Do you know where he acquired the latest formulation?
Mitchells Wool Fat Shaving Soap is no longer Tallow based
- Thread starter zoidberg
- Start date
I agree with this completely!
I've had more trouble with Amazon scams of late.. So much so that I only use them as a last resort anymore!
BTW, I won't judge the new formula, not having tried it... but, please carry on.
- Thread starter
- #1,683
Yes, Connaught Shaving in the UK.
2023 formulation
Sodium Palmate, Potassium Palmate, Aqua, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum, Sodium Chloride, Lanolin, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentesodium Pentetate, Sodium Gluconate, Tetrasodium EDTA & Limonene
2024 formulation
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Stearate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Laurate, Potassium Laurate, Glycerin, Palm Kernal Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Potassium Palm Kernelate, Titanium Dioxide, Lanolin, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium Iminodisuccinate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Gluconate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Linalool
2024 has a new label as well
No tallow, but the new one seems to be a bit better than the last one.
Thanks for posting @zoidberg
MWF, my experience.
Excellent soap:
Batch# 5107, 5301,
Lousy soap:
Batch# 8923
Excellent soap:
Batch# 5107, 5301,
Lousy soap:
Batch# 8923
I'm going to have my 4th shave with #8923 today. I did 3-4 last year to test for this thread as well.
I'll reserve final judgement until I get past the 20-30 shave mark on this puck, as I know you said yours started off fine and then disappointed. I'm currently 3017ing it.
No issues thus far. Fingers crossed as I think I have three more #8923 in reserve.
One think I have to remember is, MWF does NOT like a lot of water to start. That is my normal routine with hard soaps (I don't use the Marco Method) and it's more an Anti-Marco Method, no offense intended. I just find it easier to add water than take it away when making lather.
I made a rule that I wouldn’t buy any more soaps or creams until I finished one, but I decided to break that rule when I found myself looking at a shelf that had three remaining pucks of tallow MFW in the ceramic dish. I’m looking forward to trying this soap for the first time.
The ceramic dish is nice, but it doesn't seal. I live in a desert, so I bought some screw-top cans to keep my MWF in.
I stopped using my MWF batch# 8923 after 42 shaves. It was a lousy soap, difficult to lather and unreliable. It needed heavy load, less water and long work to make a good lather. Many times got the dreaded disappearing lather for the first pass, but OKish the second. Certainly not the MWF i was used to, easy to lather and reliable performer. Since its talent at making disappearing lather, I will call this batch Magician's Wool Fat.
Next one in line, starting today, is batch# 8689. Let's see how it performs as it will go toe to toe with batch# 5107.
I keep saying batch# but to be honest I have no idea what that number means. For identification purposes it is good enough.
Next one in line, starting today, is batch# 8689. Let's see how it performs as it will go toe to toe with batch# 5107.
I keep saying batch# but to be honest I have no idea what that number means. For identification purposes it is good enough.
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MWF, my experience.
Mitchell's Wool Fat:
Batch# 5107, 5301, 8689
Magician's Wool Fat:
Batch# 8923
Mitchell's Wool Fat:
Batch# 5107, 5301, 8689
Magician's Wool Fat:
Batch# 8923
I have a puck of the newest MWF on the way. I have been using the tallow for recent shaves so will take the new one for a spin as soon as it gets here and post thoughts.
It's better because they added two detergents (sodium and potassium laurate) which are responsible for better foaming.
BTW palm oil based products are in every way inferior to tallow, shea and cocoa butter because of the much lower stearic acid content which is responsible for the quality of the lather. Because of that, soaps with cheap ingredients like palm oil are often combined with synthetic detergents.
Reading the Wikipedia page on lauric acid, it certainly doesn't sound like a detergent, it's just another source of fatty acids for saponification. Apparently it's also a palm derivative.
Anyway, so I used the 2024 version of MWF for my shave today. I didn't have much growth to remove after a very close shave yesterday, but I was eager to give the soap (and my new AC razor) a test drive.
I basically approached the soap exactly as I would the tallow version. I just started working on it with a damp brush, dribbling in water until I had some nice proto-lather, then once I felt like the brush was loaded enough (45 seconds or so) I took it to the face to continue building lather there.
One thing was clear, this version does lather more easily than the tallow version, and I found the brush was really quite well loaded. Upon adding additional water to build lather, the soap behaved a lot like the tallow version. The lather was of a similar consistency, except perhaps a smidge less creamy than the tallow version. I would also rate the slickness as similar to the tallow version, maybe a bit slicker, but the difference is very minor.
The biggest difference I would say was in the feel of the lather on the face and the post-shave. Whilst you can still feel the effect of the lanolin, this soap perhaps doesn't leave the skin quite as perfectly moisture-balanced as the tallow version. Honestly though, if the tallow version is 10/10 in each of these categories, then this veggie version is a 9/10 and I genuinely believe that a lot of people might not tell the difference. If anything were likely to give this new version away, it would be ease of lathering.
