My favorite English soap (or any soap for that matter) is MWF. The Fat is the only soap I use, and I use it three or four times a week. The scent is a blend of heather and lavender. My favorite English cream, however, is Trumper's Limes. I've purchased the soap as well, but the soap didn't have the intense scent I was looking for. Triple milled soaps require longer loading (on the brush) times as well. I used to have a similar problem with MWF until I discovered that it needed to be well hydrated. You just keep adding water to it until it won't absorb any more. It takes about three days to properly set up a puck of MWF, and it will almost double the size of the puck.
I've been thinking about trying the Limes. I have the Rose and love it. Could you describe the Limes scent to someone who has never tried it?
Thanks Steve. And yes, TSD is not triple milled but it's lather quality does stand as an equal with many higher-end soaps, plus the scents are tops.
It smells like fresh cut limes. It's one of the "truest" lime scents I've ever smelled. It doesn't smell artificial at all.
I have tried at least 45 soaps/creams from around the globe in the past 18 months. Many of them are samples. Price does not seem to affect the overall shave much for me. It sure can get a better smell though. MdC is currently my most expensive soap. It just happens to work the best for me. It should last me well over a year so the $68 really isn't that bad. Much less expensive than my dozens of other soaps rarely seeing the light of day. Arko sure does keep your wallet happy. I just can't enjoy the smell.
So we pay more for a triple milled soap so that it is drier and more dense, then in the case of MWF we rehydrate the soap to get it to lather better... Anyone else see a bit of irony here...lol
Triple milled soaps, generally speaking, do not need to be rehydrated in order to perform well. MWF is a unique soap with unique properties, and is hardly representative of typical triple milled shave soaps. In addition to this, I used MWF quite successfully without hydrating it. I found it to perform extremely well straight out of the box, my only issue with this soap was that I hated the scent.
I'd like to add that MWF is not a triple milled soap. It is harder than most regular (non triple mill) soaps, and when hydrated, it becomes slightly harder than Italian soft soaps. It also fits the ceramic container that MWF designed for it perfectly...but only after the puck has swelled up. As for seeing "the irony," Rob, I don't. My $15 puck of MWF has lasted almost 2 years, and I use it weekly. It's easy for me to understand why it's been made for over 100 years.
Ahh, good I didn't think that MWF was triple milled, but I was having difficulty finding an answer. Every thread I read on the subject seemed to either take it for granted that it was triple milled (although can't imagine why) or not mention it at all. From what I remembered I figured that it was way too soft to have been triple milled.
From what I've seen, being able to say "It's triple milled," is a huge selling point. The home website for MWF mentions nothing about triple milling, only that it is made from a turn of the century recipe. I wouldn't be surprised if it was milled at least once or possibly twice, though.
I certainly did not intend for my post being inflammatory in any way. I did not intend to suggest that MWF isn't an excellent soap worthy of all the great reviews I have read, matter of fact it's high on my list to try. I am a noob and have learned a lot from this site already. I wish I had learned that not all soaps are as friendly to heating before I melted my first puck of artisan soap to get it to fit my bowl. I am afraid I may have altered its character in the process. Thanks for your replies to my post, your passion for MWF only increases my desire to try it.
cant go wrong with MdC, MWF, Mikes, and harris arlington. just check the reviews...those 4 are powerhouse of soaps. all are great. tonight i think will be a MWF night for me.
I didn't think your post was inflammatory. I just didn't think it was ironic. I do add water to MWF to make it lather better. MWF and Williams both have a reputation for being difficult to lather. Waterlogged MWF is a joy to lather...but Williams is still...meh.
I think whether it's worth it is a matter of your budget for "luxury" items. Is it worth it to go see a movie in a movie theater rather than wait and see it on tv? Or to go out for dinner to a new restaurant? In both cases it's similar to a new soap, you can't know for sure if you're going to like it. If it turns out well, you end up with a "richer" experience than watching at home or cooking your own dinner. If you have "better" things to spend the money on, maybe stick with Arko. If you have some disposable income available, acquisition disorders can be very enjoyable. Also, maybe start small, Palmolive stick is just a little more expensive but quite a good soap.
I have two soaps which I would say are "middle-of-the-road" in price. They are Dr Dittmar and Klar Kabinett. I think these two soaps are amazing and I wouldn't call them that expensive.
I enjoy good soaps and don't mind plunking down good money for them. Penhaligon's shaving soap is expensive but some of the poorest soap I've run across. After you use a few soaps you'll figure out what's worth paying for or not. At this point I know what I expect from a decent shaving soap (for me personally), some are spendy, some aren't.
Penhaligon's shaving creams and colognes are exquisite, though; some of the finest I've tried. I keep a few of their shaving cream samples my camping gear.
