It's been a while back during a Soap Pass Around. I got a sample big enough for a couple lathers, had no adverse reactions to the ingredients, but didn't use it long enough to appreciate the lanolin skin softening others report. I've continued to see the cool ceramic dishes and so many folks report it as good stuff so I went all in. I do have relatively soft water so am expecting no problems working up a lather. If I can make Modern Williams work...
I've never been one to keep records of my blade or soap usage, but the subject came up elsewhere. I weighted the empty ceramic dish at ambient temp for 24+ hours - 248 grams. The puck advertised at 125, only weighed 118 grams out of the wrapper, also stored in the tub unwrapped for 24 hours. Total weight before my first shave - 366 grams. After today's lathering with a damp boar brush, no blooming, 20 seconds loading - 368 grams. So I left more water in the dish than I took out in soap. Not bad for a first use. The puck arrived dry, almost dusty, and 1/2 inch smaller diameter than the inside of the dish. I've heard about folks that haven't used their MWF for a while experiencing shrinkage. I expect the water I left in the tub will swell the puck so it fits tighter. I did tip the dish to check for liquid - only loose soapy foam that slipped down. Best part? MWF likes my soft tap water! Shave report HERE.
I'm going to label that as a shaving myth. There was a big study done on one of the forums between Fat users. The hardness of the water made no difference in people's ability (or lack thereof) to make lather.
Ya but some people know how to whip it good. And.. I believe 'my' soft water and 'my' MWF make better lather than when my water was hard, although back then I was using Gillette Foamy...
OK, then I'll restate my observations on MWF. When using a boar or synthetic brush, a bowl, and my cool tap water I can make a colloidal suspension satisfiing my criteria for what I consider a good lather. Caution; The following statement contains "Feelings". I've yet to produce a decent MWF lather using badger or horse bristled brush using the same receptacle and hydration. I do have an innate dislike for ineffectual floppy low quality badger brushes. So far no one has convinced me a $200+Simpson is superior to a $15 Omega. My one horse hair, a Vie-Long, isn't making that group look any better. Those are my feelings and are subject to change depending on the cycles of the moon, local meteorological conditions, and/or hormone fluctuations.
When my sister's two cats were here with me(and before that, that of my brother-in-law), they all showed me some new "tricks", but none involved singing(or using MWF).
That's how I feel about Vulfix. Same ivory color as expensive badgers. Might as well be made from bunny fur for how little backbone they possess. Gave me a bad impression of badgers in general. A Whipped Dog High Mountain set deep is better. I get decent scrub from a V.Sheng black badger. I've been told two band is what I'm looking for. Rubber bands (British = elastics) shouldn't be needed to make a brush useful. Oh well, there's always shave creams for easy lather making.
all my badgers are best/finest/ 2 band.softer than pure but have good backbone..boar and synthetics are go to's as well..
Mitchell's Wool Fat did not lather well for me using a floppy badger brush, but did quite readily using Vie Long Epsilon Model GC13900/3 horsehair and Omega boar travel brushes. A lot of water in the brush was needed to get a really good lather, though. Just curious, but what model Vie Long are you using? I hear ya about the Omega boars vs. uber expensive brushes. After using my Omega for the first time, I realized that I could have gotten boar instead of badger at significant savings.
I have extremely hard water and I used MWF for several years with no problems producing decent lather. I've talked to shavers in the Rockies, with water even harder than mine (hard to believe) and they reported similar results to mine.
Using a fairly stiff brush (synthetic, boar, best, or two-band) and lots of water make a bigger difference than the hardness of the water, imo.
Totally agree. Boars and synthetic brushes work best with MWF for me with synthetic taking the prize.
I have a pathological loathing for ineffectual, floppy, low or high quality badger brushes. My first experience with badger was a vintage Trumper's (rebadged Simpsons) silvertip, and one of the floppiest things I've ever used. It put me off badgers for about 5 years. It wasn't until I discovered Two-Band badger, thanks to New Forest's 'going out of business' sale, that I began to appreciate badger.
