The _____ Willy, 3017 Williams Mug Soap Challenge V2.0

[CBLindsay]

Sunday 2-19-17 (#378)

Prep: Muscgo Glyce
Brush: SV Artisan 2.0
Soap: Williams Mug (O'Willy/Cowboy Willy mash)
Razor: Hibbard & Spencer USA 5/8 Hollow
Strop: 25/50 Outlaw strop
Post: Alum Rub / WH Splash
Aftershave: Halston Z17
EDT/EDT: Halston Z17

Day 18: This stuff is like "The Duke", no matter what kind of beating i give it, it comes back for more. With 18 shaves (22-23 latherings) I still have about 6 grams left. The biggest risk to this soap now is the loss due to little chunks getting stuck in the brush. The lather is still pretty great but the little chunks make the water control harder (harder to get enough water into the lather). I see 2 days left on this, max. Since i haven't been doing regular nightly lathers I have not had a chance to burn through this soap as fast as i might have, but i still estimate a whopping 2 grams per shave usage rate. ...admittedly I rinsed some soap down the drain by rinsing the puck between uses for the first 10 shaves.
Willy stats- started with 50grams soap and added AS, cologne and castor oil/glycerin. After pressing and drying the pucks i had a total "dry weight" of about 80 grams. Presumably the additional 30 grams are from castor oil and glycerin because the liquid was pretty well gone. Upon rehydrating prior to use the dry puck(s) retained enough water to balloon to about 130gram each or 260 from the original 80grams.

For today's shave i decided to stick with the Hibbard and Spencer USA 5/8 Hollow, only today i hit the diamond balsa for about 40 laps then did a nice long stropping. I think the improvement to the edge was significant and i really enjoyed the shave as a result. Like i said before, this is a good razor that delivers a good shave but for some reason I never liked it ...today made me like it more.

Today's shave was another "pre shower" shave and that may have had something to do with setting a better, less rushed mood. The relaxed mood, great lather and a high functioning razor left me wanting more, so i threw in a completely unnecessary 4th pass. I narrowly avoided lopping off my right ear when my wife said she wanted to go to the mall tomorrow ...how i did not loose the earlobe entirely or even draw blood is beyond me. The narrow escape from injury had me thanking my lucky stars and loving the razor even more.

Maybe a face lather tonight and a shave in the morning then I will be forced to watch the Cowboy williams ride off into the sunset. Then what?

 

[John Rose]

Feb 18 - no shave last night, just because I felt like it.
I'm retired. I can do anything I want/can.

Feb 10 SOTN:
Astra SP (2) in a RazoRock OLD Type.
Stickified Brutus Vilius (19) face-lathered with a Tuxedo knot in a Rubberset Pro handle.
Post: Alum stick, cold water rinse, and (even more) Brut AS.

It was a bit runny because I haven't got the water on the Tuxedo knot dialed in for face-lathering yet, but I still got a nice BBS shave.

By now I still have 41% remaining of my starting 82 g of Brutus Vilius.
I just hope I'm not going to be the last to 3017 it.

*chirp-chirp*
*chirp-chirp*
*chirp-chirp*

But ya know whut? I'm anxious to try bowl-lathering a non-stickified Wet Willy after this is all done. I've already got a puck grated into water, and curing in a covered container.

 

[JBO667]

Best I can tell 8 HEAVY lathered shower head shaves. Maybe one or two left before 3017d.

 

[RedsFan75]

Feb 18 - no shave last night, just because I felt like it.
I'm retired. I can do anything I want/can.

...
I just hope I'm not going to be the last to 3017 it.

Congrats on the retirement, and not likely the last to 3017 it. I pressed mine into a shaving mug and it filled it to around 3/4 full, I still have well over half a mug of it left.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[dexutter]

I figure I should check in! Bootlegger Willy has been holding his own! I'm 16 shaves in, and it's working like a champ. After a few flips of the puck, the lather got back to being the quality of an unscented Willy, but with the added Bay Rum scent! I'm very happy with the results. Granted, I'm excited to be done, but I'm committed to finish the puck! I have no clue how you guys have killed yours so quickly (I get I'm 5 shaves behind a daily shaver). But I feel like there's at least a dent in mine!

 

[Haggises]

Shaves 11 to 13 are in.
Consistency is now a cream. I am going to finish it within 2 days, though there are probably 5 or 6 left.
Started with about 60% of a puck as that was all the grating that would fit. 2g per shave seems about right.

