That Nick shaves technique for the final cleanup is a highly recommended one. Simple concept, but great plan. Not only gets the brush cleaned up but you get to play with all that left over lather.
Hey Nick! First of all i hope you and your family is good condition and healthy! Thank you very much of your content! I have watched these couple weeks now and you have helped me alot past too weeks! i have been using straight razor couple years but now wanted to test safety razor. Luckily i found your page. I have gather soo much information from these very well made videos. Especially this MWF soap is been bothering me long time but now i can easily create wonderful lather! All of your razor test are GOLD! Just pure gold! I have been tested many of your video's razors and have to say im not disapointed at all any of them! I really hope you come back someday and continue this markable page! Best regards Jani (From Finland)
Nick, thanks for the review of mwf soap, received my mwf today and shaved with it tonight. WOW this is one great soap. loaded a new feather blade in my E.J. de89 and lathered with my Omega badger brush. My water here in Kentucky on the Ohio river is in the middle range for hardness so I always lather with distilled water. I bloomed the soap and soaked my brush while I showered, rang out brush and loaded for about 30seconds and was careful about adding water. The result was an excellent thick , rich lather. Made a three pass shave, no nicks or razor burn, post shave feel is absolutely amazing no need for after shave balm. this will stay in my rotation for as long as it is available.
Nick, I've noticed you holding a lot of soaps when you lather. Recently I've put some soaps in disposable plastic containers that fit just right. The containers at the grocery store when you get soup that are about three inches high and about two and a half inches across are great. You can even use your hands to mold them to fit into the container so it doesn't move around on you - it's kind of nice. Haslinger soaps are small but you can use them a few times, right after a couple uses flatten them out and mold into the container - it's nicer than the soap flopping all over the place on you. Cade fits in these get. You really could do that with any soap. Nick, please try the Neutrogena after shave - I love that stuff, been using it for about eighteen years.
You're doing great Nick! Don't worry about the videos man. Just do what you need to do. Nonetheless, we all love you and the work you do on and off the camera. So keep it up. Great video too! Still haven't tried Mitchell's, but it's one of the top soaps on my to get list. Good luck with your intern job! Thanks for the videos man, I really enjoy them. You're the one who brought me into wet shaving and safety razors and all the finer things in life! Haha thank you! Keep it up brother!
Hey Nick! You were spot on withy the Stirling so I think I'll give this soap a shot. I bet your really busy, just to let you know I check in often to see if you have a new video up. Hope you get a chance to shave with your straight. My wife just gave me a new one for Christmas and you know it's amazing.
Thanks for the update Nick. Hope life settles down soon! Not sure if you know this tip already, but like you I usually buy the refill pucks of soap, and I like to keep them in the ikea 'Grundtal' spice jars. They are stainless steel with a clear lid, so they don't corrode, and you can stick part of the box that the puck came in to the lid so you know what soap is what. They work perfectly.
Finally, a video lol ! It was a great one, nick ! I bet those hours in the hospital are killer though. it's nice hearing about it from someone who's actually in the field. How are you liking the internship ?
Great video Nick, nice to see your return. Mitchells Wool Fat is probably still my number 1 shave soap. I recently thought perhaps Catie's Bubbles or Razorock had surpassed it until I got my new 37c, I got bad irritation on my first shave with it with those soaps but MWF tamed it. Obviously a slight chance of technique was needed but MWF gave me the most protection while I mastered it. The post-shave is unsurpassed, your skin feels 20 years younger after using it.
I always find it interesting to see how water quality affects the lather. Over Christmas, we spent the week with my mom and dad in SoCal. They do not have softened water, which I had forgotten about. Before we left, I made the decision to bring just one soap given space and it was MdC. I am glad that I did. While the lather volume was not as great as at home with softened water, the MdC worked well with the hard water, with a similar 20 to 30 second load. I wondered how some of my other soaps may have fared with that water.
I add a ton of water too my brush before starting my lather with MWF. I also soak the puck. When I first start loading the puck, the lather starts as a airy, way to watery, bubble filled lather. BUT just beat the shit out of it as you face lather. What happens is the soap thickens, the water evaporates, and you are left with a top notch lather. Now that I can lather MWF, I fucking love it!!!
