Thread: Mitchell's Wool Fat

Mitchell's Wool Fat is also produced under the Kent label.

From what I gathered it has been enhanced with extracts of lavender, pine, cloves, nutmeg, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla and musk and is based around patchouli. I don't know, for me it smells soapy.

It does an excellent job at moisturizing. No wonder. Wool fat aka lanolin is very good for the skin and the main ingredient of this soap. Some people are allergic to lanolin. In that case don't use this soap.

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In case you didn't know, lanolin s a greasy yellow substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals, with the vast majority of it used by humans coming from domestic sheep.

Lanolin's ability to act as a waterproofing wax aids sheep in shedding water from their coats. Certain breeds of sheep produce large amounts of lanolin, and the extraction can be performed by squeezing the sheep's harvested wool between rollers. Most or all of the lanolin is removed from wool when it is processed into textiles, such as yarn or felt.

- The emulsifying agent Eucerit in Nivea is made from lanolin, and is the key to NIVEA Creme's unique properties.
- The name given to the product 'Oil of Olay' is derived from the word "lanolin," a key ingredient, which was chosen by the inventor, Graham Wulff
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Many people have no problems lathering MWF, while others cannot get a decent lather. It is a bit tricky but it does work.

You can buy the soap in a fancy ceramic bowl, or just as a refill. The refill is affordable, the ceramic bowl, an investment. I have seen the bowl at some real bargain prices compared to the full retail price so shop around.

The soap performs like a champ. It provides enough cushioning, moisturizing and lather if you can get the ratio water/soap synchronized.

MWF is considered a top contender between the highly regarded shaving soaps. That's a fact.

Highly recommended.

I agree with Max, I love MWF. In addition to the shave soap. I bought bath bars and the smaller hand bars as well. It's great for bathing. I have a water softner, and it's a lather explosion. It smells great too....
It's wonderful for sensitive skin, very mild.

You can buy the Shave Soap, it's not that pricey. The nice glass scuttle it comes in can be, but you don't really need it. You can use anything that holds a puck of soap. I found little pyrex bowls w/ lids in target. They are great for shave soaps, the perfect size....

What they said.

I figured I'd add that at west coast shaving, the bowl and the soap together go for far less than any other place I've found. This should help those looking for the vessel as well as the soap to get it at a better rate:

Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap with Ceramic Bowl [SS-MWF-001] - $35.00 : West Coast Shaving, Double Edge Blade Sampler Packs

I am trying MWF soap for my sensitive skin. So far, so good, though I may prefer TGQ soaps. I admit I do have a hard time getting the perfect lather from MWF, and sometimes I find it dries out on my face before I am done with a shaving pass. Also, when the soap dries out after use, it leaves a very interesting crack pattern : )

Originally Posted by bromion

I am trying MWF soap for my sensitive skin. So far, so good, though I may prefer TGQ soaps. I admit I do have a hard time getting the perfect lather from MWF, and sometimes I find it dries out on my face before I am done with a shaving pass. Also, when the soap dries out after use, it leaves a very interesting crack pattern : )

It is a Water/Soap thing for you. I use MWF with great results. One of my fave soaps. I have many soaps/creams in rotation, and my MWF cracks too, If you have skin allergies or sensitive skin, I would think, give MWF another try. Scented soaps with EO's and FO's are eventually going to get you....With MWF, you can mix it in a scuttle with some Kiss my Face shave cream, one shot, and about 5 drops of Glycerin, you can buy both on Amazon. They will last you quite a while. You can do the Uber lather thing until you get the hang of the MWF...Kiss my Face is all natural and unscented, safe for you.

The drying out thing, I've witnessed this phenomenon myself with various soaps/creams. Many appear to have dried out on your face, when all they've done is lost there sheen. If you don't see skin poking through the lather, your ok. Feel it. does it feel slick, smooth, creamy?, then your OK!

