MWF Challenge-January 2011
- Thread starter bluemantra
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- #22
Wow!! Glad to see so many joining in!
I had my first go with MWF last night. Used my Rooney 3/1 in Super, warm water, and I loaded twice the amount I normally do and used some other tips by Mantic. Below is the lather that I was able to produce on my first try. To me it was too airy and not thick enough, but surprisingly provided a pretty smooth shave that was irritation free. Is this how the "fat" is supposed to look? Any suggestions?
Thanks Gent's!!!
I had my first go with MWF last night. Used my Rooney 3/1 in Super, warm water, and I loaded twice the amount I normally do and used some other tips by Mantic. Below is the lather that I was able to produce on my first try. To me it was too airy and not thick enough, but surprisingly provided a pretty smooth shave that was irritation free. Is this how the "fat" is supposed to look? Any suggestions?
Thanks Gent's!!!
U
Utopian
Since it takes me 5 to 7 years to finish off a single puck of soap, I don't think I'm going to take up this challenge, but I do really like the shaves from MWF!The goal is to use MWF daily or at least M-Funtil it is finished.
U
Utopian
I agree. That looks too bubbly and not creamy enough.
anyone have close to an idea roughly how long a puck of MWF lasts with daily use? yeah, I know there are variables, but "roughly". In just a bit over a year of wetshaving I have only gone through one puck of VDH and that was before I found this Haven!
Wow!! Glad to see so many joining in!
I had my first go with MWF last night. Used my Rooney 3/1 in Super, warm water, and I loaded twice the amount I normally do and used some other tips by Mantic. Below is the lather that I was able to produce on my first try. To me it was too airy and not thick enough, but surprisingly provided a pretty smooth shave that was irritation free. Is this how the "fat" is supposed to look? Any suggestions?
Thanks Gent's!!!
It looks like you added too much water. I find starting out with a next-to-dry brush works best. Good luck!
There are obviously variables, but I guess that you will see the bottom of your bowl in 3-4 months.
Mine often turns out like that, and I don't think it's right. As you say, it gives a good shave, but I find it doesn't last long. Sometimes after a second pass it collapses, and I end up using what is now a soapy wet brush to go back to the puck to build a better lather.
Thanks, I am sitting on a bunch of soap and creams (hence the '11 shave sabbatical) it will be nice to get through some of them and try to refrain from replacing. My puck has probably a dozen uses on it so I will consider myself in good shape if I can get rid of it in 4 months.
Wow!! Glad to see so many joining in!
I had my first go with MWF last night. Used my Rooney 3/1 in Super, warm water, and I loaded twice the amount I normally do and used some other tips by Mantic. Below is the lather that I was able to produce on my first try. To me it was too airy and not thick enough, but surprisingly provided a pretty smooth shave that was irritation free. Is this how the "fat" is supposed to look? Any suggestions?
Thanks Gent's!!!
I really like that bowl. it looks like there are grooved swirls at the bottom too. Where did you find that?
I can only echo that it is either too much water or not enough soap
The short answer is no. You did well to use plenty of product, and adding water slowly is very important, but as is mentioned here, you need to keep agitating until the large bubbles become small bubbles, and the lather begins to look shiny. Keep adding water and agitating until your lather gets to that point. A few tests batches should help you to iron out any kinks. Good luck finishing your puck though, it could take forever.
I currently shave every other day and I may take the better part of a year to finish off a puck. Even if some guys are going daily it will be months it's such a big puck of such a hard soap. My hat is off to you gentlemen.
Okay, first shave challenge shave. Dug the familiar ceramic bowl out of the back recesses of the cupboard and dusted off all the cob webs
Okay, not really, that was just for dramatic effect....
Watched the link to Mantic's video (thanks for that! I always enjoy his stuff!). Interesting... Load the brush upside down? Won't the soap fall out? His didn't but.... Use a stiff brush? Well, this new RV has a pretty short loft which makes it kinda stiff.... It hasn't seen " the Fat"... We'll give that a go.
Jump in the shower,
Fill the bowl with warm water? Check!
Run the brush under warm water and let it soak in? Check!
Shower (jeopardy music plays...)
Load the brush upside down? This brush is holding it's own. Check!
Apply to face and work into a good lather (more jeopardy musc............................................) still working it. Ah, there it comes.... Still... A bit more... Better.... A bit more... Ah ha! Check! That took about 5 times longer than my blessed AOS. But it's very nice. Thicker than I've ever gotten MWF. By quite a bit. I guess patience is rewarded here.