Fantastic. I bought MWF soap 6 months back and had only one good shave out of it. Other times I just get a bubbly lather which just dries up and no sleekness. But now I just tried your method and it was so sleek that you just can't remove all the soap with your hands no matter what the sleekness remains. Used an Omega 48 barbers brush. Thanks for the video, this was my most expensive soap as I got the ceramic tub, felt a little ripped off as I couldn't get a good lather.
I just got my Mitchells Woolfat in the mail and havent got a chance to open it yet. I got a whole haul of new soaps and aftershaves and colognes with Christmas money, so ill open it soon.
Thanks for the uodate, I really would like to like this soap, but wasn't indpressede with the quality, but living in Copenhagen with extremely hard water 32 DH, I now know it's lacking quality is due to the water
Interesting that you mentioned water hardness making such a difference as here in the UK an experiment was made between hard & soft water and there was absolutely no difference. A fella on one of the forums who lives in Yorkshire ( soft water ) had another fella from London ( hard water ) send him a bottle of his tap water to use & there was no difference. A fantastic soap that is ridiculously cheap. If I could only use one soap, this would be it. Every time I come back to it after using a much more expensive lovely scented soap, I grin from ear to ear & wonder why I bother spending my money. Top stuff indeed.
If you are looking for great aftercare - especially with the weather we are having right now - The Fat is really the right choice. Even with hard water.... Great job, Nick!
review The Art Of Shaving products...I own a kit and I am new at wet shaving... comes with a pure badger, shaving cream, balm and pre shaving oil. I just ordered my Merkur 34c HD because of you and Busta...thank man for these videos..
Nice man. I can't wait to shave again myself. Have you seen Phoenix Accoutrement's new razor yet? It's a double open comb called the "Phoenix". I managed to be able to buy one and it should be here any day now. I bet you are really familiar to the coffee pot with that schedule, wow. That softer water will make a difference in other soaps that you tried especially Arko. I don't use it much anymore since I've discovered artisan made soaps. Oh Soap Commander has a new scent out called "purpose" which is a bay rum scent.
How did you get on? I found the lather really 'thin'. Like the bubbles you get on a bowl of soapy washing up liquid. I'm sure you can get a good lather if you work at it but I'd rather save time and use something like Trumpers or even Arko. Not impressed at all.
Hey Nick, great video! Just wanted to give you feedback and tell you that I find the 2x speed during the shaving is perfect for me. I can still pick up what you're doing and that's good. :-) Don't let the work eat you up. All the best! Ben
I missed your previous reviews of this soap, and had no idea it had lanolin until now. I'll add this to my ever-growing spreadsheet of soaps. MWF isn't the cheapest, but I'm willing to pay a touch more for a great post shave. Plus it seems like the puck is very hard, so it might last quite a while.
Nick, I live by the Ohio river and my water is medium hard so I tried a jug of distilled water, wow what a difference. All my soaps are slicker and creamier, and my razor just glides across my face,
I live in an area with hard water; lime quarry is down the street. My solution to this is to use DISTILLED WATER, at $0.79/gal.since a water softening system is not possible. I love the video's; you were my early mentor when I started out traditional wet shaving. Thanks and best of luck with your fellowship.
I live in Florida and the water just plain o'l sucks here it is REALLY hard water & just filled with so much chlorine that you cant even drink it ,, So would distilled or spring water be considered a soft water like the kind you can buy in the gallon jugs. or water from a Britta filter water be considered soft water & be good enough to make a good lather using it ?
Tried this today as my first shave ever with a DE razor, I had no problems to get a good lather with this. Or I think it was good, but its my first time so what do I know. Also we have really soft water in Norway, atlas where I am living. Loved the product, best shave ever! Never going back to the shitty Fusion proglide thing. Love your reviews, it really helps a newbie like me, so thanks :D
I have hard water here. First off, I bloom the Fat while I'm in the shower.. then pour the bloom water off and on to my face as a preshave.. then face lather as usual. This is one of my absolute favorite NON CRAFTED soaps! Works nicely with black badger or boar!
i bought this soap and i tried just about every guide out there and i either get a pasty stiff soap or a too thin lather with ton of bobbles in it. i'm surely doing something wrong but this soap is really hard for me :S
Assuming you live in the US, do a web search for your city's annual water quality report. The EPA requires tap water distributors to publish these reports tot he public. Water hardness will be on the report. There is a good summary of water hardness here www.fcwa.org/water/hardness.htm My city's water floats between moderately hard to hard, and I have no problem lathering "The Fat" with a best badger brush.
