I hate to say it....but i'm giving up on MWF..... :-(

[Rez90]

I've watched every tutorial...tried every combination...more water, less water, more product, less product, load upside down, load right side up....etc

i cannot get a good lather from MWF. i'm wondering if it's a hard water thing but with every other soap i have i get no problems.

I'm sad. cause i like the scent and my skin does feel very soft after using it. But the shaves....with such a thin frothy lather....just plain stink.

:crying:

[jtb]

I have hard water and almost gave up on the fat until.... I used a badger brush.... I know blasphemy the to all the boar lovers :001_tt2:

So what brush are you using? Are you face lathering or bowl?

[Foyle]

Don't be sorry. I couldn't get a protective lather from the Fat no matter what I tried.

[SmoovD]

I never got MWF to work either. No big shakes. Life is too short to worry too much about it.

[buddydog]

Me too....

[Rez90]

i've tried both boar and different badger brushes. I've tried face lathering and bowl lathering.

meh

[Rez90]

Don't be sorry. I couldn't get a protective lather from the Fat no matter what I tried.


I never got MWF to work either. No big shakes. Life is too short to worry too much about it.


Me too....


at least i know i'm not alone :-)

[i_shaved_something]

same problem here...got rid of MWF long ago....never looked back and never missed it.

[brucered]

I'd say shelf it for a few months. Try again at a later date, you never know.

But if it doesn't work, nothing wrong with shelving it and/or throwing in the towel.

There are many other good products out there to try that will work for you.

[aceinyerface]

Try one last thing...

pick it up and use it as a shave stick. It was the only thing that worked for me.

[noahpictures]

Grab the MWF puck and apply directly to beard or make a shave stick out of it. The lather will explode in seconds. I also have hard water and when I bowl lather I build it off the puck per the tutorial in the soaps sticky. Always works.

[homelessflea]

man i bought a puck and havent used it yet. bu i must say i love the smell

[nav]

man i bought a puck and havent used it yet. bu i must say i love the smell

The scent is totally intoxicating. If MWF didn't work for me, I would still keep it around just to sniff! Luckily, it works great for me and gets used 90% of the times.

[jsj_297]

Don't fret, plenty of other manageable soaps out there buddy!!! Try some tabac, arko, cella, or Palmolive soaps. MWF is overrated, I'd take ANY Of those I mentioned over MWF.

[Clutch Cargo]

At first I had a difficult time getting a lather thick enough where I didn't see the color of my face through it. I'd put in on and it would seemingly dissipate quickly. A big help for me was watching Mantic59's YouTube video specifically on how to get a decent lather from Mitchell's Wool Fat, and then practicing, practicing, and practicing even more. Now I get a beautiful lather from it, and the lanolin-based soap provides a lather that is so slick and comfortable that I'd never give it up. It's superior to just about every other soap or cream that I've tried so far.

[Blade Boy]

Buy a gallon of pure water at the store for making your lather, and give it another go, it WILL make a great lather. I will make a video if you would like but it's really not that hard.

[Blade Boy]

I like your signature line Clutch Cargo.

[global_dev]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...

[maxman]

In all the stuff you've tried, did you try using a drier brush?
Try squeezing out most of the water.
You'll have to add water later as you go.

MWF has good resale value if it doesn't work for you

[raisindot]

Yeah, I, too, have similar problems working up a good lather with MWF, but I keep with it because I like the 'feel' of the lanolin.

One thing I did recently was mill together some leftover "pieces" of MWF and Tabac I had to cut off each puck to make them fit my store-bought containers.

Now, man, THAT is an incredible combination. You get the lathering-won't-quit qualities of Tabac with the smoothness of MWF. And it dilutes that Tabac aroma.

[AFG]

The first puck of MWF I tried worked fine. The second wouldn't lather no matter what I tried. I regretted giving up on it but there are so many other products available that work well without the frustration. Now it's nothing but a distant memory and I don't miss it at all.

[johnnypipe]

Send all unwanted "FAT" my way and I will make it look like this. I love everything about MWF.