I didn't try the original 2023 reformulation, as I have plenty of the tallow stashed away. Honestly though, if this was the only MWF I could get going forwards then it wouldn't both me, and I think this is still a good value traditional soap, despite the price increase.
No, it's not identical to the tallow. But it's still a good soap.
I looked also before posting and info is a bit contradictory - potassium and sodium laurate are classifed as soaps in chemistry, but on some places are also referred as detergents? What is certain is that they added these two in recent reformulation of MFW for better lathering. Because of lower content of stearic acid palm product based soaps needs addition like this for better lathering. It's very similar composition to many mass produced ordinary bath and hand soaps
I have learned a valuable lesson. How to make an ordinary bath soap from an exceptional shaving soap: replace tallow with palm oil while adding detergents to compensate.
Even the label looks ugly to me.
That being said, I did the unthinkable and purchased my own. Just because I am desperate for some closure. Ha.
Even the label looks ugly to me.
That being said, I did the unthinkable and purchased my own. Just because I am desperate for some closure. Ha.
Scarily enough, that's what some less reputable webshops do indeed
There are too many good soaps out there (and in my closet) to worry about using a product that has a similar name but isn't that product (MWF, Tabac).
I'm not interested in testing their experimentations in hopes that they manage to create a version which is as good as what they had before they messed with it.
I'm not interested in testing their experimentations in hopes that they manage to create a version which is as good as what they had before they messed with it.
I think that they are different, but related molecules. At least, that is what I took from it (I am no chemist) - if lauric acid is saponified you end up with something like sodium laurate, which is a soap. You can do other things and end up with sodium laurel sulfate, which is a detergent.
Apparently another source for lauric acid is coconuts. This makes a lot of sense.
We already know this soap contains palm stearates. Palm and coconut are both "standard" sources for fats in soap making. You will find them in other popular veggie shaving soaps. For example, the current La Toja stick (which many folks love) also contains palm and coconut acids. The palm fats provide creaminess and stability, and the coconut fats help with foaming and are also more cleansing, so you are quite right in terms of why it's in there.
I personally don't have a problem with the ingredients list, it's more promising the the first reformulaton and far less nasty than something like Arko. As someone whose skin seems to react to just about everything, an adverse reaction is always a concern when trying a new soap. This current formula was fine.
For what it's worth, the current formulas of Tabac and Speick also contain sodium laurate and potassium laurate. I like the Speick, but I would say the lathering qualities of the MWF are different - I think it's the lanolin. I still wonder if perhaps it is being made in the same factory as current Speick and Tabac.
As detailed above, it doesn't contain detergent. It's basically a similar ingredients list to other popular veggie soaps.
As you seem to be amongst the first to get your hands on some, I would be interested to see your take on it. I was honestly quite pleasantly surprised.
Out of the recent palm and lauric acid reformulations of classic soaps to hit the market, this is no worse than any of them...in fact I would say it's better than reformulated Tabac.
From the lack of comments here I guess nobody has tried this new formulation yet.
I have continued to rotate between this and the tallow and you know what? I prefer the 2024 veggie version.
It is almost as good as the tallow in terms of cushion / slickness / post-shave and the overall consistency of the lather is similar, but the 2024 formula is both easier to lather overall and able to take more water without breaking down. With the tallow version, a degree of lathering skills are required to keep things on track. With this version, I can get the lather where I want it faster and with less elbow grease (definitely a consideration for me due to my RSI problems). It's definitely working better for my Feather AC shaves, due to the additional water content, and I see no reason to think it won't work nicely for DE too. I live in a very hard water area so YMMV.
I do have a stash of tallow and for the time being I am keeping it around, but if I continue to enjoy the 2024 version I may consider moving on some of my tallow stock.
That is definitely not what I expected. It was really only idle curiosity that made me pick up the new version in the first place.
I have continued to rotate between this and the tallow and you know what? I prefer the 2024 veggie version.
It is almost as good as the tallow in terms of cushion / slickness / post-shave and the overall consistency of the lather is similar, but the 2024 formula is both easier to lather overall and able to take more water without breaking down. With the tallow version, a degree of lathering skills are required to keep things on track. With this version, I can get the lather where I want it faster and with less elbow grease (definitely a consideration for me due to my RSI problems). It's definitely working better for my Feather AC shaves, due to the additional water content, and I see no reason to think it won't work nicely for DE too. I live in a very hard water area so YMMV.
I do have a stash of tallow and for the time being I am keeping it around, but if I continue to enjoy the 2024 version I may consider moving on some of my tallow stock.
That is definitely not what I expected. It was really only idle curiosity that made me pick up the new version in the first place.
I've been using the 2024 formulation this week and I like it a lot. It's been a decade, maybe, since I last used MWF, so I can't really compare it to the tallow version, but it's a fine soap.
