SOC on the way!

[filedog]

I currently have a Rooney 3/1 in silvertip. I really like it, but it doesn't seem to work well for hard soaps. It lathers Tabac just fine, but with MWF, it always seemed like I couldn't get enough product on my brush. It was not for lack of trying, believe me. Hot water, cool water, less water, more water, you know the story : )
I have read it's supposed to be GREAT with soaps, but sometimes I feel like I am just "mooshing" it down, with not a lot of loading going on. I have been using only creams for a couple of months, but I have decided to go back to soaps. As I was looking for a brush to work better with them, I saw a lot of good feedback about boar brushes. I had an Omega 49 very early on, that worked pretty well, although it seemed too big, so when I got my badger, I sold it. I realize there are some guys who have ZERO problems lathering MWF, they're LUCKY! I want to make another attempt, and I noticed a few reports of people saying they had MUCH better results using a boar brush, So, I started looking at boars again. The SOC caught my eye, so I ordered one. Looks like it has shipped too. I'm really excited to give it a try, it's a great looking brush!

 

[Shavely Manden]

Congrats! Give it some time to break in--those ends need a month or two to split before it starts feeling soft, but when it does, it's totally, totally worth it. Mine is an MWF monster.

 

[Klarion]

It could easily be that you're picking up enough soap, but just don't have the technique to create lather with it properly. Maybe you simply won't be able to lather it, no matter which brush you use.

 

[filedog]

It could easily be that you're picking up enough soap, but just don't have the technique to create lather with it properly. Maybe you simply won't be able to lather it, no matter which brush you use.

Well, maybe. I prefer a more positive view. I can make lather with anything else, and I DO have hard water. I'm gonna keep trying, and see if the boar will help

 

[vegaskid74]

Congrats! Give it some time to break in--those ends need a month or two to split before it starts feeling soft, but when it does, it's totally, totally worth it. Mine is an MWF monster.

True dat. I've been working on my SOC for a good two months now. It probably has 60-80 lather/dry cycles on it, and it's just now starting to provide acceptable results. As long as your expectations are realistic and you're patient, you'll be fine.

 

[filedog]

WOW, that's almost 3 MONTHS! Well, I'm curious to try it. The folks at Semogue must know what they're doing. The brush seemes to have a lot of great reviews, but also some who mention the need for a lot of patience. When you say "acceptable" was it just not making good lather before?

 

[Ignatius]

Perhaps the issue is MWF, and not the brush?

 

[mdevine]

I used my SOC with MWF this morning and it was a lather machine. The SOC does take a while to break in well. Mine has been used about 30 times and I still think it isn't broken in fully. I recommend finding the thread on lathering with a boar brush as I found the videos very helpful. The boars require a little different technique than a badger does. For me, I find that more water is needed in a boar brush to lather a soap properly. Good luck!

 

[Drubbing]

Break in on the SOC is more mileage variance in action.

I started to get frustrated 2-3 weeks in, shaving with it every day and adding another lather for good measure. And then it just came good very quickly.

It softened noticeably at the base (tips softened after just a week) and then starting giving up heaps of lather. It helped that I really loaded it well and being a fat brush, it can take a lot more than most.

I just got the 1305, which for me is more ergonomic and a great size, but it is more pokey and stiff to break in, and I'm just hitting the frustration point with this one too...

As mentioned by mdevine, I think too much is often made of the differences between boar and badger, I use mine just the same, only a bit wetter to load up. This is probably a bit more pronounced during break in, where water retention affects the ability to work up lots of lather.