Hard water usually feels a little heavy and tends to leave alot of white residue behind and alot of mainstream soaps tend to be extremely hard to lather up and sometimes the creams don't want to perform either. To combat this hardwater problem, try to find a soap or cream that was made using coconut oil and stearic acid. The coconut oil will allow the soap to lather in ANY water including sea water and the stearic acid will build a really nice thick lather.
That is probably why I can't get the greatest lathers where I live. The water is really hard. Even just letting droplets dry on the bottom of my razor has given it a nasty film that I really don't know how to get rid of. I know where my dad lives the water doesn't have all the lime build up, but it is greatly chlorinated.
I believe it! I would run water over my brush and wet my face before a shave and I would get a lot of irritation on my neck. I decided to let my brush soak in hot water and bathe before I shave like you do. I used to shave before I bathed. I know today I had to add a little bit of water about 5 or 6 times, BUT I think it was my best shave to date. I just started on my neck and got my trouble spot over with. The rest was easy.
Nice scent when I tried it but the lather was thin and bubbly and also reacted with my skin. I love in hard water are and having to wrestle to get a decent lather is defeating the enjoyment and slows down my shave. There are better soaps that are far easier to get great results from such as Arko. Life's too short to generate sub standard lathers.
Try this for loading mitchell's easily - bloom the puck,use your whipped dog 24mm and you are good to go for 3-4 passes. ive tried it,works every time !!! cheers!!!!!
Hi NIck, big fan.... New subscriber !! Can you recommend a good Silvertip , large knot size, decent length handle, for under $75. Thanks Nick. Love the channel.
Nick , tip , if someone lives in an area where the water is hard and has a problem lathering some shave soaps and creams just go to the local apothecary and pick up a gallon of distilled water. Pour a cup of it in your mug and microwave for about two minutes then soak your brush and bloom the soap with a little bit of the water from the mug and lather as usual. It'll make lathering a soap that is harder to work with a lot more manageable due to the water being free of minerals a such. Just saying 👍😁
I agree completely, I delayed trying Mitchells because of all the bad reviews. Finally I gave in, used distilled water and a badger brush, what resulted was a wonderful thick, rich, lather that was easy to achieve and gave me a smooth close shave with no razor burn. Try Murphy's advice and you will become a fan of Mitchells.
+Barda Wulf Same here. After one week of a pretty close shave, I look like I haven't shaved for a month and need to trim my beard first before shaving.
You definitely should, I started Wet Shaving not long ago and has always watch your videos. Just want to tell you much more I appreciate that you put effort into making such videos!
HERE IS AN EASY WAY TO DO IT MY FRIENDs Do any Pucks or bar Soaps out there? You can mix and match old Soaps? to fit in any Mugs or Cups? Like (Mitchells' Wool Fat or Arko Sticks. Just to name a few of them ?) Cut the bar soap up on a paper plate, pour the soap, shavings and chunks from your plate into a mug, cover the soap with a small amount of water, microwave your soap and cups or mugs? put your paper plate under your cup in case it bubbles out of your cup? for a minute or so? If it foams up, STOP. The water keeps it from burning itself up. (DON'T OVER WATER YOUR SOAP??) Easy, does it? Let cool don't want to Crack the Mugs or Cups you're using? (You just want it to Congeal in your Mug or Cup') it is very hot and watery'''''. let it cool in PLACE'. after it cools, put it in a Sunny Window, until the Soap hardens? When using your soaps, use Dry Brush Less Water. It thickens the soap, making it easier to use on your face. (You can use any Hard Soaps You like??) Save your Money, spend it on your wife, don't listen to the shave Mafia. It saves me time and Money in these Inflationary Times. Your mileage may vary? Wheelchair Larry Happy New Year
I don't care for MWF at all. The post-shave just isn't good for me like it is for others. It's always drying for me, no idea why. It also makes my razor skip. I have soft water and the soap explodes all over when I lather it, no issues lathering it, and I'm not lanolin sensitive as I can use Haslinger Schafmilch (which really needs to be made in a larger puck) and Mike's soaps with GREAT results. Just doesn't work for some reason. Disappointing as I love the scent and I really like the looks of their ceramic container but since I get bad shaves off it I have no reason to keep it around. :/
Me too. I use distilled water and use Marco's lather method so I have mountains of thick creamy lather. I still get razor skipping and dryness with MWF and I don't find it particularly protective. I too find Schafmilch superior.