I use MWF alot and I've only had problems the first time. Use just a little at a time until you get the proper consistency your looking for. And the heat of your water can affect it to. If it's scalding hot, your lather will dry out real quick with MWF. Heck, with most soaps it will! But you can't beat MWF for cushion, slickness and the scent is pretty good.

PACKAGING: I like the way the packaging is done on the box, and the ceramic bowl it comes with. I must say that packing is not that important to me, imho.
TEXTURE: Is very good. Thick and rich, depending on water amount, type {I have very hard water}, and temperature. I also noticed the cracking as the product dries out in the days to come. I also think it is a good idea to leave the lid off the MWF, to let it dry out.
LATHERABILITY: As I stated earlier, I have hard water anyway. So, I have to work at most my lathers. I found very little problem at all with the latherability. Actually, I thought MWF lathers very easy, and well.
CUSHION: I love the cushion that MWF provides! My Dovo Bergischer Lowe 5/8, slid across my face with the perfect of ease. Better than some of the uber-lathers I have mixed. MWF doesn't dry out fast either. Oh, I love the scent as well. Very nice scent imo, for something that is supposed to be un-scented.
MOISTURISING: Very, very awesome moisturising abilities. My face was very smooth and soft, my wife said. I can't believe how well MWF moisturises.
PRICE: When you see how little product you use, and how far it goes, as well as how good a product it is. It is a very good price, imo. Also the refill, is much cheaper than the first purchase with the awesome ceramic bowl. All said, very good price.

I've used this soap for roughly 50 shaves, and tried to accurately give my current impressions. This soap is very good

My routine with this soap is to put it in my shaving mug, then put my brush on top of the soap in the mug bristles down, and then place the mug in the shower while I wash. When I'm done, I shake the brush off, swirl it a few times on the soap, and then apply the brush to my face and lather away. Some moisture on the soap before attempting to lather helps.

Ease of lathering

I run MWF through this same routine, and it lathers up just as easily and as well as any glycerin soap I've tried. I've heard horror stories, so I'm pleasantly surprised.

Life span of lather

After lathering, I can dry off, got dressed, cook breakfast, go back for my shave and the lather is still moist on my face with about 75% remaining. This is a favorable comparison to other soaps I've used.

Moisturizing

For a soap, this performs very well in moisturizing. It isn't exactly like using skin lotion on my face, but it was close.

Lubrication

I don't see how the lubrication could be improved at all. A+. I suppose it could, but it would set a new standard for my experience. The lather lubes up my face better than Jimbo's experimental products and I don't think a buttered pig would be any more slippery to the touch.

How protective?

Protection? Well, I'm not sure what this means. It protects my skin from irritation (lubrication?) and it protects my skin from drying out (moisturizing) and it protects my skin from the razor (cushion?). I am surprised how well the razor can glide in this lather and yet how moisturizing the lather is at the same time. It is good

Scent

The scent is somewhat subtle, and stronger when lathering directly on my face. It vaguely reminds me of crisco shortening. I am a fan of plain soap smell and unscented, so anything that improves on that is a plus for me. Only a few scents I've ever tried are actually better than unscented.... I shall plug TGQ's cavendish black here

Price

MWF is a really good soap, but is it $20 / puck good? For the 4.5 oz or whatever it is, it's pushing it. It's still worth it I think, but if you're willing to sacrifice a little quality you can still get a great shave from a lot of other products for a lot less money.

Would you buy again?

If I run out, I am pretty sure I will get more.

A special editorial:
To the guy who says MWF is overhyped and overexpensive - I think I agree. It is not magical, and it is high-priced.

But he hype and price do not affect the quality of the product. It is a very good soap, and I think deserves a strong rating when compared head to head with other shaving soaps

It takes a few tries to figure out how to get this stuff to lather well, but once you get the right water to soap ratio, it it works great. Feels lovely on the skin and leaves your skin feeling smoothed and refreshed.

I love the clean smell of this soap. Nothing fancy, just a nice soap smell.

The ceramic dish (while expensive) is a great addition to the soap if you find you like it. Gives you top notch soap a top notch home.

This will always be stocked and regularly used for sure.