Thread: Williams ... so much for so little and All about Latherin.

First this was $18 for the entire pile.


I may be old but not as old as this brand.
Why is it still with us?

If I am lucky I can get a post or two in early...

My classic reason for Williams is to break in a boar bristle brush.
When well broken in a boar bristle brush will "lather" with the best of them.
Anyone that sells boar brushes might do well to sell a puck of Williams
with the advice that it teaches how to build a lather and will break in
a boar brush nicely.

EDIT: should be priced about $1.50 with other stuff.

OK so I bought a dozen pucks, what else did it teach me.

The first thing is how slippery Williams is. If it was not so inexpensive I would
never have thought to grab a puck and use it like a bar of soap. I did and the
most amazing thing I noticed was how slick my hands were and how clean my face
got.

So now my test a soap has an unwritten rule to use it like a bar of soap once or
twice. If nothing else to feel how slick it is. The body of a DE or the structure of
a Feather Artisan open blade razor needs the lubrication. Without slip/glide the
body will drag a bit and nicks and cuts happen. Yes a light touch minimizes this.

Now for "Latherin" with a hard soap. When breaking in a boar brush there is an opportunity to
explore the multitude of ways to lather with a shave soap.

The first hint is that shave soap is soap so wet you face and grab the soap and wash your face.
A days growth of whiskers for me will scrape burnt oatmeal from a pot, so naturally I can scrape
some soap from a hard puck of soap. Without enough soap there is not going to be a good lather.
I do not mean gobs of soap but enough.

So wash your face with Williams shave soap is soap and soap will clean skin oils from the
face and more importantly your whiskers. Clean of a oils whiskers will soften with water
and make the save so much gentler.

Lathering that billows of white stuff has a couple important qualities for shaving.
I mentioned lubrication and noted that water softens whiskers. It also keeps
the face moist but not too moist. It makes good tracks to see where you have shave
and not shaved.

Water in a lather is key and it needs to be added in ways that build a lather.

There is more than the too little, too much, just right three little bears lesson.

I have found that by starting a bit light on the water and after picking up enough soap to start
the next step is to add water bit by bit and build a lather. The same amount of water all at
the beginning makes an insipid bubbly mess that drools off my face. If I work the lather
and add water in dribbles I get tiny tight bubbles in my lather.

Lather, Bowl, face, palm.... what is best?
They all work.
First face lathering is my norm when traveling I bring a stick of shave soap. I wash my face and let my
whiskers scrub some soap from the stick and then with a modest amount of water
in my brush start building a lather. I work the lather and add dribble by dribble more
water to the brush and then to my face. The process scrubs oils from my face
and as I add water builds a denser but wet lather. If I miss any bit rubbing the stick
of soap on my face leaves shave soap where I need it.

Lathering in a bowl.
I most often build a lather in a bowl. My favorite bowl is a $2.97 plastic guacamole
bowl from the big box market. It is plastic and if dropped does not scatter sharp bits.
It has a smooth but dimpled surface that might help the lather build. Plastic does
not suck heat out of water so the lather is warmer. If you like warmer go with a tin
cup or scuttle. The tin cup can float in a bowl of hot water.

Lathering in a bowl again I add dribble by dribble of water and work the lather
I want a lather that rinses from the razor but does not fall off the razor and make a
mess. Too dry the lather does not rinse from the razor and too wet and the bathroom looks like a
four year old was playing.

Bowl lathering is my preference for breaking in a boar brush.

It helps to dribble a bit of water on the puck last time or the night before
to soften it, Do not store puck with water, air dry before putting it
up for more than a day or two.

Palm lathering, is an easy way to catch a dribble of water and build a lather.
Some days I rinse my hand and scold myself because the lather in my hand
is often better than the lather on the brush. It does allow feeling the face to
notice missed patches and feel the grain of the face.

Wash cloth lathering...
Heck why not.