Thread: Wilkinson Sword Shaving Soap

Wow, I didn't know there was such hatred of the Wilkinson Blue Bowl.. After reading these posts I decided to put away my Bigelow Proraso tube and bring out the mighty Blue Bowl of classy urinal puck aroma!

What dimethicone delight! I tried loading my squeeze-dried little Tweezerman badger brush on it and it got was not loading well. Put a light finger-tip sprinkling of moisture on the urinal puck and it began loading real good. I think my puck got a little dry from disuse (had it since '08). Once it was sprinkled it loaded quickly, was just gauging how wet the brush would have to be for my individual puck. Lathering bowl stage was OK, went like any average shaving soap. I built up a dense lather, stiffer peaks than I usually like for the first pass. It was lacking there but I had some leeway because it was the first pass. Added more water, voluminous lather with softer peaks and everything went much better. Can't say it's exceptional, or poor. After adding more water the slickness was there and I intentionally used more strokes on XTG level aggressive strokes. I'm thinking SRD's shaving soaps are better. Had a close shave, though, no problems. No excess irritation. Regular aloe/witch-hazel glycerin astringent/healer then a light application of the Nivea cooling balm.

Was there a reformulation? Bad batches? Mmmmmm.. smell that fresh, classy urinal puck scent? That's me! Thanks for the inspiration, guys. Who knows, maybe I'll develop irritation in the next 24-36 hours.

Originally Posted by AxelH

Wow, I didn't know there was such hatred of the Wilkinson Blue Bowl.. After reading these posts I decided to put away my Bigelow Proraso tube and bring out the mighty Blue Bowl of classy urinal puck aroma!

What dimethicone delight! I tried loading my squeeze-dried little Tweezerman badger brush on it and it got was not loading well. Put a light finger-tip sprinkling of moisture on the urinal puck and it began loading real good. I think my puck got a little dry from disuse (had it since '08). Once it was sprinkled it loaded quickly, was just gauging how wet the brush would have to be for my individual puck. Lathering bowl stage was OK, went like any average shaving soap. I built up a dense lather, stiffer peaks than I usually like for the first pass. It was lacking there but I had some leeway because it was the first pass. Added more water, voluminous lather with softer peaks and everything went much better. Can't say it's exceptional, or poor. After adding more water the slickness was there and I intentionally used more strokes on XTG level aggressive strokes. I'm thinking SRD's shaving soaps are better. Had a close shave, though, no problems. No excess irritation. Regular aloe/witch-hazel glycerin astringent/healer then a light application of the Nivea cooling balm.

Was there a reformulation? Bad batches? Mmmmmm.. smell that fresh, classy urinal puck scent? That's me! Thanks for the inspiration, guys. Who knows, maybe I'll develop irritation in the next 24-36 hours.

haha you maybe right on the formulation change we may never know, i do know that since i last posted about my problems with this soap, i found like you that soaking it with some water seems to get things going abit easier.

I found that running the tap until hot water was coming out and then putting some of this on the top of the soap puck helped a great deal in getting a shaveable lather from it, although i did notice that the lather dried quite quickly.

the one thing i really like about this soap though is the smell, yes ok its the fancy unrinal puck smell but i for one really like it (call me wierd if you want lol).

I think it's a good idea to give any new soap plenty of time for the lather building process to see if it turns out. I've done it from dry but loaded brush building gradually with many additions of water to dumping in a lot of water in one go once the charged brush is ready for the lathering bowl. It all seems to become the same lather in the end, its development just looks different.

P.S. someone walked into my "man cave" shortly after I'd finished and commented on the fresh and wonderful scent (to help combat my body "aroma", trust me, urinal puck is definitely the lesser of two evils).

So this morning, for no particular reason I prized the lid off the Wilkinson blue bowl, dripped some hot water on the puck and a little later swirled the hog brush around and around. For what seemed an age. Hopeless. Eventually I gave up, but instead of rinsing it away, I squeezed what there was into the warmed granite bowl I use, whipped up some Palmolive soap, which burst into life very quickly and married it to the bit of Wilkinson in the bowl, and not expecting much to happen, added a tiny amount of Palmolive cream. The result was nothing short of alchemic! "What am I supposed to do with all this?" I'm now glad I didn't kick this poor little Wilkinson stray dog out, for he's found a use at last. I'm going to start tomorrow off with a laugh too.

Cheers, here's to you all.

I use the old wilki blue mainly because I didnt know better and because it was the only bowl one in the shop.
I just work around in the dish until the lather is oozing over the side then shove it on my moisten chops.

I have tried various brand sticks over the years inc wilki, cos I've never liked canned goo.

I dont have a problem with wilki blue it certainly does not disapear as I shave it stays there in all its foamy glory

Maybe I'll look for a different brand bowl and compare the 2

Perhaps I'm a heathen that loves the smell of urinal cakes but I've always got a Wilkies soap for when I fancy a bit of a wake up shave! I probably use it at least once or twice a fortnight and have no problems getting a decent lather with it. I'm in a hardwater area and give it a good soak of hot water that gets tipped out before I lather up. I've tried a few cheap shaving soaps and this is definately my favorite. £2 well spent in my opinion and available everywhere in England. Just my opinion!

I also use it, and quite like the smell, as it was all I could find to start with.
I find the lather a bit 'thin', but perfectly functional

The plastic bowls, both, the black and the blue are nothing special, but the stick is a good perfomer and very cheap. The glide and the aftershave are well, the scent is not noticeable

Going to resurrect this thread as I just got some Wilkinson soap in the blue plastic container. I had not used it for years and for $4.00 thought it worth a go. I did a test lather on my hand and have to say the result was not too shabby at all. The lather appears to be thick and slick with a fresh clean scent.

Swirled my boar brush in cold water gave it a couple of shakes and strated loading the brush. Dipped the tips of the brush in water, gave it a shake and loaded some more. Then when on to palm lathering adding water as I went by the dip and shake method. In the end I squeezed out the lather from the brush and put it back on the brush being unable to get it all on.



It will be a day or so before I shave with it but see no reason it would not be more than adequate for the job from the test lather. If the shave goes well I think it would be good value at it's price point. The first five ingredients listed are Aqua, Stearic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerine and Cocos Nucifera.

Bob

the blue shave stick is a nice one.
i have been using it this week and i like it.