 

[Ad Astra]

Another horrible shave with The Soap That Will Not Die.

Possibly the worst shave of my life - at least 20 weepers. Needed alum (kept bleeding), styptic, alcohol and balm for the resulting dryness. Looked like I fell into a disc sander.

Though I will blame the soap, I was using a Fatboy on 9, and going ATG. Don't do like that.


AA

 

[mark1JT]

Lucky # 13 with wicked willy is done. Great lather and shave.

 

[CBLindsay]

Day 19 (24-25 total lather's): Happy Trails to YOU! Until we meet again. It is with great sadness that I declare the imminent departure from this world of the cowboy Oland Williams. Following an evenning lather last night he became weak but was able to provide a substantial lather for this morning's shave. Services will be held this evening during the evenning lather of my face. True to cowboy tradition a final lathering will occur and the last remaining lather ceremoniously flushed down the sink with a hardy "YEE HAA COWBOY" yelled by all.
Cowboy Oland Williams Feb 2, 2017 - Feb 20, 2017 courageously provided 25 full lathering's and then some.
In honor of the cowboy's passing I applied Ghost Town Barber and "the Gambler" (a whiskey & leather scented solid cologne)

 

[azwetshaver]

I'm approaching the end. I broke through the puck. I pressed the soap again for easier loading. Maybe another 10 shaves remain. I have only skipped one day (didn't shave that day) since Feb 2.

 

[paintflinger]

Still trucking along. Stable, but slightly less slick lather is working for me, so I'll probably stop experimenting till the end.

I solved the disappearing lather by letting my puck dry out and loading with a dry brush. Add maybe 6-12 drops of water slowly and it should be decently slick, but still stable.

Only other note is that I have been skipping aftershave and my skin is pretty happy, so that is a massive improvement over the plain Williams.

 

[Rory1262]

Lucky # 13 with wicked willy is done. Great lather and shave.

Largely the same with me and my Brave Willy. I skipped Saturday and Sunday but had a great outing today with El Jefe and Semogue 620. There's a good way left to go in my puck, though I do continue to see it diminishing gradually.

 

[psfred]

Getting a hint of the bottom of my shave mug, which means probably a couple more weeks before it's gone. 90 days plus on a puck.

 

[T.Orso]

O do not go on for 90 days straight up Willy. You shave me fine. It is good that I can remember what parts of my face I have shaved, because your lather is gone before I finish a pass. I thank you for the shaves, may they be done. If all soaps could do as well, the world would be a better place. Do I hate you, straight up Willy? Or do I love to revisit the days of my childhood, when my mother rubbed Lemon Pledge from an aerosol can on our fine laminate furniture, do I love to remember this every single morning until you are gone?
I hate you straight up Willy.

 

[andywe]

Be almost 3 weeks. Aroma is great. I have to lather each side .. not worth th trouble. It kes slickness but dries out too soon. Jury is in.

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

 

[davidr2340]

Yet another shave with Vigo-Willy tonight... Getting this thing dialed in fairly well. It's definitely a Love/Hate relationship. If I had to guess, I'd say I have 2-3 shaves left. I'd totally be lying if I said I wasn't excited about getting back to my steady stream of trying new soaps!

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

 

[andywe]

Yet another shave with Vigo-Willy tonight... Getting this thing dialed in fairly well. It's definitely a Love/Hate relationship. If I had to guess, I'd say I have 2-3 shaves left. I'd totally be lying if I said I wasn't excited about getting back to my steady stream of trying new soaps!

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

My sentiments too. On its own ok at best. My proraso and grimm do much better.

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

 

[Ad Astra]

Mediocrity Month slogs on ... puck has grown to 1.75"x4"

AA

 

[cvargo]

Anyone still have the list to show how many people have completed or dropped out yet? I was following Dave Skypsyd's process to make his Willy concoctions and I think next year I might have to try again by adding the bit of Cremo and some glycerin. All I did to mine was dump AV in it and I am sticking to the fact that it negatively impacted the soap. So next year I might try my hand at this again or just do a plain willy.

 

[PhilC]

Hit bottom today courtesy of a simpson 58. Still tons of soap along the walls so probably 2 more weeks? Just a guess. Great shaves out of the vintage chilly willy so I'll enjoy it for however long it lasts.