217355

[bobfarvour]

Soak the puck in water.
Use a drier brush to load.
Load longer.

I gave up on it once. Then decided to give it a second chance. On the second chance I have soaked the puck each time, and I've gotten great lather each time. I'll never turn back now. Just soak the puck just like you would a brush. I let it sit underwater the whole time I'm in the shower. Then I load the crap out of a moist brush, not a wet brush. It's much easier to add a little water at a time as needed.

[bkfist]

Try one last thing...

pick it up and use it as a shave stick. It was the only thing that worked for me.

I was going to say the same thing. Getting good lather with MWF isn't dependent on brush or water, it's (almost) *always* due to not enough product getting loaded. The stuff is slick enough that once you start to get even the tiniest amount of foam on the surface, it starts to prevent the brush from picking up more product, and gives weak, foamy lather.

Leave your face dripping wet, rub the flat surface of the MWF puck on your face in a circular motion for about 30 seconds, then take your wet brush to your face. You should have gobs of thick lather. (probably too thick - you'll likely find you have to dip your brush to add water a couple of times.)

[chicagotrim]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...
+1
I agree here. To me, its almost scentless. I do however get a great shave/lather, but the scent is meh. YMMV big-time on this one.

[aceinyerface]

I was going to say the same thing.

I knew you'd be along soon. You are the one who put me on this technique, I was ready to put it on the BST until I tried it your way. Now I do ALL my soaps the same way. It just works better faster.

[nav]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...

It's mild but not that mild. I shaved an hour ago and I can still smell it on my face (I used an unscented aftershave).

[wimbouman]

Maybe just leave it for a couple of weeks.
Pick it up some day.
Don't worry, just have fun.
You'll be surprised.

MWF is one the soaps that smells your fear and acts accordingly :-)

[jsj_297]

Just get a puck of Wiliams, same stuff, $20+ cheaper tho.





















JUST KIDDING< JEEZ!!!! :badger::badger::badger:

[Phog Allen]

I came to the same conclusion. The fat is the most overrated grooming product I have ever used. I have the Kent version from their eBay store and it was dry and cracked. Thinking this was the issue I milled it and packed it into an Anchor Hocking bowl. It made zero difference. I love theirceramic bowl so I went ahead bought it so as to get a newer cake. No deal. I used both distilled and filtered drinking water. Same results. It just doesn't work like it should. I have no time for it when AOS, Tabac, and D.R. Harris are a mouse click away.

Cheers, Todd

[thIs6Nly]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...

I love MWF, but the scent is nothing to write home about. It smells like wet sheep. But it is very simple to lather. I can do a 3 pass shave with a Wee Scot.

[brucered]

I came to the same conclusion. The fat is the most overrated grooming product I have ever used.

...keep in mind, it's a $10 puck of soap. i think why people rave and go on and on about it, is when you get the lather technique down, it's a great product and a "best bang for the buck" product, given it's price point and lifecycle of it (it lasts a long time).

[Senetsomed]

Sometimes I wonder if the chinese are not replicating MWF soap, I have tried it under very different conditions (water, brush, cold, hot) and never had a problem.

Who knows? Maybe I am the one with the adulterated product.

[FL shaver]

Love the soap. As far as the scent goes, I, too, get faint whiffs all day long. My car will also retain the smell, believe it or not, as I get in and out about 20 times a day.

[Jayjo]

What I have found is that it depends on what brush I am useing .

[cymric]

i cannot get a good lather from MWF. i'm wondering if it's a hard water thing but with every other soap i have i get no problems.
Here's a tip you probably haven't heard before: stop treating MWF like a regular soap. MWF has a fairly unique composition, so don't expect the lather to come out looking like that of the other soaps too. Somewhat airy and fine-bubbly lather is how MWF looks; you can get it to the smooth meringue state of virtually any other soap or cream, but it will take—in my experience—noticably more water. However, whether you can shave with that kind of lather is for you to find out. It could very well be that the lather MWF makes and what you need to put on your face for a comfortable or ergonomically easy shave are incompatible; it certainly is in my case. Then you have no choice but to move on.

