Farewell to Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF reformulation)

There was a recent discussion on another forum about the difficulties of lathering MWF with silvertip badger. I figured, "how hard could it really be?" and grabbed my floppiest (aka luxurious) badger and went for it.

I did my usual routine. Damp brush, well hydrated puck. Loaded, loaded some more, added water and waited for the big bubbles that are my cue to start building lather. Nothing. Added some more water. Still nothing. Added a few more drops. Still nothing. Frustrated, I splashed a puddle into the bowl. Finally saw the big bubbly lather start forming. At this point I pulled the brush back from the puck, and started to go into lather building mode, where the tips of the brush just skim the surface of the puck. The result?

Squeezed the lather out and topped the brush like a sundae.


That is a good lather. It's also about half the amount I normally generate and took four times as long to make.

My conclusion? Using a 'luxurious' silvertip on MWF is like fighting a forest fire with a squirt gun. It can be done, but it's going to take a very long time and it isn't the right tool for the job. If you're working with the tallow MWF/Kent, use a scrubby brush, like two-band badger, boar, or a stiff synthetic.

MWF is twice as dense as the average triple-milled soap. That doesn't always translate into 'harder' than the triple-milled soap, but you get the idea. Save the silvertips for creams and softer soaps... or for the new formula MWF, which is reputedly much easier to load and lather.

 

I ordered 5 soaps from Kent (first time doing that). Didn't add any pocket combs. I already have a Kent made military hairbrush, and a vintage shaving brush. My wife also exclusively uses Kent hairbrushes as well these days. If you want quality, it's hard to beat Kent products.

This puts me up to 13 1/2 pucks.

Nope. But I will use it at least half of the time. I figure it's a 25 year supply at that rate. And quite honestly, if I was forced to only use one soap for the rest of my life, I would pick MWF every time, Ralph Lauren Safari for Men being unavailable these last 20 years now, and me being on my last puck of that.

 

My wife needed a hairbrush that she could blowdry through, and this ventilated brush fit the bill. It's also exceptionally lefty friendly, and very light, which was just a bonus. It was one of her Christmas presents this past year, and one she has really appreciated. It's rare to find a really ergonomically designed brush for left handed use. Kudos to Kent for doing so.

 

It's a puck of soap, elegantly wrapped in paper.

It can be purchased with it's bowl.

Edit: or used with the MWF ceramic dish, since it's the same soap.

Edit 2: or purchased from Connought Shaving in their bowl...

I don't know of any other soap that has so many packaging options.

 

Sorry to spoil your fun. You want to tell us about the origami paper lathering box again?