Trumper and Woolfat not working for me. Any tips?

My sister bought me Geo F Trumper Sandalwood for Christmas last year and it was the first soap i've owned that simply didn't seem to work. Twice. I went back to my cheap and cheerful brands until i splashed out on some Mitchells Wool fat recently. Same story.
My go to soaps are cella, Proraso, Arko, La Toja, Palomolive, and none of them have ever let me down. Sometimes i'll treat myself to Tabac which is pricier, but superb. So why am i experiencing teething problems with these two more expensive soaps?
I'm not giving up on them, the trumper comes in a gorgeous Beech wood container and smells lovely, the woolfat i bought as a standalone puck without the fancy bowl. I've been slicing off bits and mixing with warm water in a bowl and brush. The lather it produces is not in the same league as Arko or any of the others. Neither soap produces any real cushioning for the razor to glide over.

My mother went on holiday to Turkey last month and picked me up a tube of Arko Cool cream(blue tube) and like my Arko soap, it worked like magic from the first shave and cost peanuts. The Woolfat and Trumper seem like poor cousins at present.

i've yet to have a decent shave from either of these soaps and can only assume it is down to user error on my part. I'm using a Semogue boar brush and an Edwin Jagger de89 most of the time, or Muhle R41 on hairy days.
I'm sure i'll get there eventually, but at this point i'm underwhelmed.
I will say that both these soaps are rock hard, and that is probably the root of the problem.
Any advice?

You'll get it, brother. One of my favorite B&B themes is "Use more product". It works! And then more water - repeat. Try a stiffer badger brush or boar if you haven't already. Load it like you hate it. Soak the MWF for a while 'til it softens up some. Trumper's gets a little less love around here, but you should be able to lather it after some trial and error. You might have hard water problems which are not insurmountable.. Watch a video or two.. I think you probably need more product, though... You'll get it.

Do you know if your water is soft or hard?

Don't despair, Sir Bangers!
treat these hard soaps with respect.
hydrate them for several minutes while showering.
don't demean them by slicing or carving.
As mentioned above, load like hell and use plenty of warm water.
while neither will be the same lather bomb as Arko, the scents are great and, especially for WoolFat, after shave skin feel excellent.
BTW, what is your location?

I don't bloom my MWF but do load my brush like there is no tomorrow and then add water as needed and it rewards me with lots of lather, I had some newly formulated Trumper and never had alot of luck so it became shower soap.

I will admit, I love Trumper's coconut, and so does my wife (she gets to use it, I only got to sample it). I just received a puck of Haslinger Coconut and tried it tonight, taking a break from Tobactober. It is a great soap, although I think I still need to work on my lathering. You might want to try a sample and see how it works for you.

Jnatcat said:

I don't bloom my MWF but do load my brush like there is no tomorrow and then add water as needed and it rewards me with lots of lather, I had some newly formulated Trumper and never had alot of luck so it became shower soap.

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Does MWF have a coconut? It is high on my list of soaps to try, since reading about the maker of the soap.

Lightcs1776 said:

Does MWF have a coconut? It is high on my list of soaps to try, since reading about the maker of the soap.

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I'm afraid not. MWF has only a MWF, but it's absolutely wonderful stuff, especially throughout the cold and dry months of winter!

I think triple milled hard soaps like Trumpers and MWF are infinitely much more trickier to lather than many of the softer soaps you mention. I would try soaking the puck for a while and get it well hydrated. Also, cover the MWF to keep it hydrated, if not already.

Edinburgh said:

I'm afraid not. MWF has only a MWF, but it's absolutely wonderful stuff, especially throughout the cold and dry months of winter!

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I'll have to try it. I just might not get the buy-in from my wife.

Trumper just isn't very good anymore after it was re-formulated several years ago. MWF can be tricky, but there are some good tutorials out there. I haven't used it in a while, but I believe the trick is to start with a fairly dry brush and add water slowly.

I wanted to like trumpers but a dozen test lathers left me with the same chunky mess. I think mine only has a future as a shower soap. MWF is known to be tricky but it will make good great lather. It is just a matter of dialing in the hydration and correct loading and lathering system. I'd suggest focusing on the MWF, I don't think Trumpers is good for anything except an expensive clay pigeon.

I found MWF to be one of the few soaps that would not lather well on a consistent basis. Occasionally it would be OK, but mostly I ended up with a thin and unsatisfying lather - regardless of what brush or technique I tried. I did not have problems like this with dozens of other quality soaps. But since I had the puck, I decided to try a couple of things. First I just wet the puck a bit and rubbed it directly on my face the same way you would with a shave stick. That worked! Since it seemed like a messy proposition, I took an old deodorant stick container and made my own MWF shave stick. As a shave stick I get consistently good shaves from it.

Now it's probably true that this is because as a puck I didn't load enough soap onto the brush, so the folks telling you to just load the brush more may be right. That said, I tried loading twice as long as any other soap and still didn't have success until I started applying it directly to my face.

DomBangers said:

. . . Mitchells Wool fat . . . I will say that both these soaps are rock hard, and that is probably the root of the problem.
Any advice?

