MWF Lathering Tip??

I may have accidently learned a MWF lathering tip. A common recommendation seems to be to use a stiff brush with MWF. Of course, I didn’t know this when I bought the soap (as with most things SR related, I don’t know boo :)). Therefore when I received my soap I absentmindedly grated the soap into the only container I had handy at the time, a small Glad container. The dish is rather small – only about 2 inches in diameter - which prevents the brush from spreading out too much. The bristles are kept relatively tight and straight, thereby - in effect - making the brush perform like a stiffer brush. Anyhow, this seems to be working just fine for me.

:) The trick is, you "Grated it" I was just opening this thread to tell you about that being a "Trick" for MWF but you had already found it ..


:tu


A tablespoon of hot water on top of the soap while you shower is also a huge help with MWF

With MWF, or any other puck, but especially harder pucks, I throw a splash of water on the puck and walk away for 5 minutes. Softens up the surface a bit and makes for easier lather generation IMO.

I didn't know there was a trick for MWF. I find it takes a bit more water than other soaps to get it going but otherwise I don't do anything different.

I think the smaller diameter container is also part of the trick. This is one of a few ways that I know of to increase the backbone of a brush. Another is to put some sort of ring around the base or just above the base of the bristles (a rubberband can work nicely). Sticking the handle into your palm and using your fingers to hold the bristles together also works.

I agree with the pre-soak method discussed above. I will fill the sink with warm/hot water and soak the mug with the Mitchell's in it and my shaving brush at the same time. This way when you get out of the shower, you can wipe the steam off of the mirror, and begin preparing your lather :)

I have published 2 youtube videos almost a year ago, sorry they are in Spanish,....

YouTube - MWF: haciendo espuma con Semogue 1800

YouTube - MWF: haciendo espuma con Plisson #10 pure badger

And a how to in english, don't worry SRP staff, I am the author


Sorry for my bad english, I am not a native english speaker, I am trying to improve this point, I hope my future posts will be better

This manual is intended for those who wonder if Mitchells is a good soap, or if the lather is so amazing, but they get flabby lather, or take so long to get decent lather or ,...... the bullshit about hard water ....

This HOWTO is done in the following conditions:
Room temperature: 21 º C, water temperature 21ºC, water pH 8.2, KH or Carbonate Hardness, 13, Hardness 12 GH. Under these conditions the lather can be obtained in quantity and quality, no matter the material used ,you will need:

Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap
Brush, in boar or badger, I will use both a pure badger Plisson #10 20 mm. knot and a Semogue 2000 boar
Bowl, a regular ceramic bowl and optionally the soap dish of MWF

ACT I: The Badger

1st Soaking Brush and soap
It’s important to use water at room temperature, not warmer, soak the brush and soap ,we need 2 minute soaking the brush, for the soap 1 minute is enough, to know he is ready, swipe your finger over soap, if the finger takes soap it’s ready.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0991.jpg

2nd Drain the brush properly,
the brush should be wet, very wet, but not dripping, just drain the water down and apply a soft pressure over the bristles with your fingers. The aim is that the brush remains dry enough to scratch the soap but not as wet to soak the soap or to make flabby lather.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0992.jpg

3rd Load and unload lather.
We have to do lather, the first lather will be flabby, continue beating until it becomes thick, without crushing the hair of our badger brush, after beating. 20 or 30 seconds you will see thicker lather,
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0993.jpg
at the end the lather is too thick, that is the real lather MWF is that we are worth, with few large bubbles, thick, dense, cushioned ,....
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0994.jpg
we have to pass it to the bowl and collect all the lather from the bowl of soap that we we can, I even drain brush and then pick lather from Mitchell’s ceramic bowl to the bowl that I used to make final lather.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0995.jpg

4th Work the lather
Mitchell's is a good soap, but not as easy to handle as Tabac, but surely we have lather that has large bubbles and still we have to beat until these bubbles become fine, probably the lather will seems drier than necessary. You only need water ...Hold water drops on your fingers and let it fall into the bowl and beat them to mix it with lather.
Do you see how water is added?, From the fingertips fall droplets, 4 or 5 are sufficient to obtain a softer and more moisturizing lather, this way yo can have a perfect control of the added water
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0996.jpg

After the effort comes the reward, a bowl full of creamy lather with the soft scent of MWF
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0997.jpg

