Thread: Major update on Mitchell's Wool Fat soap!

Originally Posted by Obie

Bruce,

Yes, Mitchell's Wool Fat is a quality soap all around and we've kept company for a number of years. Some gentlemen complain about the soap's modest lather, but I've never had a problem making generous lather with this soap. Glide and cushion are high-end, too. And I love the soft fragrance. Good stuff Mitchell's Wool Fat.

Regards,

Obie

You must have soft water! LOL

Originally Posted by skyguy

Recently I posted a thread giving my appreciation for Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap and got a lot feedback -- most very positive. But I've been noticing something lately and thought I'd pass it along to any newbies who might be looking at it. Since using wool fat shaving soap, I've noticed that I'm not getting many cuts to my face. And when I do, they don't bleed much at all . . . or am I just dreaming?

Well, I'm positive I'm not cutting myself as much and when I do, the bleeding stops more quickly than before. In fact, the very few nicks just don't last long at all and by the time I'm through shaving, the blood and the cuts have disappeared.

I started thinking about it and have come to a couple of conclusions --
1. The cushion effect is real and quite good, permitting a less damaging shave,
2. The soap’s lubrication is superior so it supports fewer cuts,
3. The lanolin in the soap tends to help coagulate the blood and repair the skin. As a matter of fact, sometimes I lather up for a minute after the shave before rinsing off. Heck! If it works, why not?

Now, I'm not a doctor and I've never played on TV, but I think there's a lot to these assumptions. The bottom line is that my face is benefitting from using this soap, and it's something you might like to know if you're considering buying some.

Before I go on, no, I’m not profiting from selling Mitchell’s Wool Fat shaving soap. I don’t know anything about that -- I’m just passing on what I’ve found, so pardon my enthusiasm. If you want to stick your toe in the water and not spend much money, contact Larry Andreassen at Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales and order a four dollar, twenty-gram chunk. Be fair, however, and buy something else while you’re there – I can’t imagine Larry can come out with free shipping on a four dollar order!

Then if you like it, Google "Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap" and you'll find where you can buy a full puck. I bought mine for $13 and I think that's probably about the best price available, but some of you are very good at scrounging! So go have fun! (And let us know if you can get it for less.)

If you're thinking about Wool Fat shaving soap, give it a try and let us know if you receive the same benefits I’m describing. I love it!

Bruce

Totally agreed. I have always noticed that if I get any weeper, it's totally healed up by the end of my shave. No other soap does this, only MWF!

This is not for. Nothing that MWF is my favorite soap, to my opinion it’s a must for any wet shaver around.

How is the smell? My wife is sensitive to strong smells and strongly dislikes most of my shave creams/soaps. I've been looking for an unscented soap or cream that gives good results and I think that, if the smell is faint and fades away quickly, I could use it.

Originally Posted by slim6596

How is the smell? My wife is sensitive to strong smells and strongly dislikes most of my shave creams/soaps. I've been looking for an unscented soap or cream that gives good results and I think that, if the smell is faint and fades away quickly, I could use it.

To me the smell is just plain soap and very mild too.

Bob

I would describe the smell as inoffensive, mild and kind of old fashioned.

It is not a perfumey smell. I lost my sense of smell with that zicam thing a few years ago. It has come back some but still not completely so I am not a great judge of scent. Even so I can smell strong scents. I just don't differentiate between them very well. Honestly Mitchell's doesn't smell like really anything to me.

Yeah, as others have said, MWF is kind of a light, powdery scent. In fact, as a fan of scented soaps, sometimes I'll put a drop or two each of, say patchouli and sweet orange EO's to jazz it up a bit before I lather up. I just got a new puck that will last me years with my large rotation of soaps-one of the all-time classics for sure, and a definite must try for any straight shaver. And an added bonus is the nice skin conditioning from the lanolin.

One pro tip for MWF I did with my last puck was to grate it with a cheese grater and smush it up into sort of a puck in my lather mug-leave a depression in the center. That and a spoonful or so of hot water on top before you get in the shower can make it easier to lather for those who have hard water. A stiff brush and maybe 45 seconds of vigorous scrubbing yields gobs of pillowy lather for me.

Originally Posted by milant

This may be sacrilegious post here, but my MWF puck is in the fridge with the rest of the soaps I rarely use. It is replaced by Martin de Candre and Tabac on my bathroom top. Don't get me wrong, I think it smells better than either of the two I mentioned and indeed it can give me a very clean shave, but with extra hard west Texas water I just can't get it to produce decent lather. To say that what I get is modest lather is like saying that Ray Charles had minor vision issues. And I tried it all: cold water, loading the brush upside down, face lathering, palm lathering, hard brush, soft brush, nothing seems to work. At first I thought that I just lack expertise in lathering soaps, but with all other soaps I make enough lather to shave Santa Claus three times over and have enough left to start on Rudolph. So, unfortunately, me and my MWF are waiting for a move to a place with softer water.

Milant, I buy a gallon of distilled water. I have an Old Spice cup into which I put a third of a cup of the distilled. I put that into the microwave on high for i minute then I put my brush of the day in the cup of hot distilled water while I strop. By doing that I sidestep any hard water problems.

What Tom said. Hard water isn’t holding you back. Just use bottled water. I lathered that stuff in New Mexico, it doesn’t get harder, even MDC needed the bottled water