Your problem is definitely not using enough soap. You can try putting a bit of water on top of the soap while you shower. It will be absorbed and soften the soap which will allow you to pick up more of it with your brush. Most problems with soaps can be attributed to not using enough soap or enough water. I can get a nice lather from it this way every time without and issues. I would consider DR Harris to be a good but not an excellent soap myself. While DR Harris might at one time have been considered a top tier soap there are a lot of newer artisan soap makers that are making some really excellent much better performing soaps. I do own the Arlington soap and while it smells great it doesn't perform well enough to make my soap rotation.
I always soak my soaps prior loading. I've noticed I get a better lather with my stiffer boars than with Silvertip badger.
If you grate the puck and press it into a container it seems to help with ease of lathering. That in addition to adding a teaspoon or two of water make the soap very simple to lather for me.
Just to say I really enjoy DR Harris but all I have a shave stick.i think it is the same soap though. Have you tried rubbing the puck on your face?
I'm sure I'm doing something wrong as well. The internet overflows with how good it is. I'll try some more, if I don't succeed it's going on my tradelist for a bargain. It is in a tight fit container so I can't rub it I'm afraid.
Progress! No, not the Merkur... I test-lathered the puck just now. I've been lathering my soaps a bit differently lately, with great success, and I recalled I hadn't tried it with my DR Harris puck. What I did was a wet puck, just rinsed with warm water and excess drained. A soaked brush that I just wrung, not shaken like I had done previously. Loaded the brush thoroughly and begun at the dry bowl, not with water at the bottom as previously. I got a luxuriously yogurt-like lather, just like my Italian soaps. It was so delicious I had to taste it.. no seriously it was that good! Disclaimer: I didn't shave, but it was thick, slick and clung to my bowl then trying to rinse off like my best lather usually do. I'll definitely try it tomorrow to see if it shaves as good as it felt. Right after I tried the same method with my MWF... that puck still just wont lather. OMG it's poor. I'm sure I don't treat it like it's supposed to be treated, but I have officially given up on it. I don't care how good it is if I manage to lather it, I don't want to own it anymore.
I'm glad dr harris is working now. It seems to be working. I would be happier if you or MWF to lather and wrote that you loved it =P
Really glad you got DR Harris to work. I really like their soaps which scent do you have? Sorry about MWF not working out for you.
Soak the fat overnight. I would recommend using a drier brush when you go to make your lather. And remember not all lathers look the same.
I'll soak it alright, in the toilet, then the rain outside. Nah, sorry, just messing with ya. I've read about it, but I've lost all desire in the MWF. So I wont do more about it. Better it finds a home with a loving owner, than a ranter like me
Any update on your adventure with DR Harris ? I wanted to buy that new sandalwood scent they have now and after I read your thread I have second thoughts now...
I just shaved with it today and the lather seemed very fine. Not my best shave but I had trouble with the angle on a razor that I don't use very often. The lather is now as I would expect from it. I will not be getting it again when it's used up. Mostly because I think it's too expensive compared to the experience with eg. Razorock that I find just as good, if not better. Scent wise I'm not drawn to the Arlington as the rest of the Web seems to be
That's good to hear. I like the way you reason about soaps. Why keep something that is inconsistent. Myself, I have 1 or 2 soaps that I won't be getting again. The first is RR Classic because it give me a rash. The other is Williams soap, for the life of me I can't get it to lather. But I haven't given up on it yet =P
