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I have been using Williams for many years because I didn't know that anything else was available until I heard of "Classic Shaving Soap" which I like better than Williams. I notice that a a lot of straight razor users like Tabac. Is it really worth the almost 3x the price of Williams?:confused:
Where can I get Tabac?
Hello...
I have a reversed problem... I've been using Tabac for 6 months now and recently got three pucks of Williams... I'm going to try one tonight and I'll tell you...:D
I tried to use a puck of williams.. I wanted it to be good... I really did.
Tabac is light years above Williams soaps.
Hello... I tried Williams... :D
Very good soap, I like the scent and everything, but it just doesn't provide all the glide that Tabac does...
I used to use Williams years ago when all you could get is what was in the drug store or supermarket and all they had was Williams. Best I can say for it is that it works.
Tabac is in a different league. And it really isn't expensive. See West Coast Shaving: $11+shipping and you get 4.4 ounces. Considering how long it lasts, cost is not really an issue.
If you really want cheap, I found that Burma Shave was noticeably better than Williams at about the same price but I think it is out of production.
I used Williams for about 20 years because like others said, it was all I ever saw in the drug store. Then one day I went into a fancy soap store looking for some stuff for my wife and bought some shaving soap off the sale rack. I've never used Williams since then. Given that each of my soap pucks last over 5 years, price is not the issue. The quality of the shave is the only factor that matters and just about any modern shaving soap works better than Williams.
Tabac is great! It performs just as well if not better than soaps priced much higher than it. Very easy to build lather with, nice scent, solid long lasting puck, lots of glide, and comes in a great fancy container.
How do you manage 5 years a puck?Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
You can get Tabac at Discount Perfume,Discount Cologne and Discount Fragrances at FragranceX.com (when it's in stock) for about $8, and if you use the code "free" on checkout, you get free worldwide shipping...best deal in town!
The Tabac costs 3x as much (which is still cheap), but will last 20x as long, and the enjoyment of shaving with it will be 100x better.
IMHO....;)
I've been meaning to do a write up about that. I'll have to entitle it something like "Cheap bastard lathering strategy." All of my pucks have lasted between 5 and 7 years. I didn't even realize that was unusual until I started reading this forum. I was kind of amazed at the amount of soap people were dumping down the drain by doing things like filling their soap bowl with water to soften the soap and then dumping that soap laden water down the drain. The way I do it ensures that the only soap going down the drain has first been on my face. The rest of it stays in the bowl for another day.Quote:
Originally Posted by JMS
In a nutshell, I load my brush from a soap bowl and build my lather in a separate bowl like lots of other people do. I assume the difference for me is that after shaving I just leave the left over lather in the bowl and also scrape lather left on the brush back into the bowl when I'm done shaving. The lather dries out in the bowl and waits for another day's shave. Over time I get an accumulation of lather residue in the bowl which is used up by loading less and less from the soap bowl. Some days I don't load the brush from the soap bowl at all, I just build the lather from the residue in the bowl.
If anyone decides to try my cheap bastard method, then I apologize to those members who sell shaving soap!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
You cheap, brilliant, bastard!
:rofl2:
Do you use different bowls to mix different soaps in, just wait until the residue's down to nothing or just use the one kind of soap? Or some other way. I had a friend whose father used to refer such "Cheap bastard strategies", "Good housewifery". If he's reading this thread, I guarantee he's rubbing his hands together in glee.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
Well, until joining this forum, I never felt the need to be using more than one soap at a time.:D Because of undue pressure from this forum, I have had to try several soaps, including Tabac. I do use only a single bowl, following the cheap bastard strategy. I've never considered the mixing of soaps to be a problem, though others might have a different opinion. Most of the time, I'll stick with a single soap for a week or two and use up most of the residue in the bowl before transitioning to a new soap. Other times, if the mood strikes me, I'll use a different one each day. I guess that way I get to experiment with lots of permutations, thereby multiplying the total soap options!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
He's gone mad! Tabac in the same bowl as QED Rose? Irish Moos with C&S 88? It's like the Island of Dr Moreau. The horror, the horror!
Somebody stop him before he lathers again!
You don't splash some water on your soap puck to loosen it up before caking the brush for lathering? I am going to try this, I want to be a cheap bastard!
EDIT: I Think I see what you mean, I misread. I need to figure out a way to save the lather since I face lather. Maybe just put it back on the puck?