Can u guys help me out. I get razor skipping and dryness just like u have explained but with every soap I have tried. So far I have tried proraso, dapper dragon and several art of shaving creams. I started to think it was just normal until I read your comment and its exactly what it feels like for me. I always shower and wash my face before with hot water and soap. I have tried using basically every amount of water in my lathers and its always the same. Also I never have had irritation or burn so that's not a problem for me. I have pretty neutral skin but it's a little on the dry side so maybe that might be a problem. Oh and I have also used different pre shaves before too and it didn't work
jacob lahr Personally I consider pre-shaves a waste of time unless you haven't showered already. I don't notice a difference between shaving right out of the shower with a pre-shave or without. As for helping out, I don't have experience with Dapper Dragon so I can't speak to it and I consider the current soaps from AoS to be sub-par. I have HEARD good things about Dapper Dragon, but can't confirm them. What type of razor are you using? What lathering method do you use? Do you shave with the grain first? It's kind of hard to troubleshoot without knowing all the variables.
***** I use a muhle r89. I switch off between astra and gillete platinums. I use a plisson and face lather most of the time. I always shave 3 passes (with, cross, against) and i wet my face very well before lathering
jacob lahr Do you shower directly before shaving? How do you prep? The Plisson is pretty soft, have you tried something with more scrub? I doubt this is actually the issue as the brush doesn't play quite as major a role in my experience but it may help prep the facial hair more if yours is particularly coarse. Those blades should be fine based on my experience, the Gillette Platinums are super smooth AND super sharp for me. Basically up there with Feathers for sharpness IMO. Maybe try a Wilkinson or a PolSilver? Both of those are VERY smooth for me, although not quite as sharp as the Gillette Platinums or Feathers. As for soaps, I never get any skipping with MdC (although it is pricey), Barrister & Mann, or Cella. Obviously product recommendations can be very hit or miss, though.
Hard water area - tick, hard to lather - tick, thin lather - tick, skin reacts to soap - tick. shame as the smell is nice but too much work and life's too short. Palmolive cream produces a lovely shave as does Arko soap stick and both are cheap.
I find this soap really 'thin' the lather doesn't last no matter how much you work it. The slickness and scent is great. Just a really cheap, thin lather. Wouldn't bother buying it again.
That Nick shaves technique for the final cleanup is a highly recommended one. Simple concept, but great plan. Not only gets the brush cleaned up but you get to play with all that left over lather.
4;30am to 7pm is way too many hours.
Hey Nick!
First of all i hope you and your family is good condition and healthy!
Thank you very much of your content! I have watched these couple weeks now and you have helped me alot past too weeks!
i have been using straight razor couple years but now wanted to test safety razor.
Luckily i found your page. I have gather soo much information from these very well made videos. Especially this MWF soap is been bothering me long time but now i can easily create wonderful lather!
All of your razor test are GOLD! Just pure gold! I have been tested many of your video's razors and have to say im not disapointed at all any of them!
I really hope you come back someday and continue this markable page!
Best regards
Jani (From Finland)
Nick, thanks for the review of mwf soap, received my mwf today and shaved with it tonight. WOW this is one great soap. loaded a new feather blade in my E.J. de89 and lathered with my Omega badger brush. My water here in Kentucky on the Ohio river is in the middle range for hardness so I always lather with distilled water. I bloomed the soap and soaked my brush while I showered, rang out brush and loaded for about 30seconds and was careful about adding water. The result was an excellent thick , rich lather. Made a three pass shave, no nicks or razor burn, post shave feel is absolutely amazing no need for after shave balm. this will stay in my rotation for as long as it is available.
Nick, I've noticed you holding a lot of soaps when you lather. Recently I've put some soaps in disposable plastic containers that fit just right. The containers at the grocery store when you get soup that are about three inches high and about two and a half inches across are great. You can even use your hands to mold them to fit into the container so it doesn't move around on you - it's kind of nice. Haslinger soaps are small but you can use them a few times, right after a couple uses flatten them out and mold into the container - it's nicer than the soap flopping all over the place on you. Cade fits in these get. You really could do that with any soap. Nick, please try the Neutrogena after shave - I love that stuff, been using it for about eighteen years.
