck is a duff puck.
I see...that's really unfortunate, I hope the issue isn't too wide spread. I love the Fat, and am due for a new puck, but now I'm a little nervous!
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
That was good of them. I hope they took it up with Mitchells. Did the video show you anything you didn't already know? Don't supposed you still have the link to the video?
Yes, here’s the link.

Hi Graham,
Thanks for contacting us. We're sorry to hear you're having some trouble with the Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap. For this soap, it will require bit of trial and error to get the lather just right. You can try a few different techniques to generate a better lather with this soap.
1. Use a drier brush to whip up a good lather. You can also soak your brush and shake it out well before lathering (the drier bristles will help pick up a bit more soap).
2. Soak the puck in warm water for about 5 minutes before lathering.
3. Loading the brush upside down can work too. Hold the soap above the brush and load with the bristles up.
There's also a good video on lathering with MWF here:
Hope this helps!
Please let us know if there's anything else we can do to assist you.
 
Hydration is my guess. The fat responds well to frequent use (exposure to a moist brush). You could submerge it under a couple cm of water for a couple days. Otherwise just keep using it and, again, the frequent exposure to moisture will kick things off.

That said...bad batches happen
 
Hydration is my guess. The fat responds well to frequent use (exposure to a moist brush). You could submerge it under a couple cm of water for a couple days. Otherwise just keep using it and, again, the frequent exposure to moisture will kick things off.

That said...bad batches happen
There's no reason to treat one puck different to any other puck, other than inconsistent manufacturing. Don't you hydrate the soap when you apply it to face or bowl and add water with your brush?
 
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Hydration is my guess. The fat responds well to frequent use (exposure to a moist brush). You could submerge it under a couple cm of water for a couple days. Otherwise just keep using it and, again, the frequent exposure to moisture will kick things off.

That said...bad batches happen

The trick with MWF is to use LESS water. Soaking it too much will result in the lanolin leaching out and the soap performance going to crap. Use a damp brush, maybe bloom the soap with a few drops of water but don't cover it in water, err on the side of using it dry if necessary and have the only moisture coming from the brush itself, then really load it up and face lather (or lather in a bowl), and very slowly add little bits of water (be conservative here as too much will make it less dense).
 
I finished up a puck of one of my favorites, Mitchell's Wool Fat, and dropped fresh puck into the mug. This fresh puck isn't easy to lather. What happened?

The last puck lathered nearly as easy as Tabak or Cella, but the new one is almost as difficult as Williams. I usually used a Silvertip brush with it, but now it seems to demand a stiffer brush like a Finest.

The only thing I did differently was that I didn't shred the puck to make it fit the mug this time. There was enough of the old puck along the sides that I was able to push the new puck in with the old stuff filling in the edge for a perfect fit.

I'm hoping that when the new puck gets a bit more hydrated with use it will behave as before.

I'm wondering if the formula has changed or if there is a variance from batch to batch.

Any suggestions or speculations?
Sounds like it just needed to be broken in? The more you use it the better it lathers. The secret is simply using it every day with a damp brush and very little water and no soaking.
 
Sounds like it just needed to be broken in? The more you use it the better it lathers. The secret is simply using it every day with a damp brush and very little water and no soaking.
Interesting you would say that. When I was learning to use The Fat, everyone said “more water”. I finally found that a dry brush loaded better with just a bit of tepid water made it lather well. I’m glad to hear someone else say what I discovered. I do find that using it every day so that the puck stays damp is also the secret to maximizing performance. I did soaked my first puck and my second puck until it expanded to fill the ceramic bowl. That is what the Mitchell people say to do, so I do it.
 
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