The Order of the Fat

[ChasingBadgers]

Mitchell's Wool Fat was the first soap I bought when I first got into wet shaving.
Initially I had a lot of trouble getting a good lather, and given that I was still working on my general shaving technique I had no time or patience for it and quickly moved on to easy to lather creams and soaps like Tabac classic.

After becoming a bit more proficient and reading up a bit more, I decided to try the fat again, and followed advice on here to hydrate the puck, as mentioned above here ^

After doing this, and experimenting a bit with exactly how much water I needed to load into the brush etc. I finally got a good lather out of it, and found it gave me a really smooth shave too.
I just finished my first puck, and ordered a few more.

While the new one is hydrating, I had to go back to the Tabac I was using before, and while it was still a decent shave, I noticed that it just doesn't have that same slickness as the fat. Sure, it is easy to use and has a nice, thick lather, but not even close to the same slickness.

Looking forward to shaving with the fat again as my puck will be ready soon. Also have come to like the smell of it, though a lot of people seem to find it rather plain. Am a huge fan of this soap, will continue to use it

 

[Sotiris_A]

No need to use your thumb or to grate the puck down to fit the dish, you need to hydrate the soap to fit the dish as it swells into it. That's why people are saying when using the soap it gets better the more you use it because they start with a dry soap, and everyday use it gets water and soaks it in so hydrating the soap to start with the job is done....

This is mine that has been hydrated no grating of the soap or a thumb to hold it

View attachment 1179209

Once you do this you don't need to beat it to death or load it like you hate it and then more and it keeps its goodness for out of this world shaves and loads of lather...

Trust me you won't regret it....

I treated my latest puck following the method you described on the other thread and I get great results. Indeed, it eliminated the need to increase the loading time for the first few uses (typically 5'' extra seconds with a wetter brush was enough) and I see no difference in the quality of the lather or how the skin feels after the shave, compared to what I could get from a well-used, untreated puck. Even though I have a few refills at hand already, I bought another one with the container a few days ago, in order to be able to prepare the next puck while shaving with the old one.

 

[sugardaddy]

Mitchell's Wool Fat was the first soap I bought when I first got into wet shaving.
Initially I had a lot of trouble getting a good lather, and given that I was still working on my general shaving technique I had no time or patience for it and quickly moved on to easy to lather creams and soaps like Tabac classic.

After becoming a bit more proficient and reading up a bit more, I decided to try the fat again, and followed advice on here to hydrate the puck, as mentioned above here ^

After doing this, and experimenting a bit with exactly how much water I needed to load into the brush etc. I finally got a good lather out of it, and found it gave me a really smooth shave too.
I just finished my first puck, and ordered a few more.

While the new one is hydrating, I had to go back to the Tabac I was using before, and while it was still a decent shave, I noticed that it just doesn't have that same slickness as the fat. Sure, it is easy to use and has a nice, thick lather, but not even close to the same slickness.

Looking forward to shaving with the fat again as my puck will be ready soon. Also have come to like the smell of it, though a lot of people seem to find it rather plain. Am a huge fan of this soap, will continue to use it

Not to put down the Fat, but Tabac is a superb soap base and is amazingly slick. It sounds like you did not mix it up with enough water to where it shows you how good it can be.

(Sent from mobile)

 

[godlike]

Perfect combo

 

[Sotiris_A]

I got rid of everything else, but a couple of D.R. Harris pucks. I'm only using the MWF these days.

Spoiler: Group photo

 

[JCarr]

Got it! Great stuff! I'm in!

 

[EB Newfarm]

I broke out the Fat for December First, and like every year at this time, I am reassured at how awesome MWF is! I live in a place with soft water and it always lathers up easy for me and the post shave feel is top-notch! I have a lot of soaps, but I could be happy only using MWF for the rest of my life!

 

[Pedigree]

I've been using MWF since 2009 and typically use MWF as the soap base for when I super-lather, which is pretty much almost every shave. I do so mainly because I want the moisturizing and smoothing properties of MWF combined with the scent and density and cushion of whichever shaving cream (usually TOBS or GFT creams) I will be using.

 

[JCarr]

Today's shave ... MWF was excellent!