Didn't try it this morning but tomorrow, my cheaper side is going to be given a run out. Thanks again for this idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
Loving those literary references here, Seraphim:rofl2:.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim
I've read The Island of Dr. Moreau. I'm not sure it reaches the category of "literary!"
I didn't read the book, and only saw parts of the movie...:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
I haven't read the book or seen even parts of any of the movies, but I did like it's appearance in Part 2 of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (not the movie which I don't believe ever got made but the comic). H. G. Wells counts as 'literary' though doesn't he (even if he was a bit of a pessimistic cove)?Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim
Sidles off stage left towards bathroom bent on conducting strange and ultimately doomed hybrid experiments with soap lather.
I want to be a cheap pessimistic literary bastard, I do I do I do ... my poor innocent pucks, little do they know the fiendish experiments soon to be performed on them. :D
Dr. Richeau
I use the shaving soap the I purchase from my barber. I also purchased an Omega long hair brush several years ago and a shaving mug. It is the same setup that he uses, except for the shavette. As of tomorrow I will be on the learning curve for shaving with a SR.
-Jim
I should have been more clear in this. I do put about a teaspoon of water in the soap bowl and let it sit there while my brush is soaking and while I am putting in my contacts. Then I pour the water from the soap bowl into the lather bowl, shake the water out of my brush, swirl my brush for a couple seconds in the soap bowl, and then build the lather in the lather brush. Therefore, I do use a little water to soften my soap but that soapy water is poured into the lather bowl, not down the drain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Disburden
All these days I have been wondering what to do with all the leather on my brush.....thanks a lot for the tip cheap bastard.....or cheap bastard tip....
My only problem is that I just bought two pucks....that means 14 years of soap......wooooow
Well, like all the great informercials say, "your results may vary!"Quote:
Originally Posted by vulcano
Ha! With the stash of soap I have here one could shave all the attendees to my funeral using a 7-year lifetime for a puck. :)
I did try it by the way, lathered up some Harris Marlborough yesterday evening (just trying out some stuff, not even shaving with it ;)) and had about half left and let it dry in the mug to shave this morning by adding just a tiny bit and a splash of water. Worked well, but since I rotate the soaps on a daily basis almost, I won't use the method very much. :)
Well I did not start with the "cheap bastard" lather saving method but developed something similar to it. I lather directly on my puck off a few brush fulls of hot water and also took to squeezing all that lather back into the bowl to dry out for the next shave I started this probably in January and wowee does it save a bunch of soap. I dunno about lasting 5 years for me but I've just recently run out of the puck of Williams I purchased in November... 5 months off a puck of Williams?
Dont rinse your face!!!.. that's it... leave the lather on your face and let it dry so you can use it the next day..:roflmao:roflmao:rofl2::roflmaoQuote:
Originally Posted by Disburden
Maarten
Edit: I'm dutch so I feel I'm entitled to make jokes about being cheap..:rofl2:
Funny...I used a little bit different cheap bastard method, but it has more to do with my lathering preference than trying to save money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
I do not soak my brushes, since I've been told you could ruin your brush (I have one with an unfinished wooden handle and I also don't want to risk dissolving the adhesive on any of my brushes). I've also found that when I soak my brush my lather tends to be too watery even if I fling it out so I have to adjust it adding extra soap. So I just rinse the brush under really hot water making sure to only get the bristles, then I fling a good amount of water out of the brush so I've only got a bit in it. Without adding any water to the soap (and I don't soak the soap at all either) I then use a three-finger pinch on my bristles to give it some stiffness while I load my soap up. Then, when I move over to my lather bowl, that's when I start to slowly build up my lather and add minute amounts of hot water. I find it easier to get that perfect lather that way even with those soaps that tend to be difficult. Maybe if I mix your cheap bastard ways with my picky lathering ways we'll have something!:beer1:
CBS reminds me of a TV network I no longer watch.
I pour tons of soap down the drain. I pay way too much for Institut Kerite French Shaving Soap and high cost of shipping.
I don't care. When I was a young boy just starting to shave I use to lay awake at night in that shack up in the north east hill of Alabama and dream about the day I would leave the hills, go to Birmingham and get a big job and be able to waste all the soap I wanted.
I'm living the dream and no one can take it away from me.
Waste soap - you deserve a little luxury and don't let anyone stand in your way.