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I also have hard water (so much that appliances die early due to mineral deposits) but MWF lathered great on the first try. As I read through your list of soaps, the density immediately stuck out as a difference. You have some good advice here:

Tommy Tutone said:

You'll get it, brother. One of my favorite B&B themes is "Use more product". It works! And then more water - repeat. Try a stiffer badger brush or boar if you haven't already. Load it like you hate it. Soak the MWF for a while 'til it softens up some.
. . . You might have hard water problems which are not insurmountable.. Watch a video or two.. I think you probably need more product, though... You'll get it.

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BRITD said:

I think triple milled hard soaps like Trumpers and MWF are infinitely much more trickier to lather than many of the softer soaps you mention. I would try soaking the puck for a while and get it well hydrated. Also, cover the MWF to keep it hydrated, if not already.

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Steve_in_CT said:

. . . I decided to try a couple of things. First I just wet the puck a bit and rubbed it directly on my face the same way you would with a shave stick. That worked! Since it seemed like a messy proposition, I took an old deodorant stick container and made my own MWF shave stick. As a shave stick I get consistently good shaves from it.

Now it's probably true that this is because as a puck I didn't load enough soap onto the brush, so the folks telling you to just load the brush more may be right. That said, I tried loading twice as long as any other soap and still didn't have success until I started applying it directly to my face.

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It can take awhile to dial in a new soap, especially the Fat, but it is worth it in the end. I agree with the suggestions above:

#1. Use more product.
#2. Use more water.
#3! Repeat until you get the lather you want!

So many helpful comments. Thanks gentlemen.

I have a tub of Green Prosaro on it's last legs. I like the bowl and once it is gone in a week or so, i will take the MWF to a cheese grater and refill the Proraso tub. This will let a bit more water in and give me a bowl to mix from. I'm sure i'm going to like this stuff once it is dialled in. The Trumper will just sit in the cupboard until i come up with a plan.

The question of water softness is interesting. Because i've just returned to the UK after living in Thailand for five years, and i'm pretty sure the water is not the same here as in Bangers. The good news is i can drink the tap water here rather than buying those nasty plastic bottles, but my razor time has taken a bit of a hit. Is there a simple workaround for this, or do i just accept my shaves won't be as smoothe anymore?

I can only speak of my experience with MWF. Had the same issues and don't have anymore. What have I changed?

Grinded the soap to a container and added water. Always Bloom and use synthetic Plisson or wet badger. Load very much product and face lather.

Always makes heavy dense lather so much that I even use as a comfort lather before rinsing.

Enviado do meu Xperia Z5

I use two Geo F. Trumper scents purchased in the last couple of years (Eucris and Violet). Both of these soaps provide great lather, and will be replaced when used up, which is the case with the Eucris.


When starting a new puck I always hydrate the puck the first dozen or times I use it, afterwards I have found that I do not need to.
1. Dribble some warm water on the puck to hydrate for a few minutes.
2. Put the brush to soak in warm water.
3. Shake out the brush and pour off any water on the puck.
4. Load a lot of product.
5. Begin building the lather in the bowl/scuttle.
6.Finish building the lather on your face. You can feel when the lather turns thick and yogurt-like. I find that using the brush like a
paint brush works well for me.

I find that it is a very good soap, but it will take some effort to dial in. I like to use a soap for at least a week straight (or a month), this gives plenty of time to dial in the soap with regards to amount of water, temperatures loading etc.

Pepin said:

I use two Geo F. Trumper scents purchased in the last couple of years (Eucris and Violet). Both of these soaps provide great lather, and will be replaced when used up, which is the case with the Eucris.


When starting a new puck I always hydrate the puck the first dozen or times I use it, afterwards I have found that I do not need to.
1. Dribble some warm water on the puck to hydrate for a few minutes.
2. Put the brush to soak in warm water.
3. Shake out the brush and pour off any water on the puck.
4. Load a lot of product.
5. Begin building the lather in the bowl/scuttle.
6.Finish building the lather on your face. You can feel when the lather turns thick and yogurt-like. I find that using the brush like a
paint brush works well for me.

I find that it is a very good soap, but it will take some effort to dial in. I like to use a soap for at least a week straight (or a month), this gives plenty of time to dial in the soap with regards to amount of water, temperatures loading etc.

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Yes i think i need to use one soap for a while instead of changing every day. It makes sense with a fresh puck but i've got used to chopping and changing. I bought a stick of La Toja with the MWF and that required no dialling in.

Thanks for the tips with the Trumper. That was a gift from my sister so i'm eager to report back on it favourably. It smells rather lovely, and the packaging is great so i've quite enjoyed having it around. But sooner or later it needs to end up under the razor where it belongs.

Lightcs1776 said:

I will admit, I love Trumper's coconut, and so does my wife (she gets to use it, I only got to sample it). I just received a puck of Haslinger Coconut and tried it tonight, taking a break from Tobactober. It is a great soap, although I think I still need to work on my lathering. You might want to try a sample and see how it works for you.

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How does Trumper's coconut lather?

I just sampled DR Harris' Sandalwood and Marlborough. Good lather but didn't care for the scent.