Repent Williams bashers, repent!

[Disburden]

When it starts to thicken up you can add more soap by rubbing the brush on the puck again for a few seconds, then add it to your bowl with the half developed lather you have already...
Works with this soap...not with any others, I don't get it! LOL

 

[Coda_]

...third shave on my re-try with williams...Its getting better all the time, as the song goes...I loaded the brush for 45 seconds, and went with a quarter cup of water in the bowl. When I put the brush in the bowl, I plunge down, letting the brush absorb as much water as it can...then whatever water is left over can be sloshed out during the lather making process...about a min in, I swirled a bit back on the puck...another min of mixing...and then the shave...still not as slick as I'd like it, but I'm getting there. Not anywhere near as sloppy this time though...I should have it down tomorrow or Saturday methinks...

 

[August West]

How did I miss this?

 

[Ad Astra]

Williams Hypno-Cat rules!

*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•


AA

 

[Seraphim]

How did I miss this?

Miss what?

There's nothing there.

These aren't the posts you are looking for.

 

[SmurfK]

I'm afraid to throw away my Williams. It might come back.

 

[hobbitofny]

Williams Hypno-Cat rules!

*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•*MUST*BUY*MORE*WILLIAMS•


AA

You are right my 100 puck supply is to small!!!!!

 

[mgbbrown]

Every shaving mug I use has Williams in it. Maybe I should begin to hoard... God Bless! Tony Brown RN mgbbrown

 

[kingfisher]

Yes, but Tony, those look like some VINTAGE Williams pucks. Those lather quite well and without much fuss at all.

 

[Ad Astra]

Bump To The Top for mad skillz needed for Williams rookies involved in tomorrow's shave.

also for Williams Hypno-Cat


AA

 

[SGWB]

Yes, but Tony, those look like some VINTAGE Williams pucks. Those lather quite well and without much fuss at all.

I look at it this way: If modern Williams lathered like the vintage stuff, there wouldn't be a market for all these artisan soaps.

 

[Big Jim]

So I gave Williams another try this morning. I have two pucks shredded into a blue Old Spice mug and was disappointed with its performance but hadn't got around to dumping it yet.

So I picked up my Whipped Dog tall Amber Handled 24mm High Mountain brush (very stiff for a badger) and loaded the brush then went to a larger mug to whip up the lather. I didn't get the same result as the original poster, probably because i wasn't willing to put in as much time, but is was still a big improvement over past results.

I'm going to experiment some more. I may try mixing some SFIC melt & pour base with it. Shred it up again, shred up some melt and pour, and gently heat it to fuse them together. I'll bet it will be easier to lather and still end up really nice. I may even dribble in some Aqua Velva to make it a Blue Willey variant.

I've got the Williams and a mug for it so I may as well try some things before pitching it.

 

[Ad Astra]

I found just using more product - getting the brush pasty with soap - made it lather perfectly well.


AA

 

[1Vader]

Eh.. that's the thing with Williams, the lather is quite unstable for me. It works but I can't take too much time.


I can shave with Williams just fine, but many artisans have given me far better performance.

 

[Big Jim]

OK, I combined Williams with SFIC Melt and pour. Later today when i get some of my Saturday chores out of the way, I'll try it and let you know how it works.

I had two Williams pucks grated and pressed into a Blue Old Spice mug. They were combined a few weeks ago. Breaking the very hard pucks up helped. They were so hard that they didn't grate like most shaving soaps. More like handling hard Parmajon than Cheddar. This helped some, and as a result the mass shredded more like normal shaving soap this time.

I weighed the Williams before starting and it came in at 3.7 oz. I weighed out 1.85 oz of SFIC so there is a 2:1 ratio, then shredded them both, mixed them together, pressed them into the mug, and microwaved the mass with two 20 second blasts.

I know, I know, tallow, like Williams, isn't supposed to be heated, or rather, it won't melt, but the SFIC is melt and pour, and it softened to provide better binding of the two soaps.

Here are some pictures:

 

[Big Jim]

As promised, here are the results.

Added hot water to the top of the puck and soaked the brush for a little less than 5 minutes. Brush was a Barbershop handle with a 22 mm High Mountain knot.

Poured off the water and gently squeezed the water out of the brush, then barely dampened the tip of the brush.



Lather developed explosively. Nice bright white coloration (must have some titanium dioxide in that Williams). Very fine bubble. Peaked nicely. Holding power far better than Williams that was hastily lathered by itself, but was fading when I started the third pass so I had to build lather again.

Slickness was great. Seemed to be better than either by itself. For me, cushion was always lacking with Williams but with this hybrid it was better than Williams by itself while not a good as SFIC by itself.

Nice mild scent. I think a little nicer than Williams by itself (SFIC is unscented). I think if I were to try this again I might Van Der Hagen Luxury Scented instead of SFIC to gain a somewhat barbershop scent.

I'll certainly use up what I made, but I'm not sure if I will bother again.

What I will probably try next time I mix up one of my own fragrances using SFIC, is to add in a little Williams for the white brightner and the possible added slickness. I'm picturing maybe .5 oz of Williams to 3.5 oz of SFIC + fragrance to make up a Bay Rum or a Black Cherry.

 

[SpeedyPC]

Finally at last I've ordered 5 puck of Williams Mug Shaving Soap is on the way to Australia and I'm looking forward to this very soon because I've never tried this shaving soap, and IF Williams continue to drive me mad up a if I can't build a lather correctly I'm gunna load the boar brush like HELL before I give up.

 

[Graybeard57]

I think Williams is a serviceable soap, but I choose to use others. It would do in a pinch.

 

[Bookworm]

I'm still adding a bit of water each day, even if I'm not using it. It absorbs it quite rapidly, so I get the feeling you could flood a soap mug with enough water to cover the puck, and two days later the puck would be considerably larger, and easier to use.

 

[jcs266]

I'm just about finished with my second puck of Williams. I'd never used it before, having used VDH Deluxe extensively over the past year. After reading threads about Williams I had to try it. I like it - an easy soap to use and gets the job done. I face lather with a Simpson Berkeley in best badger. I've had no problems getting a lather and have had great shaves with it.

Prior to each shave I heat water in my teapot then pour it over the puck in my Old Spice mug. I let it sit 5-10 min while I get other things ready and then pour off the water when ready to load the brush. I use a VERY WET brush and it loads and lathers very easily.

I plan to order more Williams and will continue using it as my go-to daily soap.