This would be a good soap to do a fidelity run with- use it every day for a month or two and you will get much faster making the lather with this, and with other soaps. As you will be able to "spot the markers" faster as you create the lather.
Must-Try Soaps For Experienced Shavers
- Thread starter Scritchnscrub
- Start date
This would be a good soap to do a fidelity run with- use it every day for a month or two and you will get much faster making the lather with this, and with other soaps. As you will be able to "spot the markers" faster as you create the lather.
Klar Seifen
Tcheon Fung Sing
Tcheon Fung Sing
Institute Karite!
- Thread starter
- #24
By the way, another good technique with a super hard soap like Institut Karite is to flip the puck over after a couple of dozen shaves. You'll likely find the bottom of the puck has softened up considerably.
Thanks for this thread, there are some ideas posted that I haven't tried before. IK, Pre de Provence, and Provence Sante Green Tea have been perfect for me from day 1. Adding Trufitt & Hill or QCS Lavender cream makes for an uber lather so sublime that you will feel pangs of guilt for at least 30 seconds.
Anyway, I wanna shoot the guy that came up with MWF. I think it's our hard water or some variable that I haven't noticed. I've tried at least 12-15 times and all I get is fluff. So, the overnight soaking and maybe even grinding it up may help. I'll keep going. I can't believe the contrast between MWF and the Valobra stick. I love the smell of MWF, but can't make a decent lather - yet. The Valobra stick makes as good a lather as I've seen, but to say I hate the scent would be the kindest remark I could come up with. It's odd that Valobra and Tabac are probably the easiest lathers to make (especially for newbies), and yet have such polarizing scents.
The "glad I stuck with it soap" for me, though, are the creams. When I started the whole wet shaving routine a few years ago, I would react to the creams and I thought it was something I was allergic to, or possibly razor burn. Many members have posted about problems with Lavender or Peppermint, so I thought that was it. After about 6-8 months though, I never had a problem.
Anyway, I wanna shoot the guy that came up with MWF. I think it's our hard water or some variable that I haven't noticed. I've tried at least 12-15 times and all I get is fluff. So, the overnight soaking and maybe even grinding it up may help. I'll keep going. I can't believe the contrast between MWF and the Valobra stick. I love the smell of MWF, but can't make a decent lather - yet. The Valobra stick makes as good a lather as I've seen, but to say I hate the scent would be the kindest remark I could come up with. It's odd that Valobra and Tabac are probably the easiest lathers to make (especially for newbies), and yet have such polarizing scents.
The "glad I stuck with it soap" for me, though, are the creams. When I started the whole wet shaving routine a few years ago, I would react to the creams and I thought it was something I was allergic to, or possibly razor burn. Many members have posted about problems with Lavender or Peppermint, so I thought that was it. After about 6-8 months though, I never had a problem.
Success!!! I finally got very good lather and a great shave from MWF - but what an ordeal. I soaked the puck for 24 hours. I loaded my brush - and no change. It was still the light airy suds. So I loaded the brush again, and again, with improving, but similar results. I also dribbled hot water on the puck with each "reload". After about 6-7 reloads, there it was - thick, pillowy, lather (although it still had some air bubbles in it). Great shave, but what it does to your skin is magic. Anyway, I'm convinced that I'm fighting a very hard shell on the soap. It must be at least triple milled, and with the dry climate and hard water here, I will need to store it differently. I'll grind it up and store it in an air tight container. I think I'll need to use it quite often to keep it easy to use, which is fine. It was definitely worth the effort. Again, the difference is how my skin feels after the shave. Cool stuff, and thanks everyone for the tips.
A great post; a fine read.
MWF...perplexed me and eluded me for about 9 months. Glad I stuck with it though.
Hmm.
Klar Kab
Dr H
TFS hard pucks
All three can be deceptively slow to load in my experience, but when handled properly give very good lather.
Klar Kab
Dr H
TFS hard pucks
All three can be deceptively slow to load in my experience, but when handled properly give very good lather.
Very good read, and some great suggestions on soaps for intermediate wet shavers that want to keep learning. Thanks everyone.
