Thread: Williams mug soap

I was looking at my local cvs to see if they had anything pertaining to straight razor shaving and the only thing they had was williams mug soap. There were like 4 left so i picked them up ($1.35 a pop) I figured it was cheap so what the hell. Does anyone know if Williams was a good brand, on the label it says since 1840 and they are known for lather, but i figured i would come here and see what you guys have heard.

Here is there website
http://www.williamsmugsoap.com/

I like William's Mug Soap. It works
quite well for me. I'm sure others
will respond saying just the opposite.



Terry

I think this is nearly everybody's first soap. It's a pretty good soap and lasts forever (ok, 6-12 months), but is prone to drying out on your face. To counteract this you have to make sure to use enough water and lather it up pretty thick. It works better if you lather it up on your face, if you need to add water then dip the brush tip into the sink and return to lathering until it's thick and wet. There is some trial and error involved here, but the soap is very cheap and lasts a long time so don't be afraid to spend 15 minutes or so making lather after lather until you get it dialed in.

I don't use it much anymore, but I used it for a few weeks last christmas and was quite pleased with it. It's not the best out there but it rarely disappoints once you figure out how to make it work. My only issue with it is I'm not in love with the citronella aroma.

I'll be that guy.

I've tried Williams, and it hasn't worked well for me so far. I haven't given up on it, though; I recently bought another cake to try at some point.

I found that it tended to dry out too quickly, but I may just need to add more water. If it's been around this long, I'm sure it works. I just haven't figured out how to work it yet.

Josh

yea thats why i bought it, 1840? how many things are sold in cvs from 1840 lol. I am suprised to hear that it dries quick because on the box it says famous for their lather and does not dry on face, but i guess thats what all shave soaps probably say on the box

Oh by the way josh i may be sending you my blade to be honed since that place by my house sounded like they never heard of a straight razor before, but maybe next week

I used William's for maybe 25 years and I always thought it was a good soap. It's cheap and you can find it everywhere. If you use enough water it won't dry on your face too quickly.

I recently made the switch to Colleen's soaps and I think they are much better.

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.

Originally Posted by ironmikeko3

Oh by the way josh i may be sending you my blade to be honed since that place by my house sounded like they never heard of a straight razor before, but maybe next week

Good deal. Just PM me when you're ready and I'll give you my mailing address.

I have another member sending me his razors after he took them to a knife shop, so I was hoping to save you that intermediate step.

Josh

I bought a cake out of curiosity. It's not as good as Colleen's stuff but it's better than most other soaps I've tried. Great bang for the buck. Just make sure you use a stiff-bristled brush with it.

Is a badger hair softer than boars hair? and would you suggest using the boar if does have stronger bristles? or is there badger hairs with harder bristles? The badger one i have is pretty soft, but i also got all of my first straight razor shaving equipment (razor,strop,brush,soap) like 2 days ago