SMF

I've been using MWF for my last 3 shaves and I was wondering if others experience, what I'm going to call, squeaky skin. It makes my skin feel taught while shaving, and if I hold the razor too shallow allowing part of the surface of the bar ride along my face, it kind of sticks to the skin and bounces a little very much like squeaking your fingers on clean glass (since it's basically riding the bar, no worries about scraping myself up with the blade though). Is this typical of MWF? Is this why people say you either love it or hate it?

Despite having trouble with the actual shaving, it does seem to turn out better than what I was using (VDH). I keep thinking I'm going to get razor burn because of how I have to use a steeper angle to avoid riding the bar, but oddly that isn't happening.

Kar, a number of factors, body chemistry, etc., affect how we react to the formula of a given shave cream or soap. This is neither good or bad, just some of the reasons why we may favor a product that others don't.

Welcome to SMF!
MWF has Lanolin which seemed to give my face a nice soft, smooth, and kind of 'rubbery' feel after the shave, I never noticed during the shave but maybe the Lanolin has an effect while shaving? Not sure, am sure the other MWF experts will chime in. With my hard water I never could get a good lather from MWF so finally sold it, good luck!

It's possible that you have too much soap and too little water in your mix. This situation can cause the kind of thing that I think you're trying to describe. One the other hand, having an over 'rich' mix like that may be helping to protect your skin as you work on improving your technique. Mitchell's Wool Fat is a little more challenging to get an optimal lather than are some other top shelf soaps so, continue experimenting with the soap to water ratio for a bit and see how it goes.
Regards,
Gordon

i agree with gordon on this ...

MWF is one of the two soap products i use. i believe you just have to
try getting the water to soap ratio just right for you..

many say that mwf soap is harder to get the lather just right as compared to other brands

i dont find that at all.. but all brands are just a little different than others are..so try a bit more soap or a bit more water until you find what is best for yourself...sounds like you need more water.

marc

Yup, it sounds like too much water in the mix. The water will dillute the lubrication properties of the soap so the razor will skip or jump over the skin rather than glide over it while still making contact.

Regards,
David

Welcome to SMF. I also think it might be the water. Once you get the MWF dialed in to your own preferences and technique, you are the beholder of a beautiful thing!

I'll play with the constancy some more then and try it many different ways. It's only me second soap, and it clearly goes through a lot more phases when lathering than the VDH puck I started with did. So there is a lot room for adjusting the mixture.

I have a decent, I think, badger brush on the way to try out as well (as pretty much everyone recommends). I feel like my boar brush very easily creates an airy foam if I don't lather slowly enough. I suspect that it may be easier to experiment with a different brush.

Blade "skipping" to me says there is an issue with the lather. Many lathering problems can be fixed by loading the brush more. MWF in particular has a small sweet spot - it likes water being added very slowly, and I have to load fairly long (~1 min) to pick up enough product.

Yes, keep working with the mix and I agree that the forthcoming badger brush will likely be helpful. Best of luck and hang in there.
Regards,
Gordon

All such good advice, that I only had to read this thread and find myself saying that the team has done a great job without the help of the resident MWF evangelist ... well done gents!

http://nationalhugasheepday.blogspot.co ... p-day.html

jww wrote:All such good advice, that I only had to read this thread and find myself saying that the team has done a great job without the help of the resident MWF evangelist ... well done gents!

http://nationalhugasheepday.blogspot.co ... p-day.html

Nice link, Wendell!.....

Regards,
David

sometimes I start with the MWF for a thick lather and swirl the brush in AOS to get a nice scent as well

river1 wrote:sometimes I start with the MWF for a thick lather and swirl the brush in AOS to get a nice scent as well

Such blasphemy --- why tangle with the magnificent scent of the woolfat????

I know, I know, ... someone, somewhere is thinking ymmv. Well that may be true but not where my beloved Fat is concerned. .....

I had my first shave with mitchells today,received a new puck in a trade...I used hot water and a 23mm vie-long horse hair brush.the water to soap ratio was easily accomplished and in 3 minutes time I had a very nice thick lather that got even thicker on my face..glide was very good,the scent good but very mild,and I had no problems of dry-out before my shave was over..nice product....

I never got on with MWF. It appears to work best with plenty of soap and water, to really slick it up, but I find it way to finicky to get it to that stage.

Even then I have others that shave better. But I do find it is probably the most moisturising soap I've tried.

Try more water to slick it up. Any soap that likes water can be sticky and tuggy if left too dry.

Kar I believe marc said it best. MWF is not difficult to use but its formula is a little different from what some shavers might already be used to so that's why they have to adjust a bit to get the best use of it.

Quick, read this before Wendell sees it. I added a few drops of sandalwood EO (obtained from soap maker at a craft's fair), let it soak in for a few days and now have sandalwood-scented MWF. It still has the background scent of MWF but over layed with sandalwood. So nice!
(Put the club down, Wendell.)

I've found a little slice of soap-heaven by combining equal amounts of Tabac and MWF. It pays to try new stuff!

MWF is one of the most well regarded shaving soaps out there but I could never get it to lather right and have tried out 30+ soaps and never had a problem getting plenty of lather from any of them. I have extremely hard water in my area and I have a feeling that may have something to do with it.

Clint