Alternatively, add a small nugget of cream (a pea's worth is about right) to the lather. This will stabilise matters sufficiently to form the smooth meringue in a relatively dryer state, and thus suit your shaving needs more.

But the important bit is still to realise that MWF is not exactly like other soaps.

[Toddy]

Must be your water. Whips up quickly into an almost can foam lather here no problem.

[RevSmoke]

OK, I had the same problem. If you want advice from another newb, then read one. I really wanted to love this soap, as everybody seems to love it as well. Here is Mantic59's video on using MWF http://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59#p/u/18/_MGLi_m9n_s

But what I did different was... soak the puck with water for 10 minutes; my brush was damp, not wet; in filling my brush, I pressed extra into the puck and did it for a longer period of time, a good minute +; and then when making lather in my bowl, I used less water than with normal soaps.

I got an incredibly thick and rich lather.

Persistence was key, trying again instead of quitting. And yes, I'd tried on at least 4 other occasions to get a decent lather from it, and ended up getting something else out for my lather - a cream or another soap - and mixing that in with the lackluster MWF lather.

Hope this helps.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[gsurko]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work.

[bkfist]

I knew you'd be along soon. You are the one who put me on this technique, I was ready to put it on the BST until I tried it your way. Now I do ALL my soaps the same way. It just works better faster.

Here too, except those soaps that I've already got stuck in a bowl from using them in the "traditional" manner.

[Mirrorsaw]

I'm still new to MWF, and like others have said, rubbing it on your face makes it work great. However mine expanded and is now stuck in the tin I have it in. So I load my brush for a minute (if not two minutes) then I put my brush down, and rub my fingers on the soap till the tips are pretty well covered, then I rub them on my face. I don't try to make it lather, I just get more soap on my face. Then I face lather the brush like I normally do. Works great for me. I have even been able to get the thick lather look like the lather pics people post.

I like the scent, just cuz it's really mild and uh soap smelling... Its not like any other soap I own...

[mandoman]

no biggie its a ok soap much better out theirs anyways I use mine about every two month if that

[ieschwoch]

i can't understand the love of the scent. it's a mild soapy smell, nothing special, in fact, at times when lathered on my face i feel like it reminds me of a interesting (not in a good way) boiled porcine scent. sometimes i get that smell, sometimes i don't notice, but it's not there with any other soaps for me...

I think it's just the overall "clean-ness" of the smell that people like. I personally love the smell and prefer it to the often-overdone smells in many soaps and creams. I tried Tabac a couple of times but tossed it as it smelled like I was washing my face with cigarettes. YMMV, of course. :001_tt2:

[ieschwoch]

I agree with other posters that you should try some distilled water, just to see if you can get it to work. Of course, if you don't want to use distilled water for every shave and your tap water doesn't work with MWF, then maybe it's just time to move on. Some products just don't work for some people. I personally love MWF, but despise Tabac. Use the products that work for you and forget about the hype; after all, it's shaving we're talking about here, not religion. :-)

[retiredguns]

While the Fat works for me there have been a couple others that I didn't care fore. I used them in the shower and they made great bath soaps.

[salazch12]

Buy a gallon of pure water at the store for making your lather, and give it another go, it WILL make a great lather. I will make a video if you would like but it's really not that hard.
A video would be awesome!
So do you mean distilled water? Just soak the brush and puck in it?

[MaxP]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work.

+1 ... and then some!

[rbaloha]

Ditto with MWF lathering issues. Adding any cream helps produce a good lather.

[The Ambassador]

"I believe only in the 100% CASH DOWN program, remaining DEBT FREE in 2012!"

+1 my friend

[tchudson]

Yeah, the scent is one of the things I absolutely love about MWF.


The scent is totally intoxicating. If MWF didn't work for me, I would still keep it around just to sniff! Luckily, it works great for me and gets used 90% of the times.

[sp514]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work.

