MWF precipitating with alum?

[badgertourist]

Anyone else has this experience?

I have been using the fat for a couple of weeks now and am completely hooked! Have used Valobra a couple of times but otherwise have been strictly fat since it arrived!

My post shave routine has gradually turned into this: rinse off lather, apply alum, clean up everything except brush, use remaining lather to wash while face, cold water rinse, dry, balm.

With other creams and soaps (my main ones are Valobra and Palmolive sticks and various TOBS creams) this has worked really well and the final cover of lather leaves the scent longer as well as helping get the alum off.

However- the MWF seems to precipitate on top of the alum. By this I mean it falls out of lather and clumps on my face (not crystals but more bits of course soap). My face feels abit sticky after this, like its leaving a residue behind.

Is this something that happens with any other soaps? Anyone know why it happens?

 

[daccpa]

I can tell you like I tell my wife. "I don't know but I can make something up"

I would guess it has something to do with the lanolin reacting to the alum. Not a lot of other soaps have the lanolin in them.

 

[Ways]

I have had that happen, looked like soggy tissue all over my face! Now I rinse the alum from my face with a glycerin soap my wife uses before using the left over lather followed by balm / splash.
As to why it happens I would tend to agree with daccpa that the lanolin is the likely culprit and due to the slick moisturising nature of the fat I would sooner forgo the alum than waste the left over lather.

 

[mharris127]

What does alum do to the face? This is the first I have heard of using alum in this manner and I have been a member here for a couple of years now.

 

[OkieStubble]

What does alum do to the face? This is the first I have heard of using alum in this manner and I have been a member here for a couple of years now.

1. Disinfects
2. Tightens
3. Finishes

The process usually goes something like this:

1. Rinse soap from the last pass off face with warm water.
2. Then rinse face with cold water to close pores.
3. Wet Alum stick (make sure it is potassium alum and not ammonium alum) and rub stick on face and neck.
4. Let sit on face for 30 sec to 1 min while cleaning up brush and sink area.
5. Rinse alum off face with cold water.
6. Pat dry with towel and then apply AS splash/balm.

 

[badgertourist]

I really like alum and use it every time I shave. Really cheap and gives a great finish. Tightens up the skin, helps get rid if irritation and also helps control spots/greasiness if your skin is that way inclined.

Also a good way to know how good your technique was (stings where it's bad).

Had some success today with having a thorough rinse before using the left over lather.

 

[Chadao]

I have been using MWF for a year, and I use my alum block daily. I have seen no untoward reactions.

 

[buyandhold2018]

you rinse, apply alum, then wash with lather again? Why?

 

[Recluse]

Yes, alum being a mineral, will bind the soap and "Flock" it. Alum is used in many countries as a first step in water purification as a flocculent (a substance that promotes the clumping of particles in an aqueous solution). In other words, it binds with impurities and causes them to stick together so they fall out of solution. Being a mineral salt, it is having a direct reaction with the fats in the soap and causing them to break away from the water in the lather. This will happen with any soap.

 

[Ways]

you rinse, apply alum, then wash with lather again? Why?

personally i only do this with MWF, why? because it feels good. shame to waste such slick, moisturising goodness.

 

[rajagra]

I sometimes use left-over lather in the brush to give a final wash to the face. But I do that before rinsing and applying alum.
I have never noticed powdery alum appearing after the shave, so no reason not to do it in that order for me.
But if it did, I'm sure I could remove it with witch hazel and/or balm.

 

[Ron Scott]

I think the goal is to thoroughly rinse all shaving soap off your face before applying anything else. I know that with slick soap such as Mitchell's and Mike's that can be tough to do shaving at a sink. Another reason to become a Clean Shaver...

 

[Mandina]

+1 on rinsing the soap away before applying alum block. I experienced basically the same problem once when, after working up a wonderfully rich lather with Cella, I nicked the zit on my chin and quickly applied a styptic pencil (the other variety of alum) to the nick. Doing so destroyed the lather. I now only apply a styptic pencil after I've rinsed the soap off my face.

 

[mharris127]

Application after shaving is finished is probably your best bet, then (and makes more sense to me anyway). I hadn't heard of using alum on the face but I can see where it would tighten and firm -- and maybe react in other unpredictable ways. Just be sure to wash your face well before shaving the next time (Noxzema cream would work for this). You may have to do this twice before shaving if the alum reacts with the Noxzema the first time. The OP led me to believe he was applying alum directly before shaving which left me questioning its point.

 

[badgertourist]

Just to confirm I always use the alum after shaving (I think this is quite a common practise).

The reasons for using the lather after the alum is because it seems a shame to waste the lather and it leaves more of a lasting scent if I wash my whole face with it afterwards. I've read of a few others doing this as well.

Other soaps I've tried don't seem to do it. I've now stopped doing this with MWF and use the remaining lather pre-alum with my last rinse.

In reply to the last post above I'm not sure what the noxzema cream would add?

 

[The Dean]

Just to confirm I always use the alum after shaving (I think this is quite a common practise).

The reasons for using the lather after the alum is because it seems a shame to waste the lather and it leaves more of a lasting scent if I wash my whole face with it afterwards. I've read of a few others doing this as well.

Other soaps I've tried don't seem to do it. I've now stopped doing this with MWF and use the remaining lather pre-alum with my last rinse.

In reply to the last post above I'm not sure what the noxzema cream would add?

I sometimes put the extra lather on my face after shaving. But I don't use alum before doing that. I will use the alum once I finally rinse off the lather. Are people leaving the lather on without rinsing (or wiping) it off?

 

[badgertourist]

I think not rinsing it off would dry your skin out? (As well as leaving you soapy?)

 

[The Dean]

I think not rinsing it off would dry your skin out? (As well as leaving you soapy?)

Agreed. So my advice is, use the alum after you rinse off the last of the lather.

 

[mharris127]

In reply to the last post above I'm not sure what the noxzema cream would add?

The Noxzema cream would wash away the remaining alum so you can shave without the lather balling up on you. I suppose any regular soap would do the same thing.