Thread: Vintage Williams shave

Tried out the vintage Williams this morning. It was definitely past it's best by date but I knew that going in. The test palm lathering I had done was a bit deceiving turns out too. When face lathered the lather was not as thick as in the test palm lathering. Also had to load for a long time adding water as I went. I don't think that would have been the case with a fresher puck. Regardless of that the lather was much slicker than the modern Williams.

The shave was done using a Muhle R41 2013 version and a Gillette Silver Blue blade with a few shaves on it. The razor just glided along nicely because the vintage Williams still retained good slickness even though the lather was thin. The end result was an excellent shave with very little sting from the deodorant ammonium alum I used post shave. I still think the vintage works better than the modern.

Bob

Hey Bob, but do you think that the "modern" Williams shave puck is still worth buying ?

Originally Posted by bongo

Hey Bob, but do you think that the "modern" Williams shave puck is still worth buying ?

Pesrsonally, no I don't think it is worth buying especially if you have to grate and add glycerin to it to make it work. Oth it is so cheap that if you don't like it you can just pitch in the trash without shedding too many tears. Quite a few people do like it also.

For not much more cost I vastly prefer the performance of the Arko shave stick which quite easily molds into a bowl for use if you want to use it that way. It has the drawback that quite a few people do not like the strong lemon scent. Fortunately I get long with the scent just fine.

Bob

I totally agree with Bob.
The old Williams is a good soap. The Arko is better.
The new Williams is best suited for a DMT lube.

A lot of stores no longer carry Williams. This was THE puck soap for a long, long time. I blame the internet for its demise.

Why buy a inferior soap when you can go to SRD and choose from a vast number of quality soaps?

One last comment on the vintage Williams I have. It was so dried out that I covered it with cold water over night plus really hit it with peppermint EO. Just poured the water off, lathered up for a quick 2 pass shave to see how it lathered. Hugely better than the first time.

So if you are having trouble making lather with your vintage puck because it is drier than a pop corn fart, try hydrating it over night. Also if it lacks scent, try adding some EO of your choice to the hydrating water too. That should give you some scent to your liking.

Bob