What am I doing wrong? Wool Fat.... New to DE

I just used my MWF this evening.
Had no issues, didn't bowl lather, just loaded and face leathered.
I had a lovely shave, no issues with the soap. I live in an area that has hard water, not hard enough that my coffee starts to develop a cataract on the surface, but enough to cause a decent amount of crust in the kettle.
I love the soap at the moment.
What type of brush? Also take it not a lot of water?
 
What type of brush? Also take it not a lot of water?
I used a 'Body Shop' synthetic brush, ran it under the tap for a few seconds. Gave it a shake. Gave it a good few circles over the 'FAT' and hey presto creamy lather... Just sprinkled some extra water on my brush with my finger tips and applied to my face.
 
Heres my effort, I'm also a newbie so still trying to perfect MWF.

Razorock Synthetic, semi wet brush, 60 seconds in the puck, puck dampened but not left to bloom, bowl lather. Adding a few drops of water to the bowl, maybe half a teaspoon in total?20200203_185432.jpg
 
Heres my effort, I'm also a newbie so still trying to perfect MWF.

Razorock Synthetic, semi wet brush, 60 seconds in the puck, puck dampened but not left to bloom, bowl lather. Adding a few drops of water to the bowl, maybe half a teaspoon in total?View attachment 51112

And whats this like on your face? To me that looks like what I can achieve on the brush/in the bowl, however it doesn't make the thick almost yoghurt like cloud on peoples faces that I watch on youtube.

I think my problem is just too much water, I will be shaving tonight so will try again!
 
Well guys I think I've cracked it! (Not without the advice given here).

just had a shave, and OH MY this was the best shave I have had in my life and by far my best DE shave yet.

Hot shower, boar brush on soak, MWF untouched. Now, boar brush out, sqeezue out basically all of the water, give it a shake and load MWF for 30 secs. No soaking the soap or even dripping water on the top. Now I had a good ‘paste well into the brush', I proceeded to whip it up in the bowl for about a minute, ONLY adding a few drops of water from my fingertips twice. And here's the lather.

5F8734C0-BA38-4483-B78F-4820589CC56C.jpeg

Brushed onto face on top of some Proraso green pre shave cream, it stayed on my face until the razor went over, lovely and slick, more than enough for 2 passes and a touch up!

Finish off with a cold water rinse, then a splash of Proraso green, followed by Proraso liquid cream balm.

I feel like a new man.

I'm a lot happier now guys, thanks all, it's just going to be a case of honing the MWF lathering down to a fine art now. But I think I've got it!
 
Well guys I think I've cracked it! (Not without the advice given here).

just had a shave, and OH MY this was the best shave I have had in my life and by far my best DE shave yet.

Hot shower, boar brush on soak, MWF untouched. Now, boar brush out, sqeezue out basically all of the water, give it a shake and load MWF for 30 secs. No soaking the soap or even dripping water on the top. Now I had a good ‘paste well into the brush', I proceeded to whip it up in the bowl for about a minute, ONLY adding a few drops of water from my fingertips twice. And here's the lather.

View attachment 51123

Brushed onto face on top of some Proraso green pre shave cream, it stayed on my face until the razor went over, lovely and slick, more than enough for 2 passes and a touch up!

Finish off with a cold water rinse, then a splash of Proraso green, followed by Proraso liquid cream balm.

I feel like a new man.

I'm a lot happier now guys, thanks all, it's just going to be a case of honing the MWF lathering down to a fine art now. But I think I've got it!

(that's) looking better. The loading of the brush as suggested helps yeah. As you say getting the ratio of soap to water will improve things more.

I think when discussing lather ability people sometimes confuse quantity with quality. I can create tonnes of ‘lather' from MWF easily but not tonnes of quality thick yogurty lather. I guess what some consider nice lather I consider airy, foamy and thin.
 
(that's) looking better. The loading of the brush as suggested helps yeah. As you say getting the ratio of soap to water will improve things more.

