Didn't seem exceptionally thirsty to me. Barrister and Mann is way more thirsty. even Stirling is more thirsty. But YMMV.
I like to keep MWF in an airtight (or nearly airtight) container. For the first 3 or 4 days I added about a teaspoon of water to it. This seemed to soften the soap and made it very nice and easy to lather. Once the moisture gets into the soap, using it at least once a week seemed to maintain the moisture.
I plan on almost daily use. Back and forth between this and my Nivea. Funds are not exactly high for a rotation so I am making due with what I have for now.
I usually soak MWF while soaking my brush, then lather when I'm ready. There may be thirstier soaps, but it soaks up a lot of water.
I am full of questions today. Does loading upside down really matter? I try to keep it at two passes max with clean up and I would hate to waste lather. How long should I load for?
I treat it just like any other soap, but load it a little longer than average. For me that's 45-60 seconds loading for MWF. That gives me enough for three passes with a bunch left over. But I think how long you load is going to depend some on your water. But I don't soak it, I don't load upside down, no special tricks needed as it is probably the easiest lathering soap I have come across.
I never saw the need to load upside down. Tried it and really did not see a difference. Agree depends on your water. I generally swirl 60 - 80 times around the container. Seems to be enough for a 2- pass shave with some left over. The fat is pretty inexpensive so I don't worry if I use more product then I need.
Most animal fat-based soaps will tend to leave behind evident 'scum' or film as they often maintain a greater insolubility than non-tallow soaps. I find this to be the case with most tallow-based soap products. This inconvenience, to me, is simply the tradeoff one pays for the soap's desirable slickness.
Am I glad I am stubborn. I used it again today. Love it! Put the shower head on cool, not ice cold, for a few seconds to stiffen of my whiskers. Had my brush soaking in room temp water, Loaded it up, and went straight to the face. I would say my lather was half way between Fram and that Brit in the video. Virtually no AS Burn, only on the small spot where I went ATG over my Adams Apple, but that is my trouble spot. I love this stuff!! Methinks the reason I found it to be thirsty was because I loaded so much onto my brush, more so than I need. I am a hard critic as well , and this did a very good job.
Mitchell's Wool Fat hard to lather? #$^^@ please. Last night I put the Fat to the test. Results which I have duplicated today. I am very impressed especially considering some MdC (a soap not in the same league as MWF or even Arko) fanboys claim 8 swirls of MdC is all it takes to generate a "miraculous" amount of lather- a claim that I failed to reproduce. So last night I decided using a Muhle Black Fiber synthetic to put MWF to the 8 swirls test using a bowl. Muhle specs: Handle: 50 x 35 x 35 mm Knot (at base): 20 mm Loft: 53 mm Weight: 30g First I put Arko to the test. 8 swirls and a bowl full of lather appeared. Not surprising. It is Arko- possibly the best lathering soap anywhere. But seeing as Arko is not my focus I didn't really care. I just wanted to see if 8 swirl lathering was possible. After each pass I want you to note that I rinsed my face. Yesterday and today I put MWF to the test. Here it is before doing anything to it (today): This is what it looked like after 8 swirls: After working up that lather: Yes, I shaved with it. Up to the 3rd pass anyways. It had plenty of cushion and slickness. Here is the soap after the fifth pass: Here is the soap after the SEVENTH pass: I felt it with my fingers. Plenty of glide and cushion. I waited a few minutes. No disappearing act. Now I really stretched it for the seventh pass so I didn't attempt an 8 pass of lather. I want to add, as a disclaimer, that you may not get the results I experienced especially with a natural brush since synthetics are much more efficient. I just wanted to show that it can be done and MWF isn't hard to lather at all. I really have no idea where that reputation came from. I have moderately hard Chicago city water (I live in the city not the suburbs) and it is as easy to lather as any soap. It might actually be easier to lather than Arko in a way since Arko gets really airy if you add too much water.
