Thread: Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap

Originally Posted by WebsII

I see I'm not the first to have the idea.... Anyway, the FedEx man dropped off my goodie box from West Coast Shaving today . They had been back ordered on the MWF Shaving puck (both bowl and refill) but the description said that the formula was the same, so I ordered the bar of MWF. They now have the puck back in stock, so should I grate the bar and press it into my soap bowl, or just order the puck?

Has anyone actually used the bar to shave with and is it indeed the exact same formula???

Never used the bar soap.
Should be close to the same formula but may not
have the same fragrance.

If you grate it grate it to fit. i.e. round the edges
so it eventually fits. I would press the first pile
of shavings on top of a more common hard shave soap...
and give it a lather and shave test.

There are a number of common bar soaps that would
lather just fine... go for it.

Originally Posted by WebsII

Has anyone actually used the bar to shave with and is it indeed the exact same formula???

MWF bar soap and shaving soap are not the same. The difference is fundamental.

It has probably occurred to you that any soap company is highly unlikely to produce a totally different soap just for the wet shaving community, given the fact that most in the World by now using an aerosol tin of gel!
So they add things to improve its performance for shaving purposes.

The main additive is Fuller's Earth, or calcium bentonite. In some countries these are the same thing, in others definitely not. They're fine clay (they used to sprinkle them on babies' bottoms to prevent nappy/diaper rash). Its purpose is to provide that razor glide you love. Without it you will be completing much shorter strokes of the blade. I've written about all this on other threads, "Yardley Shaving Soap" and "Erasmic Shaving Soap".

Have a go! About half a teaspoon to a puck I suppose. When you have melted the soap, mixed the clay powder in and perhaps added a little glycerin as an extra emollient, don't forget to keep gently mixing until it starts to firm up, otherwise the clay will sink right to the bottom.

I would think that the bar soap is for hand washing and bathing--not exactly the same as shaving.

I would stick with the tried and true puck of MWF shaving soap. If you have ants in your pants and want that puck of MWF now, you can most likely find it at another vendor. It is sold by a number of online vendors including one of SRP's members, Phil Huntsinger (aka BullGoose).