Hey Nick, can you please re-visit Williams mug shaving soap? I'd love to see that
Thanks for revisiting the soap nick !
You're doing great Nick! Don't worry about the videos man. Just do what you need to do. Nonetheless, we all love you and the work you do on and off the camera. So keep it up. Great video too! Still haven't tried Mitchell's, but it's one of the top soaps on my to get list. Good luck with your intern job! Thanks for the videos man, I really enjoy them. You're the one who brought me into wet shaving and safety razors and all the finer things in life! Haha thank you! Keep it up brother!
I live in the city where Mitchell's is made Bradford ,Yorkshire
Hey Nick! You were spot on withy the Stirling so I think I'll give this soap a shot. I bet your really busy, just to let you know I check in often to see if you have a new video up. Hope you get a chance to shave with your straight. My wife just gave me a new one for Christmas and you know it's amazing.
Another well reviewed product. The reviews on Amazon are also great, I need to try this soap!
Just bought my first MWF puck and luckily my area has soft water, and just cause of your videos, I cant wait to give it a try later today!
Thanks for the update Nick. Hope life settles down soon!
Not sure if you know this tip already, but like you I usually buy the refill pucks of soap, and I like to keep them in the ikea 'Grundtal' spice jars. They are stainless steel with a clear lid, so they don't corrode, and you can stick part of the box that the puck came in to the lid so you know what soap is what. They work perfectly.
Matt Turner Great tip!
Finally, a video lol ! It was a great one, nick ! I bet those hours in the hospital are killer though. it's nice hearing about it from someone who's actually in the field. How are you liking the internship ?
Nick, grate your MWF into a 1 cup pyrex bowl. The grating process turns MWF into a beast.
Great video Nick, nice to see your return.
Mitchells Wool Fat is probably still my number 1 shave soap. I recently thought perhaps Catie's Bubbles or Razorock had surpassed it until I got my new 37c, I got bad irritation on my first shave with it with those soaps but MWF tamed it. Obviously a slight chance of technique was needed but MWF gave me the most protection while I mastered it. The post-shave is unsurpassed, your skin feels 20 years younger after using it.
It's an incredible soap! It really does give some of the best protection out there
Hey Nick, I just started wet shaving in January 2018. Watched a few of your videos, keep up the good work!
I always find it interesting to see how water quality affects the lather.
Over Christmas, we spent the week with my mom and dad in SoCal. They do not have softened water, which I had forgotten about. Before we left, I made the decision to bring just one soap given space and it was MdC. I am glad that I did. While the lather volume was not as great as at home with softened water, the MdC worked well with the hard water, with a similar 20 to 30 second load. I wondered how some of my other soaps may have fared with that water.
I add a ton of water too my brush before starting my lather with MWF. I also soak the puck. When I first start loading the puck, the lather starts as a airy, way to watery, bubble filled lather. BUT just beat the shit out of it as you face lather. What happens is the soap thickens, the water evaporates, and you are left with a top notch lather. Now that I can lather MWF, I fucking love it!!!
Fantastic. I bought MWF soap 6 months back and had only one good shave out of it. Other times I just get a bubbly lather which just dries up and no sleekness. But now I just tried your method and it was so sleek that you just can't remove all the soap with your hands no matter what the sleekness remains. Used an Omega 48 barbers brush. Thanks for the video, this was my most expensive soap as I got the ceramic tub, felt a little ripped off as I couldn't get a good lather.
I just got my Mitchells Woolfat in the mail and havent got a chance to open it yet.
I got a whole haul of new soaps and aftershaves and colognes with Christmas money, so ill open it soon.
A great review. Thanks Nick. I bought this soap this week and looking forward to using it.
i absolutely love this soap
Hey nick ! You should really make a video on how you make your face soaps , much appreciated !
I've thought about that! I'd be happy to share it
nick shaves Thank you !