Pretty much the reason why I gave up and sold it on BST. I'll be sticking to italian soft soaps

[global_dev]

i don't feel like the scent of the lather is retained on my face after washing it off... i am totally missing the awesomeness of the scent and performance of this product. it's a nice enough soap, though...

sell or PIF it or come back to it in 6 months..

[Steavis]

I'm still new to MWF, and like others have said, rubbing it on your face makes it work great. However mine expanded and is now stuck in the tin I have it in. So I load my brush for a minute (if not two minutes) then I put my brush down, and rub my fingers on the soap till the tips are pretty well covered, then I rub them on my face. I don't try to make it lather, I just get more soap on my face. Then I face lather the brush like I normally do. Works great for me. I have even been able to get the thick lather look like the lather pics people post.

I like the scent, just cuz it's really mild and uh soap smelling... Its not like any other soap I own...I've been stuck on Cella for the last few weeks and probably will be for a while, but I did take a break yesterday to go back to MWF for one shave--I tried the technique of rubbing some MWF 'sludge' into my beard prior to face lathering with the loaded brush, and I did get a noticeably thicker lather.

[life2short1971]

I never got MWF to work either. No big shakes. Life is too short to worry too much about it.
I am not worried... I get great lathers from any Badger brush i have tried. I face lather if it matters.

[Ruston]

I almost gave up on it, but am now getting better results. The only reason I stuck with it is the quality of the shave and the way it leaves my skin. To echo the advice above: soak the puck, start with a drier brush, load longer, add more water than you'd think when building lather. Somewhere in this process is an almost magical transformation from a thin bubbly dry lather to "wow". My problem is I tend to stop just a bit short most times. :biggrin1:

[Optometrist]

I almost gave up on it, but am now getting better results. The only reason I stuck with it is the quality of the shave and the way it leaves my skin. To echo the advice above: soak the puck, start with a drier brush, load longer, add more water than you'd think when building lather. Somewhere in this process is an almost magical transformation from a thin bubbly dry lather to "wow". My problem is I tend to stop just a bit short most times. :biggrin1:

That's why I always use a wet brush and just load longer, but either way will work.:thumbup1:

[Geordon]

Life is too short to fight for decent lather when there are products that work for you.

FTFY. I have no problems with MWF, and I have rock-hard water. That being said, I probably over-load everything in compensation for the water. I've gotten good lather out of almost everything that I've tried, once I figured out what I was doing.

But the sentiment is correct: If it doesn't work for you after a few attempts, don't worry about ditching it. MWF has a good following around here and you can likely get most of your money back if you want to. There are plenty of other things out there that you can probably use easily. Don't get caught up in what "everybody else says" about a particular soap or cream.

Use what you like. Like what you use. All the rest is commentary. (with apologies to Rabbi Hilel)

[kpg102]

Soak the puck in water.
Use a drier brush to load.
Load longer.

I gave up on it once. Then decided to give it a second chance. On the second chance I have soaked the puck each time, and I've gotten great lather each time. I'll never turn back now. Just soak the puck just like you would a brush. I let it sit underwater the whole time I'm in the shower. Then I load the crap out of a moist brush, not a wet brush. It's much easier to add a little water at a time as needed.

Exactly what I do, and I get loads of great lather. And I load the brush for up to two minutes.

[Kentos]

You also need to condition the puck IMO. If you use it regularly the puck absorbs water and gets just a bit softer that aids loading. If I don't use it for a week or so, it gets upset, dries out, and the first few shaves need more time loading and some soaking prior to shave. I also use MWF in uberlathers with just a bit of proraso. YMMV

[jwcarlson]

I leave my MWF in an unsealed container (bottom of an Old Spice mug) for months at a time using it monthly or so maybe less. Soak my brush, load 'er up, and make great lather.
If you can't make good lather buy Arko or Tabac. :)

[FL shaver]

Resumed shaving with my shriveled up Fat puck this morning. No issues getting the lather going. Too long away from it!!

