MWF conclusion

If I recall there was a MWF megathread about a year ago regarding the same issue someone was having. I'm too tired to look it up now. Maybe later. I think that poster gave up and committed suicide. :whistle: ;)
 
Some Kent Luxury arrived today before I'd shaved, just in time to try it out.

To give you an idea how I got on, at one point I wiped some lather off my hand onto my chin and a long horizontal plume just stuck there, motionless, jutting out an inch or two. Impressive! If a block of lard had relations with a cumulus cloud this is what their offspring would be like.

I think I'm in the fat camp :)

The puck was scrubbed into my wet face, like a stick. The puck seemed to dry out very quickly so I had to keep adding a little water, then some more, and so on.

Next the brush. I had no problem whipping up thick, creamy cumulus clouds, pausing now and then to add a little water. Very nice. Beginner's luck, I guess.

After that things went downhill. I added a big splash of water instead of a few drops and it thinned out quite a bit. The lather did not last long on my face. Easy to fix though. A rub of soap, a splash of water, a whirl with the brush and it's back. Not perfect, but good enough.

I'd still call this a successful, well-lubricated shave. Even if I failed to lather it up optimally, it felt pretty slick.

It sounds like a lot of people have problems because a hard soap like this doesn't come off the puck easily. Using it as a stick might help with that. I could feel a goo forming on the soap as I rubbed it into my face. I suspect the warmth from my skin, along with a little splash of water, melts a layer on the surface of the puck which then gets transferred to the face. Then it goes dry, add another splash of water, etc etc.

Even if you manage to get a good amount of soap off the puck, you can still mess it up by adding too much water. I'll be more careful next time.
 
Update.. although I can get what seems to be a nice, creamy lather fairly easily it doesn't last long enough to do even half a shave. If I wet my face a little and smack the brush around it does come back so I'm still getting a nicely-lubricated shave.

I'd guess I need to spend more time lathering. Maybe I'll try working it up in a bowl next.
 
Finally.. a lather that lasted for a whole shave!

I think my problem was that I wasn't loading the brush nearly enough. Either that or my brush was far too wet, contributing to the weak lather. Or maybe both.

So today I started loading with a damp (synthetic) brush with the water shaken out. A few drops of water on the puck, brush away, add a few drops more water when it dries out, more brushing, repeat a few times. I was trying to add the absolute minimum amount amount of water so I wasn't diluting the soap too much right from the word go.

Success! I lathered up on my face, two or three times stopping to add further small amounts of water, and got a creamy, stable lather.

Not quite there though. It dried out before the end of the shave. Now I just need to crack the right amount of water to add.

Should also mention I'd previously soaked the puck until it was so soft you can push a finger into it. It took a few days to absorb it all.
 
NatJag said:
The guy in this video gives a really good way to lather MWF.
Click to expand...

Thanks. The relatively "dry" start seems to be important. It's interesting that my first time worked much better, when I used the puck as a shave stick. That gets the soap off the puck and onto your face in a fairly thick, dry layer ready for more water.

Also the video really helps to show how much water I need to add later :)
 
mcgruff said:
So far I've had about a dozen shaves with a DE, maybe half of them with MWF, and I've almost cracked it. If i can do it, anyone can :)
Click to expand...
I've got 8 or 9 soaps that just work without fail. The fat just isn't worth my time or effort. No denying it's good stuff when it works but I have better that works easily. Just buy Martin de Candre and call it a day. :LOL:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom