Thread: Williams Shaving Soap 40 years Later

All this talk in that one Williams thread got me thinking. I resolved to get a puck and give it a go. I had tried a puck of it when I first started using a shaving brush in the early '70s. I couldn't remember how I liked it then, but since I had quit using it, I assumed I must have disliked it. I read where many say it ain't what it used to be and @ $1.77 a puck I wasn't too hopeful.

I finally remembered to grab a puck when I was at my local pharmacy. Now as long as I've been fooling with this sport I've never been completely satisfied with my overall lathering ability. It seems I can get great lather off of some pucks and not others. I've never met a cream that I couldn't generate good lather with, glycerin soaps are fine too, but triple milled stuff, that everyone raves about, seem to be my nemesis.

I doubt if Williams is triple milled, but anyway ....... I put the water on the puck, did other stuff for the requisite 5 minutes and went at it with my cold water and a Simpson Manchurian Polo 10. When I tell you that the lather I generated was as good as any I've ever had from any soap I've encountered I'm not fibbing. So good that I went out and bought another puck. This is not 'old stock' but the current crop of Williams soap.

For slickness and cushion ..... ease of generating lather the stuff was first rate IME. So I am another convert to the Williams fan club and will be continuing to use that in my current soap rotation. Thanks to all of the guys who've posted positive feedback on it that stimulated me to rediscover it.

That took guts, Jimmy! Attaboy!

Ya know, I have about 3 pucks sitting in my shave cabinet at the moment. The first and only time I used it was pretty much so-so and I attribute that to just learning how to build lather with that particular brand. The only thing I did notice was that the lather seemed to dry pretty quick, but other than that I'm gonna keep all three pucks. Plus, I love the scent, too!

A lot of folks slam Van der Hagen as well, but it's usually my go to soap. I have been using the Luxury soap with scent since I began using a straight, and use it frequently still. Just last night, I worked up a lather with the Deluxe VDH soap, which is the two-buck-chuck of the VDH soaps. SWMBO asked me to shave her legs with the straight I'd bought for her to try. She said she had no irritation as I shaved, and from what I could tell the lather was nice and slick, and it was, visually at least, some of the best I've whipped up.

At what point there did you wake up from your dream?

Har har.

I am glad it works for somebody but I have thrown away 2 pucks because of dissatisfaction. This is the only shave soap that I have done this to. I do have 2 sticks of Williams that I enjoy, one being very, very old and one being recent but never sold in North America that I know of. Both these sticks put the current Williams puck soap to shame.

Bob

I have Williams I picked up at the local pharmacy. I don't use it super often but it has its own mug and sits there waiting. I don't have tons of facial hair and its not coarse on top of that, so I warm it up, whip it around for a bit and apply. I think its foamy and I like lather a little dryer that what I got but it was not unpleasant. Good bang for the buck, I think.

Someone once posted that grating up a William's puck and reforming it in a mug greatly enhances ones ability to generate a very good lather.

I grabbed two pucks of Williams many moons ago and gave it a try a couple of months ago - was great, still have the one puck sitting in a metal soap dish! When I saw the Williams, I grabbed two and thought the cashier made a mistake when it was under $5!!

I've had no problems with it and use it about once every two weeks! For the price you can't go wrong!

I've always had a puck of Williams sitting in one of my mugs on my bathroom counter. I use it regularly, and find it quite satisfactory....I like it! It's also great for the occasional cleaning of a strop. I find that it doesn't have any excess of perfumes and scents like so many others, which often cause me a degree of skin irritation, and obviously you can't beat the price.

I like to use it with about 5-6 drops of glycerine and a daub of Shea butter in a shaving bowl. Makes GREAT lather!

Indeed, the Williams fan club has an untold number of members. Mine sits next to my other soaps and creams, mostly unused except for maybe a couple times a year. The day someone posts (with complete honesty) that Williams can go head to head with MdC perhaps I'll join the club.

I guess the good stuff does spoil you....