Take Feather AS w/ 3 day old Merkur blade for pass one (side note, this is a razor/blade combination I abhor! The Feather really likes a sharp blade and the Merkur just isn't it. But, as an earlier post recently said, revisiting things that didn't work for you in the past can be a good thing. Sometimes you've learned things along the way. This was not one of those times
)
Shave, lather, repeat.... (yet more jeopardy music).... Still shaving, watch the angle... No pressure... Still shaving... and..... Still... Fortunately(?) the Feather is very smooth and with this blade in it I can (and HAVE to) shave all day. Wow, I mean seriously, like 5 full passes that were in reality, more like double passes each. Wow. And this big ole 30mm knot made and held plenty of nice thick lather. It was good for 4-5 more passes, if needed (I hope it never is
)
But in the end, the shave was actually quite nice. Very smooth, no irritation, face very soft and moisturized. It took for freaking EVER but the end result was very nice. I can live with that.
Get out, towel off and finish up with a splash of Lilac Vegital (don't ask me why but sometimes I just really like this stuff. It only sees 1-2 days a month but on those days, it is just so nice). No burn at all... After all that shaving? Pretty cool!
Now, an hour later, face feels buttery smooth and soft. Maybe the best it's felt all week. Nice!
Okay, I'm putting a Feather blade back in this guy for tomorrow. I enjoy a long shave but that was ridicules. Anyway, day one of "the Challenge".... Check!
Ken
Okay, not really, that was just for dramatic effect....Watched the link to Mantic's video (thanks for that! I always enjoy his stuff!). Interesting... Load the brush upside down? Won't the soap fall out? His didn't but.... Use a stiff brush? Well, this new RV has a pretty short loft which makes it kinda stiff.... It hasn't seen " the Fat"... We'll give that a go.
Jump in the shower,
Fill the bowl with warm water? Check!
Run the brush under warm water and let it soak in? Check!
Shower (jeopardy music plays
...)Load the brush upside down? This brush is holding it's own. Check!
Apply to face and work into a good lather (more jeopardy musc............................................) still working it. Ah, there it comes.... Still... A bit more... Better.... A bit more... Ah ha! Check! That took about 5 times longer than my blessed AOS. But it's very nice. Thicker than I've ever gotten MWF. By quite a bit. I guess patience is rewarded here.
Take Feather AS w/ 3 day old Merkur blade for pass one (side note, this is a razor/blade combination I abhor! The Feather really likes a sharp blade and the Merkur just isn't it. But, as an earlier post recently said, revisiting things that didn't work for you in the past can be a good thing. Sometimes you've learned things along the way. This was not one of those times
)Shave, lather, repeat.... (yet more jeopardy music
).... Still shaving, watch the angle... No pressure... Still shaving... and..... Still... Fortunately(?) the Feather is very smooth and with this blade in it I can (and HAVE to) shave all day. Wow, I mean seriously, like 5 full passes that were in reality, more like double passes each. Wow. And this big ole 30mm knot made and held plenty of nice thick lather. It was good for 4-5 more passes, if needed (I hope it never is)But in the end, the shave was actually quite nice. Very smooth, no irritation, face very soft and moisturized. It took for freaking EVER but the end result was very nice. I can live with that.
Get out, towel off and finish up with a splash of Lilac Vegital (don't ask me why but sometimes I just really like this stuff. It only sees 1-2 days a month but on those days, it is just so nice). No burn at all... After all that shaving? Pretty cool!
Now, an hour later, face feels buttery smooth and soft. Maybe the best it's felt all week. Nice!
Okay, I'm putting a Feather blade back in this guy for tomorrow. I enjoy a long shave but that was ridicules. Anyway, day one of "the Challenge".... Check!
Ken
OK................I palm lathered a test run with my new Colonel since I have yet to use it with MWF. The pic below shows the outcome.
I squeezed the brush and got out most of the water after it got a good soak in hot tap water. I loaded the brush for 30-45 seconds. After that I worked it in my wet palm. I added some water to the tips and whipped and worked it some more. I added water one more time and worked it for about 2 more minutes. At this point I took the picture. I think the real trick is you just have to work the lather 2-3 times as long as you would for a normal tallow hard soap. Also note that I did not soak or wet the soap before I loaded my brush. I also did not hold it upside down. I think those things help you get used to lathering it but are not required. This is some great soap if you have patience.