I was literally about to suggest the same thing, His face lathering technique looks so much more cleaner and efficient than mine
Thanks for the uodate, I really would like to like this soap, but wasn't indpressede with the quality, but living in Copenhagen with extremely hard water 32 DH, I now know it's lacking quality is due to the water
Interesting that you mentioned water hardness making such a difference as here in the UK an experiment was made between hard & soft water and there was absolutely no difference. A fella on one of the forums who lives in Yorkshire ( soft water ) had another fella from London ( hard water ) send him a bottle of his tap water to use & there was no difference. A fantastic soap that is ridiculously cheap. If I could only use one soap, this would be it. Every time I come back to it after using a much more expensive lovely scented soap, I grin from ear to ear & wonder why I bother spending my money. Top stuff indeed.
If you are looking for great aftercare - especially with the weather we are having right now - The Fat is really the right choice. Even with hard water.... Great job, Nick!
review The Art Of Shaving products...I own a kit and I am new at wet shaving... comes with a pure badger, shaving cream, balm and pre shaving oil. I just ordered my Merkur 34c HD because of you and Busta...thank man for these videos..
I absolutely love the smell of MWF, but the lather doesn't work for me. I've tried every single trick.
I've recently tried it and I have absolutely no problem with it. It lathers up the way I wanted it to.
Nice man. I can't wait to shave again myself. Have you seen Phoenix Accoutrement's new razor yet? It's a double open comb called the "Phoenix". I managed to be able to buy one and it should be here any day now. I bet you are really familiar to the coffee pot with that schedule, wow. That softer water will make a difference in other soaps that you tried especially Arko. I don't use it much anymore since I've discovered artisan made soaps. Oh Soap Commander has a new scent out called "purpose" which is a bay rum scent.
Looks great. Bought Mitchell’s based on this review and look forward to trying it out.
How did you get on? I found the lather really 'thin'. Like the bubbles you get on a bowl of soapy washing up liquid. I'm sure you can get a good lather if you work at it but I'd rather save time and use something like Trumpers or even Arko. Not impressed at all.
Hey Nick, great video! Just wanted to give you feedback and tell you that I find the 2x speed during the shaving is perfect for me. I can still pick up what you're doing and that's good. :-) Don't let the work eat you up. All the best!
Ben
Thanks for the feedback. I like 2x too, no wasted time, but you can still see the whole shave
I missed your previous reviews of this soap, and had no idea it had lanolin until now. I'll add this to my ever-growing spreadsheet of soaps. MWF isn't the cheapest, but I'm willing to pay a touch more for a great post shave. Plus it seems like the puck is very hard, so it might last quite a while.
Nick, I live by the Ohio river and my water is medium hard so I tried a jug of distilled water, wow what a difference. All my soaps are slicker and creamier, and my razor just glides across my face,
I live in an area with hard water; lime quarry is down the street. My solution to this is to use DISTILLED WATER, at $0.79/gal.since a water softening system is not possible.
I love the video's; you were my early mentor when I started out traditional wet shaving.
Thanks and best of luck with your fellowship.
Thanks Nick!
Dr. Nick. How many shaves do you estimate you get with a puck of this stuff?
Suggestion for you Nick: make a quick tip video on how to align your side burns with your slant razor. I was thinking of buying the 39C/Sledgehammer
I can do that! It's not that hard, but takes a few tries to get it right
nick shaves Awesome, thanks!
How do you store your soaps? You let it dry putting it back in its package?
I live in Florida and the water just plain o'l sucks here it is REALLY hard water & just filled with so much chlorine that you cant even drink it ,, So would distilled or spring water be considered a soft water like the kind you can buy in the gallon jugs. or water from a Britta filter water be considered soft water & be good enough to make a good lather using it ?
I live in Philly, and our water I think is more in the middle for hardness, my soaps lather nicely with it.
Tried this today as my first shave ever with a DE razor, I had no problems to get a good lather with this. Or I think it was good, but its my first time so what do I know. Also we have really soft water in Norway, atlas where I am living. Loved the product, best shave ever! Never going back to the shitty Fusion proglide thing. Love your reviews, it really helps a newbie like me, so thanks :D
I don't know which choose between this and a D.R. harris (I'm searching ultra protection and sleekness for straight razor shaves)
I have hard water here. First off, I bloom the Fat while I'm in the shower.. then pour the bloom water off and on to my face as a preshave.. then face lather as usual. This is one of my absolute favorite NON CRAFTED soaps! Works nicely with black badger or boar!
i bought this soap and i tried just about every guide out there and i either get a pasty stiff soap or a too thin lather with ton of bobbles in it. i'm surely doing something wrong but this soap is really hard for me :S
Soft water??
what does hard and soft water means?
