Williams mug soap

Does anybody have any tricks up their sleeve with Williams mug shaving soap? I'm pretty new to wet shaving and straight razors and I tried working up a lather with my Edwin Jagger badger brush in a bowl and what I got was disappointing to say the least. The technique I used was letting the brush soak in hot water for a few minutes, shook the excess water out, ran the brush around on the puck of soap and then went to try working a lather up in my bowl. What I got was a pathetic, thin film, HARDLY anything that could be called a lather.

You could leave some water on the puck for a minute or two, add 2 drops of glycerin or try another soap. I don't have any issues with Williams, although I like other creams better.

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Originally Posted by jbjohnson

Does anybody have any tricks up their sleeve with Williams mug shaving soap? I'm pretty new to wet shaving and straight razors and I tried working up a lather with my Edwin Jagger badger brush in a bowl and what I got was disappointing to say the least. The technique I used was letting the brush soak in hot water for a few minutes, shook the excess water out, ran the brush around on the puck of soap and then went to try working a lather up in my bowl. What I got was a pathetic, thin film, HARDLY anything that could be called a lather.

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Despite the parent company's denials, when Combe acquired Williams at the beginning of the century, they downgraded the formula to the point that it takes a lot of work to make it work. Beforehand, it was a great soap known for its slick lather.

Evidently, a decision was made to maintain the low price point rather than maintain the quality and charge the $5 or $10 it would probably now cost to produce it.

You can find on YouTube "tricks" to make modern Williams work.

Do yourself a favor and relocate the Williams puck to your shower for bathing, and buy a decent shaving soap that doesn't require effort to whip up a good, lasting lather. If you can't find any, PM me with your address and I'll send you soaps the fit this description.

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I've had good luck with the Williams by, like Bill said, leaving some water on the puck for a few, like 5, minutes, and then going at it. I also soak my brush but being a cold water shaver I don't do any of it with the hot. :gl:

Some people have had good success with lathering the current version of Williams shave soap. It is one of the very few soaps I have no use for the exact reasons you stated. I do have a Williams shave stick bought overseas several years ago and really enjoy it so I am not a Williams hater. I am positive the stick is not the same formula as the current puck. I would save myself the aggravation of trying to coax a decent lather out of the Williams and get one of the many decent soaps out there instead.

Bob

Williams is probably the archetype of THE basic soap. It works and that's about it. You can get a much better soap for a couple bucks more.

I use Williams occasionally and have found that it needs alot more water than other brands. And giving it a good soak before helps.

Grate your puck and press it into a bowl.
Soak the top for a few minutes before lathering.
Make lather - this will be thin and watery - use it as a base coat; put it on and rub it into the beard.
Now, do not re-wet your brush, just put it back in the bowl with lather while you rub the pre-lather into your skin.
Now re-whip the lather in the bowl. This should be very thick and good quality.
Apply as usual.

I usually soak it In warm water while I'm in the shower.. Dump the wAter and go at it.. Works well for the money

Dump most of the water but not all and leave your brush soaked. Build your lather on top of the puck the longer you work the puck the thicker it will get

Yes, you can get better soap by paying more, but I consider being able to lather with Williams a badge of honor.

Don't let your Puck dry our completely. If you don't use it daily find a bowl with a lid.

Warm water on the puck at least 5 minutes before shaving. Six drops of glycerin, and keep adding water until the lather explodes.

P.S.
Enjoy the scent!

I use Williams fairly often and it does take a bit more to lather than other soaps. I actually find that it performs best when one adds more water than normally used with other soaps and when paired with a really stiff boar brush. It's a cheap soap that likes to be used with a cheap brush.

At the risk of being accused of promoting someone's business, which is not my intention, I will tell you where I get soap that was created to be like Williams.

Prairie Creations

I am the one who initiated the thread about re-creating vintage Williams. I wanted to do it but didn't have the knowhow. Krissy at Prairie Creations took it as a challenge and made a soap with the ingredients copied off a box of vintage Williams, back in the day when you didn't have to work to get a great lasting lather. She has been selling it ever since. The referenced thread shows my face lathered with VINTAGE Williams. My first effort with her soap I didn't add enough water and the lather was too thick, but I have since learned to add more water and it does work like VINTAGE Williams and it comes in various scents and custom scents on request.

Notice though that she charges $8.00 a puck. One store where I live carries MODERN Williams and the price is 99 cents a puck. Obviously when push came to shove, the owners of the J.B. Williams Company had to make a choice between maintaining a low price point to keep it in stores 50 years after the canned goo replaced the mug and brush method of lathering up and maintaining a great soap at the cost associated with it.

I exchanged messages with Al of Al's Shaving Products about this very subject. He was approached by a store who wanted to carry his shaving cream, but only at a price point that was less than the actual cost in producing it. We more or less concluded that although the Williams ingredients were similar (big difference is that tallow is now the second ingredient now), they changed in proportion so that they could keep selling it for a low price. Al didn't want to compromise his product.

That's why I lost interest in making Williams work, because they made the wrong choice for me. I have used VINTAGE Williams and MODERN Williams is decidedly inferior in comparison. If they had maintained a product that works like the VINTAGE Williams works, I would have gladly paid the $5 to $10 a puck because I wanted to associated with a traditional American product that has been around for the majority of my country's existence. Sometimes I get tired of everything being imported because American businesses won't provide it, or they will provide it overseas and not domestically.

I always use Williams to face lather. I go right from the puck (in a cup) to my face. If your trying to build lather in a bowl or scuttle, Uber'ing is the answer. You'd need some Kiss my Face shave cream and Glycerin.

Your probably better off buying a better soap.