Mitchell's Wool Fat- Puck Resuscitation

[RenoRichard]

I'm not sure if anyone will be interested but, I've been away from our home in Arizona for three months now. Opened my MWF puck to find it fully dried out. This has happened often over the years and I just add water and let it sit a few days, topping up the water each evening. Here's the before picture:

I added water just now and will update the pictures as the puck rehydrates:

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Interesting. Are there any other hard soaps that people hydrate in this way or is it only MWF? Does it change the soap into more of a croap? When I used MWF it was bone dry and yet it worked fine, I have never bloomed or soaked a hard soap, or needed to. I am in a soft water area with a cool climate which may help.

 

[Dovo1695]

I actually do the exact opposite. I air dry my croaps for months to remove as much water as possible so that I can use them in shave sticks.

The reason there are 100 croap makers for each hard shaving soap maker is that it takes millions of dollars worth of equipment to remove as much water as possible from soap.

 

[Racquet]

You need some Deep South humidity in that dry Arizona air and you won't have those issues.

 

[RenoRichard]

You need some Deep South humidity in that dry Arizona air and you won't have those issues.

Indeed we do. It's really dry our West; when we lived in the northeast nothing really dried out like this. You don't really need much equipment to dry, or age, soap in the desert; just some time and patience. Some soaps I keep very hard, MdC and Canada for example. The makers actually suggest letting them dry. It's simply a preference to use MWF softer. After many years using MWF as my daily driver, the lathers when the puck are hydrated have been, for my tastes, a bit better. I find MWF likes to be heavily loaded, even more so when the puck is very dry, and using a softer puck helps keep my hands from tiring out before my shaves.

 

[ackvil]

I usually grate MWF or any other soap that looks like that and then pack it back in the container. Actually, I had the same problem when I lived in humid Florida.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

I keep my Fat puck well hydrated all the time. It does not turn into a croap, it stays a hard soap with a slightly softer top. Hydrating it will make it swell to fill the container.

Even fully hydrated, it takes longer to load than most pucks. But it’s worth the extra work.

 

[shave/brush]

Keep a cover on it when not in use and that should prevent it from drying out in the first place.

 

[BigJ]

Great photos!! Thanks for posting!!

 

[RenoRichard]

Keep a cover on it when not in use and that should prevent it from drying out in the first place.

It was covered with the crock cover. It's not airtight, but in the past I've tried putting the covered crock in a baggie and sealing it; it still dried out, although a tad less.

Here's the puck one day later. I topped up the water and you can see it has already started to swell up:

 

[cryhavoc]

I did the same with my MWF and it always rehydrated easily. I've since made shave sticks out of my MWF and it doesn't dry out as much between uses.

Enjoying the pics!

 

[RenoRichard]

I did the same with my MWF and it always rehydrated easily. I've since made shave sticks out of my MWF and it doesn't dry out as much between uses.

Enjoying the pics!

I've done that with the remainders, too- works great. Here's the two-day picture; looks ready to go and I'll use it in a little while.