Assuming you live in the US, do a web search for your city's annual water quality report. The EPA requires tap water distributors to publish these reports tot he public. Water hardness will be on the report. There is a good summary of water hardness here www.fcwa.org/water/hardness.htm My city's water floats between moderately hard to hard, and I have no problem lathering "The Fat" with a best badger brush.
How can you tell if you have hard or soft water?
Hard water leaves a white residue since it has more calcium & other minerals in it
Hard water usually feels a little heavy and tends to leave alot of white residue behind and alot of mainstream soaps tend to be extremely hard to lather up and sometimes the creams don't want to perform either. To combat this hardwater problem, try to find a soap or cream that was made using coconut oil and stearic acid. The coconut oil will allow the soap to lather in ANY water including sea water and the stearic acid will build a really nice thick lather.
Thanks guys.
Jason Majka Not a problem man. Glad we can help.
That is probably why I can't get the greatest lathers where I live. The water is really hard. Even just letting droplets dry on the bottom of my razor has given it a nasty film that I really don't know how to get rid of. I know where my dad lives the water doesn't have all the lime build up, but it is greatly chlorinated.
Water really makes a huge difference. I didn't realize it until I moved to this area with soft water - what a difference!
I believe it! I would run water over my brush and wet my face before a shave and I would get a lot of irritation on my neck. I decided to let my brush soak in hot water and bathe before I shave like you do. I used to shave before I bathed. I know today I had to add a little bit of water about 5 or 6 times, BUT I think it was my best shave to date. I just started on my neck and got my trouble spot over with. The rest was easy.
Nice scent when I tried it but the lather was thin and bubbly and also reacted with my skin. I love in hard water are and having to wrestle to get a decent lather is defeating the enjoyment and slows down my shave. There are better soaps that are far easier to get great results from such as Arko. Life's too short to generate sub standard lathers.
I think the lather is really poor. Not thick and creamy. Slickness is great though. They need to work on it.
You dont have to use a boar brush. Ive lathered MWF with synthetics even better than boar. It just takes time and water.
What does it smell like?
+pitbull287 From what I can tell, it really just smells like classic bar soap but in a good way. It doesn't have that cheap soap scent.
A friend of mine sent me that soap a couple of weeks ago used it last Friday 9/012015 it's great stuff
Try this for loading mitchell's easily - bloom the puck,use your whipped dog 24mm and you are good to go for 3-4 passes.
ive tried it,works every time !!! cheers!!!!!
Akshit Agarwa
Hi NIck, big fan.... New subscriber !! Can you recommend a good Silvertip , large knot size, decent length handle, for under $75. Thanks Nick. Love the channel.
Frank shaving brush from maggard's razors or a whipped dog brush.
Nick , tip , if someone lives in an area where the water is hard and has a problem lathering some shave soaps and creams just go to the local apothecary and pick up a gallon of distilled water. Pour a cup of it in your mug and microwave for about two minutes then soak your brush and bloom the soap with a little bit of the water from the mug and lather as usual. It'll make lathering a soap that is harder to work with a lot more manageable due to the water being free of minerals a such. Just saying 👍😁
I agree completely, I delayed trying Mitchells because of all the bad reviews. Finally I gave in, used distilled water and a badger brush, what resulted was a wonderful thick, rich, lather that was easy to achieve and gave me a smooth close shave with no razor burn. Try Murphy's advice and you will become a fan of Mitchells.
face lathering at that speed looks hilarious
oh Dr.Nick, what is your favorite scent of TOBS, and Catie's ? Thanks again..... Have a great evening off !
Holy cow...that is only 5 days of growth? I'd look like Jeremiah Johnson by then. You're lucky Nick!
+Finq08 Why thank you, you adorable troll. lol
+Barda Wulf Same here. After one week of a pretty close shave, I look like I haven't shaved for a month and need to trim my beard first before shaving.
Do u work for phoenix artisan accoutramants
11:20-45 looks so painful. thats like 50 passes..
Proraso revisit?
Good call! I probably should
You definitely should, I started Wet Shaving not long ago and has always watch your videos. Just want to tell you much more I appreciate that you put effort into making such videos!