 

[Frinstance]

Gratuitous shot to keep a fun thread going

 

[Mouser]

I want to tell about my puzzling current experience with the Fat. I started wet shaving around 2012 and picked up some Fat early. Now I have hard water but I had no problem lathering anything as soon as I started. Face lathering that is. My learning involved bowl lathering, face lathering was easy. But I soon got that knack as well. I couldn't understand how the Fat got the hard to lather reputation, it was no different than any other good soap. As I collected more and more soaps each one came up less often. Then it got to a time I didn't use it at all for awhile. A couple of weeks ago I pulled it out with the intention of going with it for a week or more and I can't get a decent lather from it at all. Thin, airy, bubbly. I've tried just practicing with it almost every night to get my mojo back but no luck. Its frustrating as hell. Any ideas as to what happened?

 

[NorthernSoul]

...As I collected more and more soaps each one came up less often. Then it got to a time I didn't use it at all for awhile. A couple of weeks ago I pulled it out with the intention of going with it for a week or more and I can't get a decent lather from it at all. Thin, airy, bubbly. I've tried just practicing with it almost every night to get my mojo back but no luck. Its frustrating as hell. Any ideas as to what happened?

My suggestion is: this soap dries out after awhile, so it needs to go through some rehab. Try soaking the puck while you are in the shower, about five minutes or so. Pour off the excess water, then load your brush fairly heavy and face lather. After the puck has been through a few daily cycles of this treatment, it usually comes back to normal. Then, it's not necessary to soak the puck unless it has dried out again.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Absolutely this...

Try soaking the puck while you are in the shower, about five minutes or so.

... but more.

I suggest filling the container with water and letting it soak at least overnight. 24 hours is better. After the puck is rehydrated, a quick bloom before use ensures it stays that way. IME, MWF loves to be wet all the way through.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Used MWF this morning. A fine soap!

 

[coops]

While the new one is hydrating, I had to go back to the Tabac I was using before, and while it was still a decent shave, I noticed that it just doesn't have that same slickness as the fat. Sure, it is easy to use and has a nice, thick lather, but not even close to the same slickness.

Looking forward to shaving with the fat again as my puck will be ready soon. Also have come to like the smell of it, though a lot of people seem to find it rather plain. Am a huge fan of this soap, will continue to use it

Only just spotted the "Order of the Fat" - so i'll bump it up with a suggestion...

MWF is an outstanding soap to mix with others to make a stick (or simply to mix and press into a bowl of your choice).
It's hardness means it really grates easily and with a softer partner soap you get a wonderful, easy to apply shave stick.

So I've made & use a 50/50 mix of Arko/MWF, and also Cella/MWF so far... both excellent. The MWF gives the Lanolin bonus feel and performance to the great lather of Arko or Cella...
And if you like Tabac... then it too will mix very well with MWF (and MWF being a neutral scent is helpful).

Note: Cella is very soft once you've removed it from it's tub so next time I'll be freezing the Cella overnight to get it good and hard before grating. Arko is not so soft, but still best to chill/freeze first...

 

[Trollky]

I got into a groove with The Fat last month so I decided to sign up for October's Soap of the Month club (SOTMC) and get 31 daily shaves with MWF under my belt.

I'm also dong a full month of open comb shaves (OCtober 2022 - Let's Put the OC in OCTOBER) so a top quality soap is a good idea!

I'm two shaves in with a Fatip Grande which I will continue to use for at least a week before switching to a Muhle R41 Ti. I do have a Merkur 41C lined up if I need to dial things down.

MWF continues to impress me with its slickness and phenomenal post-shave qualities. If the missus ever decided to bin my other soaps and only leave me with The Fat, I'd be OK with that

 

[Chadao]

I got into a groove with The Fat last month so I decided to sign up for October's Soap of the Month club (SOTMC) and get 31 daily shaves with MWF under my belt.

I'm also dong a full month of open comb shaves (OCtober 2022 - Let's Put the OC in OCTOBER) so a top quality soap is a good idea!

I'm two shaves in with a Fatip Grande which I will continue to use for at least a week before switching to a Muhle R41 Ti. I do have a Merkur 41C lined up if I need to dial things down.

MWF continues to impress me with its slickness and phenomenal post-shave qualities. If the missus ever decided to bin my other soaps and only leave me with The Fat, I'd be OK with that

View attachment 1532220

Nice setup.

 

[Trollky]

Nice setup.

Thanks. The Omega badger helps

 

[Chadao]

Yes. Great looking brush.

 

[MilkCrate]

Can’t believe I haven’t run across this thread before. I am on my second puck and will always have a place, in my rotation, for The Fat.