Thread: Is Williams a lost cause?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I like it. A bit of water on the puck (I shave cold BTW) and I putter around for a few minutes. Come back to my brush, bristles soaking in a scuttle (cold) and shake the excess, swirl 40 or so times (20 each way) and face lather. So far so good. YMMV.

+1 exactly only warm water. And I dump excess off puck too. So it works both ways. Thanks Jimmy.

A little late to the game here, but for several years I had williams soap and couldn't get anything decent out of it.

Last year, I forced myself to use it in a mug for two weeks with nothing else, and for lack of a better way to put it, I can get a very good lather out of it just because in two weeks I learned to out of no choice to do anything else*

It helps, and I know a lot of you guys don't like to do this, but it helps a whole lot with williams to have a brush that you can leave lather in. It's a hard soap and doesn't yield much soap, and aside from the quality of the soap itself being a little cheap, that's really where people are behind.

I shaved with it today, no problems. I make my brush medium wet, like what you'd flick off, and then put that in the mug to dig out some lather and that's it.





* the soap itself makes a dryish feeling lather, even if it's got plenty of moisture it has a sort of thin and not very lubricating feeling, but with a properly sharpened razor, there is no harshness left after the shave. If one is to use a very slick soap to cover up an edge that is a bit harsh, williams is not the soap for that.

I have been leaving soap in my brushes for several years now and with no ill effect to any brush. It remains the case that no brush that I have can't be easily washed out if needed, and none have dropped hairs or anything, despite the fact that I store some hanging and some sitting up. I started leaving soap in my brush because it was stinking after a couple of weeks of daily shaving. Leave a soap that has a preservative in the brush, and all of the sudden, no stink can grow in it. Now with 3 brushes, I just use each one a couple of days so that each brush gets a chance to dry out without me having to dry it out, and in the off cycle each brush dries completely - not all of my soaps have preservatives in them, and I think williams might be one that allows the stink to form if it's left in a brush.

No, I won't dispute that you can get a usable shaving lather from Williams. I don't leave soap on my brush nor do I cover Williams with water prior to loading my damp brush. It is just that it take a lot more effort to get a lather that for the most part is not as good as what you can more easily get from an Arko or Palmolive shave stick at only a few dollars more in cost. Spending those extra few dollars is more than worth it for ease of lather-ability and much better lather. I mean even an Ivory bath soap bar will work but do you want to use it on a regular basis?

Bob

+1 BobH

I did a pre-lather with Williams this morning. I formed the lather as if it would be used to shave.

It took a bit (well, a lot longer than VDH) but it did lather well. I let it sit for a while and the Williams did not start to dry until minute 4. Plenty of time to shave.

Probably a detailed thread here but I went and bought some this morning. I am not sure if it's the water, brush, or technique but I had NO problem lathering up in less than a minute and it was a GREAT shave. No drying out or disappearing. I just don't know the difference in what I do but its never been a problem for me. I'll take it though.

Keep going with it, it's bubblier on the surface, just like a bar of ivory bath soap. It will get a little smoother on the surface and tired over time. But, I'm one of the people in the camp that it lathers for me as well as anything else, unless I wash my brush out, and then I think it really boils down to being a matter of the soap not transferring to a brush very efficiently (so it's an issue not of the soap not being able to lather, but an issue of not enough soap because it doesn't come loose from the cake that easily).

Of course, the lather is a bit dry feeling, but it's perfectly serviceable, and if someone is getting a rough shave, it's because shaving with williams is like playing guitar without reverb. it's still soap, but it offers no extra assist.

Originally Posted by BobH

No, I won't dispute that you can get a usable shaving lather from Williams. I don't leave soap on my brush nor do I cover Williams with water prior to loading my damp brush. It is just that it take a lot more effort to get a lather that for the most part is not as good as what you can more easily get from an Arko or Palmolive shave stick at only a few dollars more in cost. Spending those extra few dollars is more than worth it for ease of lather-ability and much better lather. I mean even an Ivory bath soap bar will work but do you want to use it on a regular basis?

Bob

I can't argue about the dollars thing. My back and forth is Williams one day or two days or three (whatever I feel like) and then MDC for one day or two days or three, and then back to williams. I have other soaps and creams that I use sometimes, but mostly those two. They are quite a contrast!! My refusal to wash a brush out makes MDC last a VERY long time. I've probably shaved 100 shaves with my MDC and I've used less than a quarter of the container.

Now that the dollar is up, that's a good reminder to head over to their site, navigate my way through the white flags, and get another jar of it before the exchange rate is crappy again.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I can't argue about the dollars thing. My back and forth is Williams one day or two days or three (whatever I feel like) and then MDC for one day or two days or three, and then back to williams. I have other soaps and creams that I use sometimes, but mostly those two. They are quite a contrast!! My refusal to wash a brush out makes MDC last a VERY long time. I've probably shaved 100 shaves with my MDC and I've used less than a quarter of the container.

Now that the dollar is up, that's a good reminder to head over to their site, navigate my way through the white flags, and get another jar of it before the exchange rate is crappy again.

Funny, you just mentioned two soaps that, only in my opinion, are not really worth it for the same reason, cost too much for what they do. As always it is a case of YMMV with all things shave related.

Bob

MDC seems more like a dry cream to me (which isn't a surprise looking at the ingredients). I like it, though. It goes as far as four or five tubes of cream (maybe more).

I haven't bought soap in several years because of my thrift with the brush, but I generally stay on the cheap side other than that. Most soaps to me don't make a lot of sense given the price, but I can't think of a soap as nice as MDC that's cheap. The real problem with MDC, though, isn't the price, it's that they ship it international air. Otherwise, it'd be comparable in price per shave to an inexpensive cream, and it gives the same kind of slick lather that a cream does and lathers about as fast.

I'll go check. Last time I bought MDC, half a pound of it was $35, and the shipping was another $28 or something.

I can't see that there's any hope of getting it retailed over here, though. A retailer would just charge a margin that was all or a large part of the shipping cost.

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

So after unsuccessfully creating a lather on more then one occasion with my Williams mug soap , i`ve been watching some videos and putting in some time reading through posts with others opinions on the matter. I`ve come to that point in my life where i`m thinking of tossing it out. I don`t generally toss shaving equipment out unless it really sucks. I really want to like William`s because it`s cheap as anything even in Canada but if it doesn`t work and provide a comfortable shave why should I keep it?

I read Disburden`s post on unlocking the secret to William`s and even after using his method i still failed to achieve any lasting lather. It was still all airy and bubbly and i`d been working on it for about 5 minutes, let alone when i put it to my face it disappeared within 20 seconds. Should I keep playing around with it or toss it? I want some opinions.

Also I want an everyday soap as the soap i really love is 20 USD per tub which if I factor in conversion and shipping it works out to about 40 bucks so i`m saving my last tub. I thought that my everyday soap could be William`s but unless something changes i`m going to have to find another soap. I like soap pucks... Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Guys.

Stop torturing yourself!

The current makers of Williams have taken a chicken salad that satisfied shavers for over 150 years and made it into chicken dung. Way to go Combe!

Get a good soap. You owe it to yourself!