I think when discussing lather ability people sometimes confuse quantity with quality. I can create tonnes of ‘lather' from MWF easily but not tonnes of quality thick yogurty lather. I guess what some consider nice lather I consider airy, foamy and thin.

Everythings subjective like you say. But at least I got this one to the point where it served as a super slick coating on my face that didn't disappear before it served its purpose. The post shave supple state that MWF leaves my face in is just great. I used Taylor's coconut shaving cream last time and my face felt irritated and dry in comparison, nice cream but nowhere near as slick or moisturising as MWF.
 
lathertest.jpg
To any newbie I would suggest: Get some Palmolive shaving cream and maybe a puck of Haslinger or similar easy to lather soap and work with these until you feel like a master barber.
 
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Hi all, new here and new to DE shaving as well. About 2 weeks in, started when I saw a Wilkson Sword classic in Tesco's with the wilkinson soap and brush etc...

Had a couple of shaves with that and really enjoyed the smooth shave, and 'man time' experience. So I done some research and splashed out on a Merkur 34c, some nice blades, an expensive Parker silver tip badger brush and some Mitchells Wool Fat soap. (And a lot of Proraso after shave+liquid creme....).

Now no matter how many videos I watch, guides I read... I cannot produce the thick mountainous cloud of lather on my face. No amount of soaking the soap, loading, swirling, bit more water, bit less water etc seems to make a difference.

I have read that its not the easiest soap to lather, I am in a very hard water area as well.... But surely there is a way to get this right?

Out of curiousity I tried a regular Proraso boar brush this evening, new out of box, just a quick soak, and loading then working the wool fat with this much stiffer brush was producing a different, almost creamy like consistency immediately.... Not great but I think the brush needs a good long soak and few goes to break in. Does this soap need a stiff brush?

Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the best shaves I have ever had... However my wool fat lather is weak compared to all the videos I watch, and it quickly dissapears from my face.

Any advice?
Hi,
I have been using wool fat for the last few years. It's a good soap to use, and creates a lovely lather.
I have a pick in an enamelled mug which is just the right diameter for the soap. I warm it in a sink of hot water along with my brush and Gillette fatboy de razor whilst applying preshave oil.
I then shake most of the water off the brush and then whip up the lather. I keep going until there are no small air bubbles. If it is not wet enough I sprinkle a few drops of water with my fingers.
 
Well my last 3 shaves have been with Taylor of old Bond Street coconut cream and I must say it's so easy and an absolute pleasure to use direct brush to face and lathers in seconds.

But I must come back to the Wool Fat and get to grips with it as I want to experience what all the praise it receives is about. I shall attempt in a couple of days.
 
You can foam with a salad bowl with a blue piece glued to the bottom with two component EPOXI glue.

YAQI Rainbow synthetic hair brush. Knot 26

Soap: PRORASO mix (white sensitive skin) with LA TOJA stick.

The MWF can be mixed with another easier 50% Foamed soap.

PRORASO shaving creams foam well and combine well with MWF (mild fragrance).

THE RED PRORASO adds a fragrance to Sandalwood.

The GREEN PRORASO adds a mentholated touch.


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So had a shave this evening with 1 days growth (which I don't usually do but hey ho)... I used the MWF in the bowl with boar brush, soaked both during my shower, loaded up real good and got a good peaky lather with really small of any bubbles and applied it to face. It was good, stuck there and provided a nice slick shave.

It does the job don't get me wrong, but it doesn't produce the sort of ultra thick white cream like lather that say Taylor's cocunut cream does in 5 secs flat.

Am I expecting too much from this hard ass ancient soap? Is what I have got now as good as it gets? I mean at the end of the day all this ‘cloud chasing' as I'm going to call it doesn't actually equate to performance as a shaving lubricant for the blade does it? All it's got to do is provide a slick surface that doesn't disappear before you shave and whether it looks like whipped yoghurt or a light foam doesn't actually matter?
 
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