 

[Shavely Manden]

I currently have a Rooney 3/1 in silvertip. I really like it, but it doesn't seem to work well for hard soaps. It lathers Tabac just fine, but with MWF, it always seemed like I couldn't get enough product on my brush. It was not for lack of trying, believe me. Hot water, cool water, less water, more water, you know the story : )
I have read it's supposed to be GREAT with soaps, but sometimes I feel like I am just "mooshing" it down, with not a lot of loading going on. I have been using only creams for a couple of months, but I have decided to go back to soaps. As I was looking for a brush to work better with them, I saw a lot of good feedback about boar brushes. I had an Omega 49 very early on, that worked pretty well, although it seemed too big, so when I got my badger, I sold it. I realize there are some guys who have ZERO problems lathering MWF, they're LUCKY! I want to make another attempt, and I noticed a few reports of people saying they had MUCH better results using a boar brush, So, I started looking at boars again. The SOC caught my eye, so I ordered one. Looks like it has shipped too. I'm really excited to give it a try, it's a great looking brush!

Incidentally, how long are you loading on the MWF? MWF takes a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long load. Also, loading upside down helps.

 

[filedog]

Perhaps the issue is MWF, and not the brush?

Yeah, it's definitely possible, but I WANT to like MWF
I'm gonna give it another try. As some of you have mentioned, it tkaes a longer load time, and I just wasn't happy about GRINDING my Rooney into the puck.
At least with a stiffer brush, I won't feel like I'm doing it harm.

 

[JPDyson]

MWF isn't the issue, and neither is the brush. I've owned and loved both.

Filedog, surely you've seen the excellent lathering guides for soap, and watched Mantic59's YouTube videos, right? I'm stealing from that background and adding a couple of extra things with the following tips:

1. Soak your brush for about 5 minutes in warm water. Hot tap water is fine, just not scalding. The "MWF needs cool water" myth is just that - a myth.

2. Soak the soap with the same water for 1-2 minutes (softens the surface).

3. Shake out your brush, but no need to squeeze.

4. Pour off the excess water from the soap (discard, don't save).

5. Swirl the tips of the brush on the soap for 10-15 seconds.

6. Move to your lathering bowl, and start whipping, adding 1/4 teaspoon of water at a time.


Notes: This leaves a decent amount of water in your brush, but for loading 10-15 seconds, you may need more to get a suitable consistency. I rarely load that long, but I'm suggesting you do to give you more soap and water to work with (thereby greater tolerance for error). No need to load any longer than that.

If this fails to yield suitable lather, it's probably your water. Try some bottled water and see if that improves it. If so, culprit identified.

Now, what I actually do is,

1. Soak a brush suitably long for its character (3-5 minutes badger, 10+ boar)

2. Wet the top of the puck and let that sit for a couple minutes

3. Shake out the excess from my brush (a little more shaking for badger, a little less for boar)

4. Swirl on the puck (5 seconds w/badger, about the same w/boar, maybe another second)

5. Start scrubbing on my face (at this point, I'm fresh out of the shower, my bear is soft and wet)

Within a minute or two, I've got excellent lather. MWF is a dandy, but I do contend that it has a slightly narrower tolerance for water to soap ratio. To say it another way, I think a little too much water is more detrimental to MWF than, say, Tabac or AoS. Same for a little less water.

 

[filedog]

MWF isn't the issue, and neither is the brush. I've owned and loved both.

Filedog, surely you've seen the excellent lathering guides for soap, and watched Mantic59's YouTube videos, right? I'm stealing from that background and adding a couple of extra things with the following tips:

Josh, thanks for the info! Yes, in the beginning, I watched most of Mantic's excellent videos. I never did soak the puck though. I am gonna try that.

 

[JPDyson]

Josh, thanks for the info! Yes, in the beginning, I watched most of Mantic's excellent videos. I never did soak the puck though. I am gonna try that.

Cool; in case I wasn't clear, you DON'T want to do this more than a minute or two, and you DON'T want to do this with boiling water, but hot tap water should be fine (unless you have unusually hot tap water). The point is just to soften the surface of the puck a bit.

 

[filedog]

Got my SOC today (took 10 days), gave it a nice soak, and test-lathered some MWF. Of course it's not broken in at all, and quite stiff, but it EASILY gave me a nice bowlful of lather, yay!