So what's wrong with Williams exactly?

[Tuf]

You should spend your money on what makes you happy. If Williams makes you happy and buy it and use it with a smile.

You'll never convince someone that has used any of the hundreds of better soaps that is "just as good" or "is a good value" or "that the extra 10 minutes is no biggie" or "that it makes good lather" or any of the other justifications posted.

The stuff is crap but if you like it it is your crap. I like Budweiser Beer. Most of my friends are beer snobs they wouldn't drink a Bud for money. I don't care if Bud is crap I like the taste and it makes me happy. Plus I'll bet I save more than enough money to cover my 20-30 dollar a year shaving soap habit

Buy what makes you happy. The only way shaving supplies can be a significant expense in your life is if you start buying anything and everything. If you chose a brush, even a two hundred dollar brush, any soap, decent aftershave, and then just use them the cost per year is not serious.

Now if you have to have dozens of brushes, tons of soaps, fifty razors, every aftershave ever made then yes you can spend a lot of money.

 

[JazzleSAURUS]

Oh how we have all told ourselves this in our naivety

exactly what i'm thinking

 

[man00ver]

Make it a nice, wet load, and enjoy the slickness!

That's a slow, hanging curveball waiting to be driven over the fence into the Clownhouse...

Yeah, I guess I'm inviting the usual suspects to take a swing and shut this puppy DOWN.

 

[michiganlover]

Yeah, I guess I'm inviting the usual suspects to take a swing and shut this puppy DOWN.

Swing Batter Batter Swing!! And it's a home run here at Williams Won't Work Field!!

 

[Go West Young Man]

50% of us can't use Williams because the stench is so awful.

For the other 50% who don't mind (or, gasp, even like!) the scent, the best that can be said of Williams is that it does a decently adequate job. Personally, I set the bar higher than "decently adequate", but if you're OK with that I'm OK with you being OK with that.

Remember, though, that your puck of Tabac should last 4 or 5 times longer than the Williams. On a per-shave basis, I don't think it costs any more.

 

[insomb]

I agree with last poster, smells like a bathroom cleaning products.

 

[jwcarlson]

It's a very basic hard soap. Nothing is wrong with it, except when you compare it with modern soaps, it lacks the extra ingredients others have :

• foaming agents so it lathers faster
• more efficient moisturizers
• better fragrances, notably to mask the tallow odour (which dissipates with time)
• a water emulsion, so you don't have to soak it before first use
• a chemical composition that is not sensible to water hardness
• etc

A tip : I keep my puck in a closed container so it remains moist.

This soaking/moisture argument holds absolutely no water. Our winters are bone dry and I took Williams to Phoenix for a week in January. Lathered it up for the first time and there's no need to soak it. It's not like it's a rock, it's a puck of soap. I do notice, however, that it certainly doesn't "look" like the brush is loaded. With other soaps you can see the soap working its way up the brush but with Williams this isn't nearly as noticable. This is probably a function of the foaming agents you mention.


Oh, and probably the biggest reason there's so much hate for it...
Well, lets just say if people had paid $13-17 a puck for it they'd probably like it a lot more.

 

[Deltaboy]

This soaking/moisture argument holds absolutely no water. Our winters are bone dry and I took Williams to Phoenix for a week in January. Lathered it up for the first time and there's no need to soak it. It's not like it's a rock, it's a puck of soap. I do notice, however, that it certainly doesn't "look" like the brush is loaded. With other soaps you can see the soap working its way up the brush but with Williams this isn't nearly as noticable. This is probably a function of the foaming agents you mention.


Oh, and probably the biggest reason there's so much hate for it...
Well, lets just say if people had paid $13-17 a puck for it they'd probably like it a lot more.

Your post is a YMMV one because soaking the puck does wonders for me here in DFW Texas.

 

[dk_ace]

You should spend your money on what makes you happy. If Williams makes you happy and buy it and use it with a smile.

You'll never convince someone that has used any of the hundreds of better soaps that is "just as good" or "is a good value" or "that the extra 10 minutes is no biggie" or "that it makes good lather" or any of the other justifications posted.

The stuff is crap but if you like it it is your crap. I like Budweiser Beer. Most of my friends are beer snobs they wouldn't drink a Bud for money. I don't care if Bud is crap I like the taste and it makes me happy. Plus I'll bet I save more than enough money to cover my 20-30 dollar a year shaving soap habit

Buy what makes you happy. The only way shaving supplies can be a significant expense in your life is if you start buying anything and everything. If you chose a brush, even a two hundred dollar brush, any soap, decent aftershave, and then just use them the cost per year is not serious.

Now if you have to have dozens of brushes, tons of soaps, fifty razors, every aftershave ever made then yes you can spend a lot of money.

I'm really thinking the water has a lot to do with it. I have pretty soft water. I've spent a week with Tabac now, and I don't get any better results with it. I get good results with Tabac, but I also got good (not decent) results with the Williams. The extra time to lather wasn't 10 minutes, more like 60 seconds or so.

Anyways, I'm starting to see where the AD comes in around here. Of the things that were raved about here as must try's that will revolutionize my shaving experience, I've found almost all of them to be equally good, just different.

YMMV, but I'm not going to buy a lot more soaps...