HERE IS AN EASY WAY TO DO IT MY FRIENDs Do any Pucks or bar Soaps out there? You can mix and match old Soaps? to fit in any Mugs or Cups? Like (Mitchells' Wool Fat or Arko Sticks. Just to name a few of them ?) Cut the bar soap up on a paper plate, pour the soap, shavings and chunks from your plate into a mug, cover the soap with a small amount of water, microwave your soap and cups or mugs? put your paper plate under your cup in case it bubbles out of your cup? for a minute or so? If it foams up, STOP. The water keeps it from burning itself up. (DON'T OVER WATER YOUR SOAP??) Easy, does it? Let cool don't want to Crack the Mugs or Cups you're using? (You just want it to Congeal in your Mug or Cup') it is very hot and watery'''''. let it cool in PLACE'. after it cools, put it in a Sunny Window, until the Soap hardens? When using your soaps, use Dry Brush Less Water. It thickens the soap, making it easier to use on your face. (You can use any Hard Soaps You like??) Save your Money, spend it on your wife, don't listen to the shave Mafia. It saves me time and Money in these Inflationary Times. Your mileage may vary? Wheelchair Larry Happy New Year
I don't care for MWF at all. The post-shave just isn't good for me like it is for others. It's always drying for me, no idea why. It also makes my razor skip. I have soft water and the soap explodes all over when I lather it, no issues lathering it, and I'm not lanolin sensitive as I can use Haslinger Schafmilch (which really needs to be made in a larger puck) and Mike's soaps with GREAT results. Just doesn't work for some reason. Disappointing as I love the scent and I really like the looks of their ceramic container but since I get bad shaves off it I have no reason to keep it around. :/
Me too. I use distilled water and use Marco's lather method so I have mountains of thick creamy lather. I still get razor skipping and dryness with MWF and I don't find it particularly protective. I too find Schafmilch superior.
Can u guys help me out. I get razor skipping and dryness just like u have explained but with every soap I have tried. So far I have tried proraso, dapper dragon and several art of shaving creams. I started to think it was just normal until I read your comment and its exactly what it feels like for me. I always shower and wash my face before with hot water and soap. I have tried using basically every amount of water in my lathers and its always the same. Also I never have had irritation or burn so that's not a problem for me. I have pretty neutral skin but it's a little on the dry side so maybe that might be a problem. Oh and I have also used different pre shaves before too and it didn't work
jacob lahr Personally I consider pre-shaves a waste of time unless you haven't showered already. I don't notice a difference between shaving right out of the shower with a pre-shave or without. As for helping out, I don't have experience with Dapper Dragon so I can't speak to it and I consider the current soaps from AoS to be sub-par. I have HEARD good things about Dapper Dragon, but can't confirm them. What type of razor are you using? What lathering method do you use? Do you shave with the grain first? It's kind of hard to troubleshoot without knowing all the variables.
***** I use a muhle r89. I switch off between astra and gillete platinums. I use a plisson and face lather most of the time. I always shave 3 passes (with, cross, against) and i wet my face very well before lathering
jacob lahr Do you shower directly before shaving? How do you prep? The Plisson is pretty soft, have you tried something with more scrub? I doubt this is actually the issue as the brush doesn't play quite as major a role in my experience but it may help prep the facial hair more if yours is particularly coarse. Those blades should be fine based on my experience, the Gillette Platinums are super smooth AND super sharp for me. Basically up there with Feathers for sharpness IMO. Maybe try a Wilkinson or a PolSilver? Both of those are VERY smooth for me, although not quite as sharp as the Gillette Platinums or Feathers. As for soaps, I never get any skipping with MdC (although it is pricey), Barrister & Mann, or Cella. Obviously product recommendations can be very hit or miss, though.
Ripper shave bloke
Hard water area - tick, hard to lather - tick, thin lather - tick, skin reacts to soap - tick. shame as the smell is nice but too much work and life's too short. Palmolive cream produces a lovely shave as does Arko soap stick and both are cheap.
I find this soap really 'thin' the lather doesn't last no matter how much you work it. The slickness and scent is great. Just a really cheap, thin lather. Wouldn't bother buying it again.
Then you didn't build it right. You didn't load enough and you used too wet a brush to load.
@@orangeyouglad7594 I’ve tried several ways to load the brush with varying amounts of water and time spent lathering. Don’t make assumptions!!!
What does it smell like?