Thread: Frustrated with "THE FAT"

I've never understood the concept of taking something homogenous, like soap, and grating it into small flakes and then pressing it back into something homogenous, like soap. After a couple of times adding water to it, it's going to go right back into the state it was before it was grated. I know a lot of people recommend doing it, but it makes no sense to me.

For the people who are having trouble with this, or any other soap, do you try it and fail and then go on to another soap for the next shave? I have a hard time believing that relatively competent latherers would not be able to figure out MWF after a couple of successive days of attempts. If you just gradually keep adding water you should be able to come up with at least a pretty good lather.

I was having trouble getting a good lather from a new puck of MWF. I filled it's container with water and let it soak overnight. It has worked perfectly ever since. It now lathers as easily as Tabac.

I have been using MWF for the past 8 years and for the past 4 years I grate the puck then press it back into the container. I don't understand why it works, but it does. I can make a good lather with a solid puck, but after grating and pressing it, I can make a GREAT thick creamy lather.

As was mention in another post, use either cold or warm water, but not hot water. I personally prefer warm water.

One thing about grating and pressing, there is no need to soak the soap in water. Just start with a medium wet brush and start building lather. MWF is my all time favorite soap and is the only soap I have, that I have backup for. Five spare pucks in the cabinet now.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I've never understood the concept of taking something homogenous, like soap, and grating it into small flakes and then pressing it back into something homogenous, like soap. After a couple of times adding water to it, it's going to go right back into the state it was before it was grated. I know a lot of people recommend doing it, but it makes no sense to me.

For the people who are having trouble with this, or any other soap, do you try it and fail and then go on to another soap for the next shave? I have a hard time believing that relatively competent latherers would not be able to figure out MWF after a couple of successive days of attempts. If you just gradually keep adding water you should be able to come up with at least a pretty good lather.

Honestly I don't know really why it works but can only offer up a theory. I think that being it is such a hard soap that grating and pressing it kinda softens it up and thus easier to pick up more lather. Also if you press it but leave it a little rough it creates more surface area for which the brush can touch at one time thus again making it easier to load. This is just a theory that I kinda just came up with. It was suggested to me to do when I was newer to the game and was first using MWF and I have been doing it ever since. It works for some kinda reason.

I'm really not arguing that, and completely understand the concept of increased surface area, but that effect is not going to last past a couple of latherings. Adding the usual amount of water onto the soap is going to make the soap fuse back into its original state very quickly.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm really not arguing that, and completely understand the concept of increased surface area, but that effect is not going to last past a couple of latherings. Adding the usual amount of water onto the soap is going to make the soap fuse back into its original state very quickly.

Yeah that parts true, but still I also think it makes the soap as a whole softer and that part of it I believe last throughout its use. I think of it like a rock. Rocks are pretty hard and homogenous (not all of course I know but just for sake of example) but when you grind it up it becomes sand which is softer. Just a theory. The act seems to work though I don't have a definite explanation. I was just offering it up to the OP because its what I do and works for me. And I have hard water too and still get good lathering.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm really not arguing that, and completely understand the concept of increased surface area, but that effect is not going to last past a couple of latherings. Adding the usual amount of water onto the soap is going to make the soap fuse back into its original state very quickly.

Actually, it never goes back to the hard state like the original puck. As cosperryan said, it makes it softer and it remains that way.

If you are familiar with the MWF ceramic dish, you know how the puck sets in there with space around the sides. If you grate and press a complete puck, you have wall to wall soap from top to bottom.

I remember my grandmother grating bars of Ivory soap to do the laundry to help the soap dissolve, and I think this works under the same principal.

This is what MWF will look like after not being used for a bit. Like the others, I let some water soak in before trying to lather

But you both are missing one simple thing. The soap is not impervious to the water.

Put a tablespoon of water onto that soap, take a shower, and come back to the sink. If you try to dump the water off of the soap into your lathering bowl you will likely find that you only get a few drops of soapy water poured out. The rest has soaked into the soap. This happens every time with MWF. This, for lack of a better term, "melts" the soap back together into a homogenous, and softer, puck of soap.

I do have the ceramic container and yes I do recall that the puck did not fill the entire diameter when I first got it, but it has long since swollen into that intervening gap by absorbing a lot of water. Also, my old puck is much softer than it was when it was new because of that absorbed water.

Some soaps take more time like MWF and Williams. The results make the time and effort worth it for me.

MWF takes more water and more whipping than any of the 15 or so soaps in my rotation. Williams is the close second. The rest use way less. Try adding what looks like too much water and whip it. Don't like it, dump it and add more water next try.

As mentioned brush type and water hardness can add to the difficulty or ease of lather making. I've lived in areas of hard and soft waters. They require more or less effort. Today I'm lucky with good water.