Did Mitchell's Wool Fat change its formula?

Hmmmmm..... new brush is doing the exact same thing. I also ordered a puck of Mama Bear's Awakenings for something different to compare MWF to. I've used Awakenings many times before, and it is doing the exact same thing as MWF with both the old brush and the new. Lather is dry by the time it hits my face. It's pretty clear that the brush is not to blame.

The main suspect now is hard water. I haven't tested my water before as I haven't noticed a problem until now, so I won't be able to know if it's harder but a test kit should tell me how hard it is currently.

So here's my next question: I use an electric kettle to heat my water while I'm showering. Assuming the test does indicate I have hard water, does it seem like a good idea to add a little water softener to the kettle as it's heating up?

Not sure if it was all ready said, but have you tried getting bottled water? Seems like PITA but may solve your lather problem short term

I agree with Trimmy72. Use bottled (or distilled) water if you suspect your water is hard. I can't help with the MWF question though other than to say I got my first puck of it from WCS last week and wow! what a thick creamy lather. I had no problems with drying, in fact the least dry-on-the-face soap I have used so far. I do shave in hard water from time to time, I might take it there and see if I have lathering issues with it. I tried a different soap (Mama Bear, I think) without much decrease in lather. I was surprised. I report back if i do the experiment.

rfm

Have you always used a kettle to heat the water? Mama Bear soaps work well with hot tap water. When I heated up the water in the microwave the lather broke down and was disappointing. Is there a temperature setting on the kettle that might have been changed?

I thought that to about the kettle, but thought he used this same process he always did. I agree to much heat is a lather killer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by samda

Have you always used a kettle to heat the water? Mama Bear soaps work well with hot tap water. When I heated up the water in the microwave the lather broke down and was disappointing. Is there a temperature setting on the kettle that might have been changed?

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It does have a temperature setting. I always set it to 190F. I've used MWF and Mama Bear's at that setting with no problems before. I picked up a case of bottled water today, I'll use it when I shave tomorrow.

So the water quality test I got says I have moderately hard water at 225 ppm. I got a cheap test kit so I don't know if that's calcium or magnesium or both.

That's some very hard water you have!

I used bottled water today in my electric kettle, and I completely descaled it of calcium buildup last night. There was some improvement in the lather, but nowhere near what MWF used to be like. I'm very disappointed. Out of ideas.

Have you tried using luke warm/cold water to see if that works?

Bob