MWF in very hard water - one of our members has a new technique

chrisbell

chrisbell

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6,299
Location
Norfolk, England
I don't know if anyone remembers, but I posted the other day in the French soaps thread (http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-23935-post-332575.html#pid332575), mentioning that I was buying an MWF refill as I'd heard of a lathering technique which is suitable for the hardest category of tap water. It was developed by Darren, who used to post here as Voltstick and now goes by the name "Dubster". He lives about 15 miles or so from me and has water of a very similar hardness to mine. I previously sold my MWF here as I couldn't get it to lather properly, but I've now used Darren's technique a couple of times and it's a definite improvement on the mantic technique (sorry Mark!)

In the first video, Darren demonstrates the technique using a Muhle synthetic brush, which is what I used:

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxwHHEwIUzQ&list=FL00y06_wuugfpGTzZ0Z_OdA&index=10[/video]

He also covers using a floppy pure badger brush and a Semogue boar:

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LJhsjBCoo[/video]

I'm going to test-lather it tomorrow with my NF Tubby 2 and I'll report back then, but I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was struggling with it and was interested in another option.
 
Chris. If you fancy trying that on something worse them MWF, oh yes something exists. PM me and I will send you a puck of Traditional all Crafts Liquorice Shave.

It looks like an ice hockey puck and has the exact same lathering properties. Smells good, it's new and unused I got two and binned the first after a couple of unsuccessful attempts.
 
Northam Saint said:
Chris. If you fancy trying that on something worse them MWF, oh yes something exists. PM me and I will send you a puck of Traditional all Crafts Liquorice Shave.

It looks like an ice hockey puck and has the exact same lathering properties. Smells good, it's new and unused I got two and binned the first after a couple of unsuccessful attempts.
Click to expand...

Would you mind if I politely declined?:icon_razz::angel::icon_lol:

Update:

I've trial-lathered using my NF Tubby 2, which, for those who don't know, is a 2-band badger brush with a smallish loft, good backbone, and a bulb-shaped knot. I was able to obtain just as good a lather as with the Muhle synthetic, but it did take a bit longer and required a touch more effort. I basically followed the advice Darren gives in the second of his two videos with his cheap pure badger brush, with the exception of holding the base of the knot as the Tubby is a much stiffer brush than the one he was using.
 
chrisbell said:
antdad said:
New technique or not it helps if MWF is well hydrated and not allowed to dry out, keep it in plastic rather than wood.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that tip, Tony. I'm not a fan of wood containers for shaving soaps anyway.
Click to expand...

Same here, after a while the water gets under any varnish and spoils the wood. It must also do something to the wood as I've dropped one before and a chunk of wood broke off.

I use plastic clip top pots, but I always allow the soap to dry before putting the lid back on, as they do indeed retain moisture. My water is lovely and soft so I'm lucky. That liquorice shave still doesn't work in soft water though.
 
Thanks for posting these videos Chris. I just want to say though it isn't a 'new' technique really since i use it to lather any soap. I was just fed up with hearing folks saying that a good lather is next to impossible to get especially if you have hard water. In reality it isn't difficult at all, yes there are soaps that are much easier to lather and soaps that really are next to impossible to lather.
The other thing that annoyed me were the videos on youtube dealing with MWF and hard water. The methods used are time consuming and unecessary IMO, one such video is 14 minutes long and the guy must have had brush burn by the end of it. I made the videos to dispell most of the 'myths' surrounding MWF only. I hope they helped out those folks who were ready to bin their MWF pucks.
 
I appreciate that Chris and Darren have given us another method of lathering MWF BUT Just a thought really, and bearing in mind I live around 10 miles from Chris and have the same hard water. Why bother? I have tried MWF And seem to get an Ok lather and an OK Shave, albeit that I always end up with very dry skin after MWF.

Why bother...... when there are loads of very good cheap creams that can give excellent lathers with hard water and minimal effort (Ingrams, Palmolive, etc) and some even better mid priced soaps as well (TOBS, T&H, Proraso) ???
 
I'm glad you posted that Dubster because I was just about to write something that would have come across as sarcastic if you hadn't already made the point. Wet brush, load soap then lather seems to sum up the way to overcome the MWF problem.
 
Well i personally find that MWF is very good on my skin Scswalex, but as they say YMMV (I hate that abbreviation, lol).
If you're close to Chris, then you might not be that far away from me. Where do you hail from Scswalex?
 
I have really hard water here in Essex and use MWF nearly every day. Admittedly I soak my puck while I have a shower but it only takes me about 30 seconds to build a decent lather ready to shave. No effort at all. I've never understood why it doesn't seem to work for some people. I'm an exiled Norfolk Boy as well. I hail from Hingham.
 
Morning all!

Understand that what is good for one isn't necessarily good for another in this game, and as I said just a thought really.

I was born and bred and have always lived on Norwich, currently Thorpe End to the East of the city

Simon
 
antdad said:
New technique or not it helps if MWF is well hydrated and not allowed to dry out, keep it in plastic rather than wood.
Click to expand...

This is a good point and true of many hard soaps, the reason I replaced my wooden bowl with plastic.

I always find getting the water as hot as I can helps tremendously.
 
Sorry for being unintentionally misleading - I should have said "new to me", as all the other MWF lathering videos I've seen emphasise wetting or soaking the puck, and I'd never previously seen or read any emphasis on working the initial frothy proto-lather on the puck to thicken it. If anything, other such videos imply, though I can't recall it being stated categorically, that wetting/soaking the puck and using a barely damp brush would result in creamy lather from the outset.

Interestingly I'm similar to Darren in that his technique isn't far removed from my standard hard soap approach. Really, the only differences are that I do normally soak the puck, and I tend to dump the initial wet proto-lather as I don't need to bother with it when using an easier-to-lather soap. As regards Scwalex's question, that was the reason why I wasn't rushing to try the stuff again. Even now, the only reasons behind buying another puck of it were that I loved the post-shave care (no shaving soap actually moisturises, at least according to our missing expert Henk, but MWF leaves my face noticeably softer than any other soap I've tried), and I enjoy the subtle aroma.
 
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