SMF

I use Glycerin to lube razor threads and also TTO mechanisms. On a whim I used a French formula for improving shave soap, but with a current made puck of Williams shave soap made in the USA. The biggest complaints against this modern version are that it can be a SOB to lather and lacks glide. I cut up the puck into small pieces and added 40 drops (2ml) of Glycerin and then proceeded to knead it all into a ball. I then pressed it into a small plastic bowl and let it harden/cure for a spell. I bloomed this revised soap with very hot water (microwaved) while I showered and the resultant shaves were incredible!! Remarkable difference!! For a little "elbow grease" you can turn a $1.00 soap into a winner.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Humco-Glycer ... 95&veh=sem

I have one or two of these pucks, now about 13 years old. How much glycerine shall I need?

That was 2005. Probably half a dozen have been scattered here and there as washroom handsoaps since. Likely 36 left. No rational person ought to shave with this voluntarily, and it might qualify as a human rights issue in the International Court if one were made to shave with it. Avoid at all costs. We've heard the glycerine story many, many times now. The soap still stinks.

C.

clive

A few years back I read about the glycerin process. I tried it and it didn't work for me. I also tried most of the other suggested courses of action and nothing worked (for me, YMMV). Once or twice I raised a lather, only to see it dissipate within seconds as I watched.

Rather like the noxious (for me) Mitchell's Wool Fat.

Sad, but true.

C.

Agree about the William's but not the Mitchell's.

I like the scent of William's, and I like how my face feels after I use it, but it is terribly difficult to lather.

MWF is good for me, and part of my regular rotation.

YMMV.

Adding glycerin? Been there and done that.
But why should I, when there are so many perfectly capable soaps available that don’t need any additions except water?

Any soap that requires addition of a compound to make it work is for me - by definition - inadequate.

As far as Mitchell’s Wool Fat is concerned, it is rather temperamental and results largely depend on water hardness and the kind of brush I use.
While I like Mitchell’s Wool Fat, I can get near identical results with the more versatile and forgiving Haslinger Schafsmilch.


B.

Gee, I'm sorry I tried to offer merely a pointer on how to make this soap work. I'm done.

BPMan, it sounds like you have made a soap that works well for you. Enjoy it and don't let other comments deter you. You have peaked my interest enough that I might give it a try.

Appreciate the OP. I'm not a fan of glycerine, but always interested in tips.

About the fragrance of MWF I swear I remember it from childhood but I can't place it. I know there was no MWF in our home, and I'm not sure there was anything with that fragrance in our home. Just one of those bugs bugging me.

Ira, yeah about the scent of MWF. I can't place it in my childhood but it does smell reminiscent of something back then!

I'm not a big fan of the scent though so my cake doesn't see much use. I have to be in the mood.

Chris

MWF smells like the old female perfume White Shoulders if I recall.

BPman wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:21 pm MWF smells like the old female perfume White Shoulders if I recall.

That rings a bell! I think my mom used something that I swear was almost identical to MWF. This is one of those scents that I like for a little while, then I quickly get pretty tired of it and have to let it go.

My wife wore white shoulders back in the day when we started going together. That was decades ago. I don't think that's it. When I originally bought MWF I asked her if she recognized the scent and she didn't. But now I want to go buy some white shoulder for her and find out for sure. I won't say stand by. No idea when or if.

BPman wrote: ↑Tue Feb 20, 2018 11:30 pm Gee, I'm sorry I tried to offer merely a pointer on how to make this soap work. I'm done.

Oh, don't be daft! Your pointer was welcome, even if we'd heard and tried it before. Think of it like this: if glycerine could make a soap wonderful for shaving, would we not all be choosing glycerine soaps? And yet we universally prefer soaps from which the glycerine has been stolen and repurposed for cosmetics or dogfood (there may be some difference between those categories but let us not be distracted), soaps that have been milled not just once, but three times, carefully dried each time and every last ounce of glycerine extracted. It seems we want the distilled and concentrated essence of what soaps do to surface tension. Yes, we can shave with nice slimy glycerine, or shave oil, or Edge Gel, but—

O for a beaker full of the warm South
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim

—seems to work for lather as well as it did for poor Keats and his beaker of wine. The quick and easy cold pour soaps don't do it, nor even come close. The chemistry of a good shaving soap is all about the diameter of the bubbles, the thickness of their walls, and not the superfat or glycerine left behind by the marriage of lye and fatty acid. Surely, we can wax poetic about such nonsense, but getting down to the serious business of a good shave, glycerine don't cut it, as it were. Nonetheless, in the spirit of good fellowship, should you find that Williams Mug Soap and a dash of glycerine starts your motor, floats your boat or even makes the shaving equivalent of J.M.Barrie's Arcadia Mixture, I congratulate you. I do believe there is more for you to discover, but if you are happy, then so should I be. Indeed if you are that happy, I should probably send you some of those cake of Williams, that I bought for use as bath soap before I discovered the joys of making my own soaps.

C.

drmoss_ca wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:46 pm Rather like the noxious (for me) Mitchell's Wool Fat.

Sad, but true.

C.

Good doctor, you are not alone. I’ve tried diligently to like MWF, but to no avail: I dislike its smell, the lather it makes and how it feels on my face. I hope Wendell isn’t listening in.

drmoss_ca wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:14 pmOh, don't be daft!...

You lost me at that.

As you please. I'll keep the Williams.

Oh you MWF haters! What blasphemy you do and Wendell is not the only Wool Fat Apostle on SMF. Like Wendell I love the FAT for shaving but the wife and I like it even more as a bath soap. Yes, Mitchell sells the FAT as a bath soap. For me the FAT bath soap is almost as good as sliced bread.

As for Williams, never liked it, lousy lather, scent ok, just lousy lather. Best thing the wife it useful for was getting stains out of clothes, yep, all kinds of stains. When it was available it was cheaper and worked better than more common stain removers.

So guys, cut the blasphemy please.

Not very many mentions of MWF here in the Wms thread, but yes --- it's a love/hate fragrance. The lather is one of the best but apparently gives a few guys a hard time learning how to lather it with a brush. On point: poor little rock hard Wms makes a fairly long lasting shower soap. I also used it to wash my hair in the shower with good results. At a dollar a puck it's not nearly as expensive as most other bath soaps. I personally like how Wms smells.