Thread: "Williams" mug shaving soap & Boar's Hair Shave Brush.

Bought my first ever shaving soap and shave brush at the local drugstore.
All that they had was "Williams" mug shaving soap and a Boars hair shave brush. Any thoughts on the quality of these two products??

Williams is great if it's used right otherwise it's a huge disapointment. Soak the soap and brush in hot water for at least two minutes then pour off the liquid, shake out the brush and lather. Keep spinning and add water if it's too dry. Better to add water than have the lather too moist and bubbly. It should be slick and rich, bubbly will dry out too quick. Many hate Williams but really it's great and they're just snobby about fancy english creams. It also helps if the puck fits properly and does'nt slip around. You can mill it into a container with a cheese grater and pack it tight with wax paper if need be. Milling also helps soften it and lets the moisture into the soap which is really important in getting it to lather right.

Originally Posted by AfterShaver

Williams is great if it's used right otherwise it's a huge disapointment. Soak the soap and brush in hot water for at least two minutes then pour off the liquid, shake out the brush and lather. Keep spinning and add water if it's too dry. Better to add water than have the lather too moist and bubbly. It should be slick and rich, bubbly will dry out too quick. Many hate Williams but really it's great and they're just snobby about fancy english creams. It also helps if the puck fits properly and does'nt slip around. You can mill it into a container with a cheese grater and pack it tight with wax paper if need be. Milling also helps soften it and lets the moisture into the soap which is really important in getting it to lather right.

This is exactly why some people go through their soap so quickly. If you follow this regimen, most of your soap will go down the drain without ever touching your face. This waste is unnecessary. You can either build the lather in the mug containing the soap, in a separate lathering bowl, or on your face. In any case, there is no need to pour soap down the drain.

Yes, put a small amount of water on top of the puck to soak for a while. Soak the brush in water as well. If you are building in the soap mug, leave the water on the puck and start swirling. If you are building on your face, after you've swirled on the soap for a while, switch to building on your face. If you are building in another mug, pour the soapy water into the lathering bowl, swirl the brush in the soap bowl for a few seconds to load the brush, then build the lather in the lathering bowl.

Williams shave soap is not fancy but I used it for years and it works just fine. Just like with any other soap, you have to make adjustments as you build the lather and the key is to know how much water to add without adding too much. You accomplish this by adding small amounts a little at a time. Mantic59 on YouTube has a great video on the nuances of building lather. If you pay attention to that video, you can build good lather with Williams.

How to build and apply traditional shaving lather.

Like Ron, I used Williams for years,before I knew about SRP and other options.
Williams is a fine soap for the price and like everything else in life you have to learn how to use it. I will drizzle hot water from the brush onto the cake of soap, flick the excess water from the brush and start loading the brush, then I like to build the lather on my face, this ensures that every whisker gets completely saturated with moisture and covered with lather.

I've been using the Williams soap daily for a couple of years and enjoy it. I get it at Walmart. I was using Proraso because I had heard so many things about it but got tired of the fragrance and the tingling was more than I was looking for on a daily basis.

I don't have a problem raising a lather with it at all either. I soak my badger hair brush in a cup of hot water for about two or three minutes. I shake the water off it three or four times and quickly develop a nice full lather from the Williams. I think it works great for me.

The boar bristle brush is OK to start with but you will appreciate a badger hair brush and it's ability to absorb water once you start using one.

Ed

Williams is a very serviceable soap as others have said. Regardless of whether you decide to stick with Williams or not, I think that everybody should it as some point, if nothing else it makes an excellent test of your lathering skills.

I like boar brushes very much and have owned a few of them. Not sure which one you have but since I use my brushes pretty heavily for testing, I buy inexpensive brushes like VdH at my local drugstore. These brushes work! They are not fancy but they sure make lather and after awhile, the tips become much softer. I have an Omega that I also love. Lately, it has not seen much action because I bought what I consider to be the best of both worlds: A two band badger. My Simpson CH1 is the right size for my face and provides all the backbone I need while being very soft on the tips; incredible!!! Obviously, most people like the super soft silvertip, they are nice too but not rugged enough for me

Al raz.

Thank's for all the reply's everyone!
Today I performed my very ''first ever'' shave with the William's shave soap and the Boar's brush.
At first I was a bit disappointed with the seeming lack of 'lather' as opposed to the 'instant lather' that I normally get from my usual can of Barbasol Beard Buster, but after another minute or so of extra 'whipping' up the lather in the bowl, I was ultimately pleased with the end results.
It felt 'kind of cool' to whip up a shave lather in a bowl with an actual shave brush.
It also felt kind of 'old school cool' to mop the lather onto my face with the shave brush.
This is my 'first step' towards my ultimate goal...The straight razor.
I am planning on getting my first straight razor set up for Christmas.

Originally Posted by Utopian

This is exactly why some people go through their soap so quickly. If you follow this regimen, most of your soap will go down the drain without ever touching your face. This waste is unnecessary. You can either build the lather in the mug containing the soap, in a separate lathering bowl, or on your face. In any case, there is no need to pour soap down the drain.

Gee I guess I should have consulted the 3000 post shave genius first before I gave advice. I know it's horrible to waste a buck worth of soap. The point being we get to talk too without others being hostile.

Originally Posted by Outlaw

Bought my first ever shaving soap and shave brush at the local drugstore.
All that they had was "Williams" mug shaving soap and a Boars hair shave brush. Any thoughts on the quality of these two products??

Works great,
Despite the comments about 'down the drain' worry your way
through the top half of the puck just experimenting. Too little
water, too much water, too little soap, lots and lots of soap,
mug lathering, palm lathering.

Two things will happen. One is that you will get a better feel
for "latherin" and you will also break in your boar brush.

One key is to wet your face before you begin trying to build
a lather. Whiskers take a bit of time to soften and water
is key... since Williams takes a bit of time my whiskers and
my lather seem to arrive at about the same time if I wet
my whiskers first.

Yes there are other soaps... and shaving creams but in all
cases it is the "latherin" that makes the shave. With a couple
of luxury exceptions shave soaps are a bargain. You will
want to try some of the more famous ones some day but
if you take your time with Williams it will convert you to wet
shaving....

If you are trying shave soaps and are on a budget skip the expensive
container and just pick up the refill Keep it in a plastic kitchen
container. When you find one you really like, then get the soap with the
spiffy container. Some shops have samplers too.

Originally Posted by AfterShaver

Gee I guess I should have consulted the 3000 post shave genius first before I gave advice. I know it's horrible to waste a buck worth of soap. The point being we get to talk too without others being hostile.

You are more than welcome to talk, but if you review what each of us wrote, I'm pretty sure that the hostility was not on my part. If I disagree with advice provided by anyone, I will say so. It's not a personal attack. This is a forum. Knowledge is shared here by virtue of many people contributing their opinions and mine is neither better nor worse because of my post count. The OP, and anyone else reading this thread, can read all of the posts and draw their own conclusions. I disagreed with your advice. Deal with it.