Thread: Williams mug soap

Originally Posted by ironmikeko3

Is a badger hair softer than boars hair?

Generally yes.

I use Boars hair mostly because it lasts me 2 years or better. For 5 bucks that's not bad. I tend to grind my brush into the soap and then slowly draw away as I'm building a lather. I'm rough on my brushes and can't see spending 30 bucks or more on a really nice brush just to wear it out in a year or 3.

Originally Posted by mparker762

It's not that it dries particularly quickly, it's that it holds a lot more water than most other shaving soaps for a given level of lather. So if you're used to using X amount of water with other soaps, with williams this will give you a dry lather. When you've got the water right your face will fairly well explode with lather.

I'll have to slop the water into the bowl then and see how this works. i've always had it dry way too fast on my face.

Williams goes on sale at the local Safeway every few months for $.75 a cake. I have enough Williams to last a while.

I use it more than any other soap. I keep a mug of Williams in the bathroom, right next to the piles of handmade soaps by Colleen, Sue, Sue, etc.. The Williams is my default choice unless I have a craving for one of the others. Not because it's better. Because it's basic. It gives me a foundation from which to appreciate the artistry of the custom soapmakers, the various creams, etc. The Williams helps keep me from becoming jaded.

Often I put a small dab of Palmolive cream or Kiss My Face cream on the Williams before lathering. That will increase the moisturizing somewhat.

I just bought my FIRST cake of Williams soap yesterday. I've used Barbershop or Surrey mostly in the past. Lately using C & E jojoba seashell bath soap melted down to fit in my Rubbermaid mug. I've been adding stuff on the cheap lately. I bought a porcelain on steel camp mug for the Williams (got both for around $2.50). Last week I bought a Tweezerman badger brush for $13, and last month a Burma Shave boar brush for $4.25. The Tweezerman shed like mad the first few days but is evening out; it only lost 2 hairs last night. The Burma Shave brush started VERY stiff but is getting softer with use. Neither come close to the Plisson pure badger I got around 20 yrs ago for $20. Getting back to topic, I LOVE the Williams soap! I loved the lather, and the smell of it. More importantly, my wife loved the smell of it. Lemon or citrus of some kind, isn't it?

Originally Posted by dennisthemenace

Getting back to topic, I LOVE the Williams soap! I loved the lather, and the smell of it. More importantly, my wife loved the smell of it. Lemon or citrus of some kind, isn't it?

Citronella. It's also a natural mosquito repellent, so it's also one of the main scents for mosquito sprays. I like the soap, I'm just not fond of the smell. I dose mine with a few drops of essential oil and put it in a ziplock for a few weeks so it absorbs the new aroma.

Originally Posted by FUD

I tend to grind my brush into the soap and then slowly draw away as I'm building a lather. I'm rough on my brushes and can't see spending 30 bucks or more on a really nice brush just to wear it out in a year or 3.

I do the same thing and my Rooney has lost 3 hairs over the last 9 months - 2 the first day and 1 about 4 months ago. Badger brushes can be pretty tough, though boars brushes are cheap enough that you can go through a lot of them before badger becomes cost effective.

The scent of Williams is a lemon verbena. And it makes a decent bath soap! There are a couple of tricks you can use with Williams to eliminate the "drying" factor. Add a small dollop of shaving cream to the mug before lathering. I normally use Palmolive Shaving Lather for this. You can also add a few drops of hair conditioner to help give the lather "body". If you live in an area with soft water or have your own water conditioner system, then you probably won't need to do anything. It's cheap enough that you can experiment with it.

RT

I used the Williams for a couple months but then decided to try some Col Conk soap and I am much happier with this stuff. Like everyone said the Williams soap dries fast but I also found that it dried the skin on my face out as well and found I needed to use some type of moisturizer afterwards. The Col Conk doesn't seem to dry on my face or to dry out my skin, but everyones skin is different I suppose.

Michael.

Williams was my introduction to wet shaving close to 30 years ago. My Grandpa used it all of his life. I have used a couple of other soaps in the last few months and have realized that in order to get them to the desired level of lather that I have had to back-off ont he amount of water used in comparison to williams. I had an enormous advantage in learning to use the williams because Grandpa showed me. He used a trac 2 and said that he had tried the caned shaving cream when it first came out, but it just didn't work as well as the soap. I have used soap and a brush most of my life. Now, since I have discovered straight razors, I am in heaven. I am sure that when the fascination of other soaps wears off, that I will buy another cake of williams and think about Grandpa and the first time I used soap and a brush.

Bottom line, it has been working quite well for generations, and if you use enough water it will work well for you too.

- Mike

I've been dabbing my brush in a little mango butter I bought a Big Lots for $2.50
and it really "softens" the Williams up.....or something.
Sort of like someone saying to add hair conditioner to it to add body.
Need to try Coleen's soaps.
Can someone rate Coleen's soaps and Williams on a 1-10 scale please?

need to get some "Cut Resistant Soap"

Thats me itching at my latest gash as it heals

On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate Colleen's soaps 12, maybe even a 13 She came up with the right formula to get a functional lather that will moisturize the hair, stay moist throughout the pass, give amazing glide and scents for every taste -- from feminine lavender/lime margarita to old school bay rum.