[Blade Boy]

Buy a gallon of pure water at the store for making your lather, and give it another go, it WILL make a great lather. I will make a video if you would like but it's really not that hard.
OK guys here's the video I promised, it's a tad dark but it gets the point across...
http://youtu.be/u_x9AMJi1RI

[Blade Boy]

A video would be awesome!
So do you mean distilled water? Just soak the brush and puck in it?
Here's a link to the video I made, it should answer any questions....http://youtu.be/u_x9AMJi1RI
Here's a link for Brucered's video , a different method with great results as well, as the saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat" :-)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DFbD5ToZY&feature=player_detailpage

[jwcarlson]

Here's a video I made.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLI2m39cA40

[Slick Rick]

Me too. I have tried the MWF and its too much work. There are other soaps (Tabac, Celia) and creams (Castle Forbs, EJ Sea Buckthorn) that work much easier for me and the water that I am stuck with.

[brucered]

Here's a video I made.

looks good to me...nice job.

Lather Videos are all the rage with kids these days :001_tt2:

[Cary Grant]

I have been using mine continuously over the last week and the lathers been getting better each time. Its been as easy as anything to lather. It's got to be down to the water. I took a tub of cella away with me a couple of weeks ago and could not get a good lather so I think MWF is not the only soap that suffers from this.

[greenhorn]

Just get a puck of Wiliams, same stuff, $20+ cheaper tho.



i've been wanting to try MWF. if it smells or performs like williams, i'm gonna pass.

[merkur59]

Opened one yesterday with a little trepidation after reading all the problems some people have with MWF.

1st use (test run) - soaked in hot water from thermos flask for 5 secs, chucked water, loaded with a fairly dry omega mighty midget (mixed hair) for less than 20s. Lather on hand - nice megingue, thick and slick, all in less than 30s.

2nd use (test run) - this time I only soaked my omega 10066 in hot water, drain then load for less than 40s. Hand lather - same results but more volume, all in less than 60s.

Have since used it for actual shave twice. Love the unique thick lather for my R41.
MWF - love at first sight and thinking of ordering a "backup" or two.
Guess I am one of the lucky ones...:001_smile

[bkfist]

i've been wanting to try MWF. if it smells or performs like williams, i'm gonna pass.

No comparison to Williams in either department. Even if you don't get a good lather with MWF, the lather won't disappear on your face.... It's just if you start to get bubbles because of insufficient product being loaded before you start to form a lather, it may never thicken up for you, no matter how long you whip the stuff. The solution is to use it as a shave stick then lather on your face, works every time. (Personally, I'm not a huge fan of either scent, but they are not at ALL the same. I do, however, like MWF's performance, unlike williams.)

[Seraphim]

Use more water with your Williams. That's what keeps it from disappearing so quick.

[djh]

Life is too short to shave with something which you are not enjoying. Leaves more MWF for the rest of us. :wink2:

[cdrross]

My MWF has been put to the side until all the planets and the moons align.
Then maybe I can get a great lather for I have tried everything else.

[YYC.futur]

Craig sorry it's not working for you. My wife bought me some more shaving soaps and a brush for Valentines Day.
Talked her into letting me have it early. Tried it last night for the first time, did all the reading and videos.. i guess my planets aligned. I must say, I enjoyed the feel of my skin afterwards.

Cheers Wilf

[drawonme]

+1 to what Kent said. When the puck is dry, it takes twice as long to load.

[cdrross]

Wilf, Glad they aligned for you.
I really like the smell and I can see it would be a very nice soap but I just can't get it to work for me.
I almost always end up with a very thin lather that seems to break down quickly.
I have tried different temperatures and loads and loading techniques (ie: upside down), but still no victory.
Oh well there is still many soaps in the mills.

Craig sorry it's not working for you. My wife bought me some more shaving soaps and a brush for Valentines Day.
Talked her into letting me have it early. Tried it last night for the first time, did all the reading and videos.. i guess my planets aligned. I must say, I enjoyed the feel of my skin afterwards.

Cheers Wilf