Thread: Williams shave soap ????????????

I just had a shave and I tried a Williams shaving soap that my wife picked up for me at the supermarket for a surprise. I really got a shave that was worth what she paid for the soap...... 89 cents............

Oh boy, another Williams thread....

I bought a puck out of pure morbid curiosity a while ago, and (while I'm one of those who was able to lather it right away) I'd say it's barely my first choice before resorting to Ivory or Irish Spring handsoap! And that's if I lived on a desert island with nothing but a razor, Williams and Ivory....

The new williams soap sucks bad. The old stuff was a totally different formula and if you can find it, buyt it, its wonderful soap!

New guys think williams is always the same as it was back then, its not.

Originally Posted by Disburden

The new williams soap sucks bad. The old stuff was a totally different formula and if you can find it, buyt it, its wonderful soap!

New guys think williams is always the same as it was back then, its not.

I know from my limited experience with Williams that I was using the new formula, so yeah, it pretty much sucked. Both are tallow based (or sodium tallowate), so out of curiosity how was the old formula better?

We're all so spoiled from using the good stuff, aren't we?

maybe the old formula actually made a dense, stable lather and didnt have the slickness of sandpaper.

Most of us started with Williams or VDH or Surrey and then moved on. Certainly these products perform their function the same that a Yugo will take you where you want to go. The question is do you want to expand your soap horizons?

You know how in the reviews you can score from 0-10
To me Williams is a dead solid 6 as it gets all 5's except for price it gets the a 9...
Williams is also a great soap to learn how to make lather, because the simple fact is, if you can get a thick creamy lather from Williams everything else is simple
You should re-visit it in a year, as many peoples problems come from the fact that Williams drys faster then most Newbs can shave, so it isn't that the soap gets better, but you do LOL

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You know how in the reviews you can score from 0-10
To me Williams is a dead solid 6 as it gets all 5's except for price it gets the a 9...
Williams is also a great soap to learn how to make lather, because the simple fact is, if you can get a thick creamy lather from Williams everything else is simple
You should re-visit it in a year, as many peoples problems come from the fact that Williams drys faster then most Newbs can shave, so it isn't that the soap gets better, but you do LOL

+1
What he said: "if you can get a thick creamy lather from Williams everything else is simple "

And lathering takes practice so for 89cents ....
practice, practice, practice. Try it with a pea size
bit of Poroso and a cheep boar brush...

Originally Posted by MARKHOLLADAY

I just had a shave and I tried a Williams shaving soap that my wife picked up for me at the supermarket for a surprise. I really got a shave that was worth what she paid for the soap...... 89 cents............

Williams soap requires a LOOOT of water and whipping. Most of the soaps we all use take a sparing amount of water, but Williams needs lots. Also, it needs more and more vigorous whipping. It will produce an acceptable lather, but I don't think it's worth the trouble.

On the other hand, the Van Der Hagen soap sold at Walmart, Walgreens, CVS pharmacy, etc. for $2 a puck is surprisingly good in my experience. Way better than i expected for that price, and it comes in a reclosable plastic blister pack that is pretty good for travel.

I guess I’m either cheap or too stupid to appreciate the finer things but Williams always worked for me.

Try applying a translucent layer of generic Noxema to the shaving zone and then build the lather on your face.

Semper circa,
LG Roy