5th Face lathering
Once the lather has the desired look we are able to pass the brush over the face, in the case of MWF I recommend face lathering, the light exfoliating ability of the brush attached to the lubricating oils of the soap will help to soften the shave, as "soft" as scratch our skin with a sharp blade
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0998.jpg


NOTES: The water at room temperature MWF does not work well with hot water, some people's problems come from using a hot scuttle or preheated bowls brushes full of hot water. Apart from melt the lanolin (at 42 º C ), lather is worse, one of the keys is the temperature. Do not worry about the cold lather works well and if you want you can heat the cold lather in your scuttle once assembled

ACT II: THE BOAR

Introduction,
this manual is definitive, and low cost in a single step, if you can’t obtain lather this way buy a Noxzema can, you were born for great achievements but doing lather is not one of them ..... Be quiet you going to do fantastic fat lather with a cheap brush, and
- Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap or Kent, without the bowl
- A large bowl, with the width of a CD and about 2 inches deep minimum…the typical bowl for breakfast

1st Soaking Brush and soap,
this time we take the puck of soap and put it in the large bowl. It’s important to use water at room temperature, not warmer, soak the brush and soap ,we need 2 minute soaking the brush, for the soap 1 minute is enough, to know he is ready, swipe your finger over soap, if the finger takes soap it’s ready http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0991.jpg

2nd Drain the brush properly,
the brush should be wet, very wet, but not dripping, just drain the water down and apply a soft pressure over the bristles with your fingers. The aim is that the brush remains dry enough to scratch the soap but not as wet to soak the soap or to make flabby lather.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF0999.jpg
Pressing to remove excess of water
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1001.jpg
Brush drained
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1002.jpg

3rd MWF or Kent to the bottom of the bowl,
you have to release the soap from the ceramic (MWF) or wooden bowl (Kent) or use a refill,
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1003.jpg

4th Beat vigorously soap
We will use our boar brush to beat the soap in the bowl with rhythm, vigorously, the first lather that you can see is flabby,
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1004.jpg
but this has just started, in seconds it appears as a thick cream as meringue,.... you are at the doors of the nirvana of shaving lather ...
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1005.jpg
If you want you can remove the puck cleaning it with a brush to remove the precious lanolin rich cream. If you leave the puck the lather works fine, but if you decide to take it out, you should pass it through water and leave the soap drying before storing, the soap must be kept dry.

5th Add water if necessary
Adding water droplets must be done to, with your fingers to soften a bit the density of lather and do it more lightly, as you like, if you like it firm and thick you can skip this step.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1007.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1008.jpg

6th face lathering
Once the lather has the desired look we are able to pass the brush over the face, in the case of MWF I recommend face lathering, the light exfoliating ability of the brush attached to the lubricating oils of the soap will help to soften the shave, as "soft" as scratch our skin with a sharp blade
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1009.jpg

NOTES: The water at room temperature MWF does not work well with hot water, some people's problems come from using a hot scuttle or preheated bowls brushes full of hot water. Apart from melt the lanolin (at 42 º C ), lather is worse, one of the keys is the temperature. Do not worry about the cold lather works well and if you want you can heat the cold lather in your scuttle once assembled

Compare the two lather brushes, it’s awesome, who doesn’t want to feel one of those brushes in the face?
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...s/DSCF1006.jpg

Greetings from Spain, I hope it is useful. If you have progressed with the MWF by reading this Howto I will be satisfied.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by du212

And a how to in english, don't worry SRP staff, I am the author


Sorry for my bad english, I am not a native english speaker, I am trying to improve this point, I hope my future posts will be better

This manual is intended for those who wonder if Mitchells is a good soap, or if the lather is so amazing, but they get flabby lather, or take so long to get decent lather or ,...... the bullshit about hard water

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Oh I don't know about that. I think you may have a fairly firm grasp of the english language...You'd fit in well enough in Australia anyway mate...:D:roflmao


Mick

:lol: I don't think so, I am always learning, but I hope the text and videos can be useful here

I had often heard here at SRP that MWF was hard to lather, but I found just the opposite. IMHO it is one of the easiest shaving soaps to generate a great lather with--and I live in a notoriously hard water area.

As Jimmy noted, just place some water on the puck and let it sit for about 5 min. then generate lather with a damp shaving brush.

Thank you for posting the pictures, a very well done tutorial on lathering Mitchell's Wool Fat shave soap.

Great info! I will try using room temp water next time instead of the hot tap water.