Mitchell's Wool Fat Ingredients

I hadn't been able to locate them, so I recently sent an email to MWF's customer service department. The ingredients of MWF are as follows:

Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Stearate,
Aqua, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Parfum, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hexyl
Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Lanolin, Titanium
Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Silicate, Tetrasodium
EDTA, Magnesium Sulphate, Tetrasodium Etidronate.

Hope this helps anyone who was curious. I don't know what most of the stuff is, but I was a bit surprised that lanolin wasn't higher on the list given the marketing of the product.

The ingredients are listed on the box.

Be careful.

Many of those ingredients are toxic to the skin and/or mucous membranes.

kingfisher said:

Be careful.

Many of those ingredients are toxic to the skin and/or mucous membranes.

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Let's not start with that again, please. lol

I don't have the box, so I hadn't seen the ingredients. Sorry if it's common knowledge.

So, what do you think of it as a soap?

Tallow and Lanolin? No wonder it is shaving nirvana!!

What do I think of it as soap? There is none better once you learn how to work it. None better.

bluepunk18 said:

So, what do you think of it as a soap?

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Being a soap newbie, I haven't gotten as good of a shave from it as I do from my creams yet. I'm virtually certain it's my fault and not the soap's.

I simply adore the scent and it leaves my skin soft. I'm going to keep trying with it.

professorchaos said:

Tallow and Lanolin? No wonder it is shaving nirvana!!

What do I think of it as soap? There is none better once you learn how to work it. None better.

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High praise indeed. I only have three shaves with MWF so far (I got it last week) and I suspect you may be correct. My only regret is that I didn't get the ultra cool ceramic bowl, just a refill.

Sobriquet said:

Being a soap newbie, I haven't gotten as good of a shave from it as I do from my creams yet. I'm virtually certain it's my fault and not the soap's.

I simply adore the scent and it leaves my skin soft. I'm going to keep trying with it.

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I have been soaking the puck while I shower. A teaspoon or two of water on top of the puck and it lathers like a dream. It isn't as easy to lather as my AOS soap but its pretty easy.

Tallow and lanolin? What's not to love?

I'm not sure if I'm ready to call it my favorite... But it makes the short list

Sullybob said:

High praise indeed. I only have three shaves with MWF so far (I got it last week) and I suspect you may be correct. My only regret is that I didn't get the ultra cool ceramic bowl, just a refill.



I have been soaking the puck while I shower. A teaspoon or two of water on top of the puck and it lathers like a dream. It isn't as easy to lather as my AOS soap but its pretty easy.

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One of the critical steps with this soap that is not needed with others comes right after loading the brush. Add a touch of water to the bowl and work the lather until it forms stiff peaks. If you can still see bubbles, keep working it. Only once it holds peaks and is a consistent matte finish (no visible bubbles) do you want to start adding water. Too soon and you'll have a frothy, useless mess on your hands. Once you begin adding water, do it bit by bit until the lather has just begun to change from matte to shiny.

professorchaos said:

One of the critical steps with this soap that is not needed with others comes right after loading the brush. Add a touch of water to the bowl and work the lather until it forms stiff peaks. If you can still see bubbles, keep working it. Only once it holds peaks and is a consistent matte finish (no visible bubbles) do you want to start adding water. Too soon and you'll have a frothy, useless mess on your hands. Once you begin adding water, do it bit by bit until the lather has just begun to change from matte to shiny.

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Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow morning.

I would just add when adding water just tip the brush in water just so and that is all the water to keep working it.
IMO there should be a requirement that all shaving soaps must contain tallow and lanolin

Confilo said:

I would just add when adding water just tip the brush in water just so and that is all the water to keep working it.
IMO there should be a requirement that all shaving soaps must contain tallow and lanolin

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I face lather so thats what I have been doing. It is a very nice soap.

professorchaos said:

One of the critical steps with this soap that is not needed with others comes right after loading the brush. Add a touch of water to the bowl and work the lather until it forms stiff peaks. If you can still see bubbles, keep working it. Only once it holds peaks and is a consistent matte finish (no visible bubbles) do you want to start adding water. Too soon and you'll have a frothy, useless mess on your hands. Once you begin adding water, do it bit by bit until the lather has just begun to change from matte to shiny.

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I will try that tomorrow. Thank you for the advice.

I used MWF this morning (I was in quite a rush), but I got a DFS. I did, however, have the soap "dry" on my face for the first time. I'm out of town, so the water here may very well be different than at home. I just added some water to the brush, relathered, and it was fine. I had no visible or felt irritation this morning and got a pretty decent shave.

Let me ask this flat out: Is it possible to achieve a shave as comfortable and good with MWF as it is with a premium modern cream like Nancy Boy? Is the MWF, when properly worked, as cushioning and protective?

I can't help but compare my shaves with everything else to Nancy Boy. The stuff is just amazing. It's just.... the MWF smells SO good and I love the idea of an old fashioned shaving soap as opposed to a cream.

MWF also needs some weekly love to continue to provide great lather. I think the puck eventually soaks up about a quart of water. Personally I find I can't get a good lather with all of my brushes. My B&B Essential is an outstanding MWF brush but I have a couple others that are softer that don't seem to make good lather.

DogHair said:

MWF also needs some weekly love to continue to provide great lather.

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+1000
I took it off my rotation for a few weeks while traveling and boy did I regret it. I had the worst time trying to get a lather and it gave me a horrible shave. I guess it was getting back at me for ignoring her. Now it's every week day and made a shave stick out of MWF for travel. man o man is my face happy again.

professorchaos said:

Tallow and Lanolin? No wonder it is shaving nirvana!!

What do I think of it as soap? There is none better once you learn how to work it. None better.

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Thanks for the tip. I am a newbie and have been using creams, but want to try a soap sometime. I think this is the one I'm going to go with.

I didn't find MWF too hard to lather today. (my first with MWF). Adding a bit of water to the breech of the brush really got the lather going. I also had let the fresh puck sit in a bit of water while I showered and loaded with a shaken and squeezed best badger brush.

JPM said:

Thanks for the tip. I am a newbie and have been using creams, but want to try a soap sometime. I think this is the one I'm going to go with.

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It's a great one to start with!