MWF and the 2 pass shave

[Z man]

Hello Gentleman,
I have been searching for the tools to accomplish a comfortable 2 N/S with the grain pass shave on work mornings and think I have arrived at my goal. First, I obtained a merkur progress razor and what a joy it has been. Simply a shaving machine. Next I began trying all my creams and soaps in the den for a clean 2 pass to go with my new progress and results where mixed. My 2 best performers were trumpers violet cream and MDC but both requiring plenty of touch ups. I was about to give up when this week my package arrived from shaving.ie. I ordered mwf soap in the ceramic container. Well, I have been using this soap since Saturday and my shaves have been simply fantastic! For whatever reason most of my hair is removed after the first pass with this amazing soap. In fact, this morning with a 6 day personna blade and the progress set on 3.5 I was tempted to do just a 1 pass shave.
I finish daily with a warm, cold rinse and always with an application of Myrsol Balsamic Water ,great stuff in its own right. My face has felt great all week. Yes you have to load the soap with a little more effort but I have not had a problem eventhough our water is very heavy. My duke3 and trumper g2 seem to do the job.
My question to those who have plenty of experience with this soap is why I am getting these incredibly close shaves with minimal passes???
All the Best
Andy​

 

[Vivasanti]

2 of my favourite things in wet shaving Merkur progress/MWF.

\o/

 

[Niles]

I always get great shaves from MWF.

 

[jtb]

The progress as been my goth for a few months now. MWF and the progress are great together. I do just a two pass shave with the progress and always at a minimum get a DFS. Not sure why the combo is so good but it really works. Tabac also works well for me, as does a number of other soaps.

 

[InHotWater]

I think Mitchell's is a great soap, and once you get the lathering technique down, you are going to get some great shaves from now on.

 

[nav]

I can't say what it is about MWF but I absolutely agree with you that there is something about it that leads to a great shave with less work than other soaps.
One of my favourite combo is the Progress/MWF and another is the sledgehammer (Merkur 39C slant)/MWF. Speick stick also works great for me.

The slant allows me to do WTG/ATG and some touchups around the goatee area and i'm done (I have fairly thick stubble!!). The progress is a bit more work but it is also more comfortable and slightly faster to shave with. These are the only two razors in my rotation after having used ~50 vintage and modern razors of all styles.

 

[celestino]

The tallow is probably the main reason along with your improved technique!

 

[Mad Man]

It's funny how so many of us have settled into the standard 2-pass and t/up morning shave.

The common denominator often appears to be a seriously good tallow soap too.

I've got Arko, MWF and Cella in my BAU morning shaves for work and it's a 2-pass WTG same a yours. Raso Green is the only non-tallow in there.

Anyone else do a 2 pass with similar soap rotation?

 

[Predict]

I too have settled on the progress as my go to safety razor. In fact it is now the only safety razor I own out of 20+ that I've tried. I mostly use a feather SS straight however and I perform 1 pass with touch ups using mostly mikes natural, mystic water, proraso/bigelow, and QCS.

 

[Z man]

Good morning and thanks for the great responses. Perhaps it is the tallow and lanolin combo. Whatever it is it gives a smooth and slick shave and your skin feels great afterwards. Since I have been using the progress I think you are correct that my technique has improved due to the greater blade exposure I believe.
In contrast, this mornings shave was with a new blade and MDC utilizing the same 2 pass with the grain. Yes, the shave was as slick and much easier to generate tons of lather but I think I had more cushion, a closer shave and my face felt more moisturized post shave with the mwf. I will be shaving with mdc for the rest of the week and will write back to share my experience.
Have a great weekend
Andy

 

[JCturboT]

Andy,
Been using Wool Fat the last two shaves and there is something special about this soap, very nice lubricating shave!

Jeff

 

[Dusty1]

Yes, the Fat and Tabac arew my 2 favorites. You know a soap is good if the guys using straight razors use it! Enjoy your shave!