I squeezed the brush and got out most of the water after it got a good soak in hot tap water. I loaded the brush for 30-45 seconds. After that I worked it in my wet palm. I added some water to the tips and whipped and worked it some more. I added water one more time and worked it for about 2 more minutes. At this point I took the picture. I think the real trick is you just have to work the lather 2-3 times as long as you would for a normal tallow hard soap. Also note that I did not soak or wet the soap before I loaded my brush. I also did not hold it upside down. I think those things help you get used to lathering it but are not required. This is some great soap if you have patience.
I had a quite enjoyable first shave with MWF this morning before I saw this challenge. I shave daily but even so I doubt I can finish off a puck in a month and I like to vary things around so I doubt I can shave with just the one soap until it's finished but I will commit to using it through January at least
Btw (and I will probably get killed for this) I found MWF harder, much harder, to lather than Williams, but the end result was very different of course!
Btw (and I will probably get killed for this) I found MWF harder, much harder, to lather than Williams, but the end result was very different of course!
One thing to keep in mind for soakers of soaps: Lanolin melts/dissolves at a relatively low temperature, so if you soak the cake first (e.g. Completely submerge), use luke warm water.
Just seeing this thread despite using the Fat for the year's first 2 shaves.
I use the scuttle for about 20 seconds before going to face lathering. It is then that I can get a great creamy lather!
My wife commented last night, after a great 3 pass shave with the Fat, how smooth my face felt. Despite this, I cannot committ to one soap for 31 days! I'm looking forward to see if you can even put a concavity in the surface of this soap after 31 shaves! Have at it Gentlemen!
I use the scuttle for about 20 seconds before going to face lathering. It is then that I can get a great creamy lather!
My wife commented last night, after a great 3 pass shave with the Fat, how smooth my face felt. Despite this, I cannot committ to one soap for 31 days! I'm looking forward to see if you can even put a concavity in the surface of this soap after 31 shaves! Have at it Gentlemen!
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- #38
Nice post Ken!! Glad to hear you had a good first day of the challenge. It'll only get better from here!!
Thanks for all the advice!! I ended up face lathering this evening and I ended up with a better lather this time with less airyness, so to speak. Still not what I considered to be a nice thick cushion lather, but I guess that's the nice thing about the "fat" it will still give you a decent shave without the perfect lather.
I used my Rooney 3/1 again and did three passes with my Henckels 6/8! Great shave, but not as good as last night. I'm loving this challenge so far, because it's just that, a CHALLENGE. For me at least, I know others have a much easier time with MWF than me.
I've got a Simpson's Duke 3 coming this week and a Chubby 1 in 2-band not to far off after that. I hope to get some better results with those brushes as well. I'm contemplating getting the Chubby 2 too to dig into MWF. It is the hardest soap I have by far!
As for the bowl, it's from Dirty Bird Pottery and it's the "Bill Bowl" model. Here's a close up of the swirl grooves in the bottom, which help in creating a nice lather.
Keep the posts coming and hope more will join in!! It's just 1 month Gent's!! You can do it!!
Thanks for all the advice!! I ended up face lathering this evening and I ended up with a better lather this time with less airyness, so to speak. Still not what I considered to be a nice thick cushion lather, but I guess that's the nice thing about the "fat" it will still give you a decent shave without the perfect lather.
I used my Rooney 3/1 again and did three passes with my Henckels 6/8! Great shave, but not as good as last night. I'm loving this challenge so far, because it's just that, a CHALLENGE. For me at least, I know others have a much easier time with MWF than me.
I've got a Simpson's Duke 3 coming this week and a Chubby 1 in 2-band not to far off after that. I hope to get some better results with those brushes as well. I'm contemplating getting the Chubby 2 too to dig into MWF. It is the hardest soap I have by far!
As for the bowl, it's from Dirty Bird Pottery and it's the "Bill Bowl" model. Here's a close up of the swirl grooves in the bottom, which help in creating a nice lather.
Keep the posts coming and hope more will join in!! It's just 1 month Gent's!! You can do it!!
Que? You mean like, stuck a mug out the window and snagged some cool H2O, or is that some sort of aftershave?
Got a better lather this morning with the EJ Best by squeezing more water from the brush. My TGN Finest produces a near perfect lather with MWF. While the EJ Best is not quite there, it is getting closer. Enjoying using MWF with different brushes and experimenting with water levels. Haven't had a bad shave with it yet.