D

 

[talibeard]

Remember, though, that your puck of Tabac should last 4 or 5 times longer than the Williams. On a per-shave basis, I don't think it costs any more.

Never done the math but you are probably right.

Still a lot of YMMV; I prefer Williams over Tabac for scent, protection and skincare and since for me Tabac is cheap and Williams hard to get I think my Tabac shaves cost less than a quarter of my Williams shave. It just is a non-issue for me since my results with Williams are simply better.

 

[michiganlover]

Oh, and probably the biggest reason there's so much hate for it...
Well, lets just say if people had paid $13-17 a puck for it they'd probably like it a lot more.

That is often said as a defense for Williams (alluding to a comparison with Mitchell's Wool Fat) however, I think the opposite would be true. If the price were higher people would realize it is a mediocre soap at best, and would simply not waste their money on it.

Yes Mitchell's is said to be hard to lather, bu the end result is also said to be incredible, whereas the end result with Modern Williams is simply useable; not great (for myself it's not even useable).

I honestly think people tolerate Williams in it's current incarnation simply because of the perceived value.

 

[Slivovitz]

That is often said as a defense for Williams (alluding to a comparison with Mitchell's Wool Fat) however, I think the opposite would be true. If the price were higher people would realize it is a mediocre soap at best, and would simply not waste their money on it.

Yes Mitchell's is said to be hard to lather, bu the end result is also said to be incredible, whereas the end result with Modern Williams is simply useable; not great (for myself it's not even useable).

I honestly think people tolerate Williams in it's current incarnation simply because of the perceived value.

Not to argue but . . . what am I saying. It's a Williams thread, of course it's to argue.:

I like Williams because, in my experience it's a good soap, period. If I wanted just to annoy people, I'd get more into comparing to other soaps, but that's not really the point. I enjoy using it, it works well and easily for me, and it's one of a very few that I'll certainly re-stock once I run out. MWF is another.

What's striking about the anti-Williams brigade is not the dislike for Williams, it's normal for people to disagree on matters of taste. It's the bizarre refusal to accept that other people really like something that they really dislike.

 

[mharris127]

Is it just me, or does the guy near the middle of the pic look like Fred Mertz, who also happens to be topgumby's avatar? . . .

Now we know topgumby's real name (I have never heard of Fred Mertz, so he must not be famous -- which makes it likely that name is topgumby's). I hope he is OK with that, usually it isn't kosher to reveal someone's real ID in a forum.

 

[oc_in_fw]

(I have never heard of Fred Mertz, so he must not be famous -- which makes it likely that name is topgumby's).

That was the name of the landlord in "I Love Lucy".

 

[Topgumby]

Now we know topgumby's real name (I have never heard of Fred Mertz, so he must not be famous -- which makes it likely that name is topgumby's). I hope he is OK with that, usually it isn't kosher to reveal someone's real ID in a forum.

Gadzooks, Ethel, I'm outed!

You've got it by golly, yes I'm really William Frawley when I'm posting.
What makes it kind of nifty is I died back in the Sixties yet here I'm posting.
I did that Lucy show
And also My Three Sons,
But collecting shaving gear
Is what I wish I'd done.
I'm an old time Vaudevillian but I'd trade Ethel for some Williams any morning,
Over one hundred years old, but on Williams I am sold every morning
Now that my cover's blown there's something you should know,
That whole Topgumby gig was put on just for show!
You've got it by golly, yes I'm really William Frawley when I'm posting!

 

[Sir Walter of Mount Royal]

Well, lets just say if people had paid $13-17 a puck for it they'd probably like it a lot more.

Yep. Higher prices act like a placebo on perceived worth.

 

[Seraphim]

If anyone would like to feel "better" about using Williams, PM me. I'll be more than happy to sell you a puck for $15.

For $25, you'll get the "Limited Edition" Williams, which will really blow your mind.


Now open for business.

 

[Seraphim]

Not to argue but . . . what am I saying. It's a Williams thread, of course it's to argue.:

I like Williams because, in my experience it's a good soap, period. If I wanted just to annoy people, I'd get more into comparing to other soaps, but that's not really the point. I enjoy using it, it works well and easily for me, and it's one of a very few that I'll certainly re-stock once I run out. MWF is another.

What's striking about the anti-Williams brigade is not the dislike for Williams, it's normal for people to disagree on matters of taste. It's the bizarre refusal to accept that other people really like something that they really dislike.

Nope, you're free to like what you wish. And I'm free to voice my opinion on modern Williams. It is a form of catharsis in dealing with the trauma of trying Williams multiple times, and feeling duped each and every time.

Williams-not worth the money.

 

[Sir Walter of Mount Royal]

What's striking about the anti-Williams brigade is not the dislike for Williams, it's normal for people to disagree on matters of taste. It's the bizarre refusal to accept that other people really like something that they really dislike.

By describing those products in exaggerated derogatory terms, those people are trying very clumsily to distancing themselves from what entry level products represent. They think of themselves as better than commoners, they don't want to be associated to them, and are working very hard so you view them as belonging to a higher social class.

 

[Jack Straw]

For those that love the smell of Williams and Arko, I was just at the laundromat and tried out some "Roma" powder detergent - super cheap stuff. According to the lady there it supposedly works very well (I will see in an hour or two), but the kicker is it smells like Williams.