Williams again. Oy and Ah

[honeybadger79]

I have trouble with this soap, but every now and then I give it a whirl (because I have several pucks, lol)

The time I used (sorry if I say his username wrong) Vez's method, flipping a very soaked puck (in very hot water) over a few times while loading. After a prolonged lathering I got a good lather.

I got a very good shave. Good slickness. No irritiation. Didn't dissipate really. Nearly a BBS.

Seems I can now use this soap. Good thing too. I have 10 pucks. I have 1 vintage too, but I reastrain from cracking it open till I get a fee more

 

[cvargo]

Glad you got it to work. It is a very thirsty soap. Water is your friend.

 

[JimmyHAD]

I find it works for me if I wet the puck and let water sit on it for a few minutes before I lather. As you noted, good slickness/cushion. I'm not crazy about the scent, nor does it have the characteristics of Castle Forbes, MDC or C&S, but for the price it is pretty good stuff.

 

[BSAGuy]

I can get Williams to work, but there are so many other soaps that work as well or better with less effort, at least for me, so my Williams is not used any more.

 

[honeybadger79]

I can get Williams to work, but there are so many other soaps that work as well or better with less effort, at least for me, so my Williams is not used any more.

Now that I actually got it to work, I can see myself getting to that conclusion as well when considering the prolonged lather time. For now I'm just happy that I can use it if need /want be

 

[muzichead]

I used Williams exclusively for several years and found as some others have mentioned here on B&B, if you use it daily and don't give it a chance to really dry out it loads easier and easier every time. If it dries out, let it soak for a couple minutes to hydrate it and you'll be good to go. I used it daily and it never dried out through the use of the entire puck. For some strange reason I stopped using it because I stopped shaving for 4 yrs. I am going to participate in the 3017 challenge in February and have created a combination of Williams and Pinaud Clubman. Looking forward to using it everyday until its gone...

 

[mark1JT]

I'm in on the Williams 3017 if my shave soap ADD doesn't kick in too hard that is. I have Williams, AV original sport, and Thayers alcohol free witch hazel in mine.

 

[steep-n-shallow]

When I tried Williams Mug Soap first time I couldn't lather it to the condition that I like. I tried all kind of technics and multiple badger/boar/synthetic brushes. However, it was a puck I bought from one of the e-bayer for 0.98$. Maybe it was too old and overdried, so it ended up in the trash can. Recently, I gave Williams another try and bought a fresh puck from local grocery store for 1.18$ and it worked just fine. Great slickness and thick lather. I do not know if they changed the formula a bit, or I just got a bad batch first time.

 

[Phog Allen]

For me it works nicely...as a bathing soap. No patience with lathering trickery. Too many that are easy to lather.

 

[adamchur]

Before I tried it, I'd read a lot of positive and negative opinions on B&B about Williams - but I pulled the trigger anyway, just to see what it was really like, and I'm glad I did.....

I agree that it's thirsty, but as I found out the hard way one morning, it's still possible to swamp it - B&B's "use more product" law came in very useful that day

It seems to load easiest with a scritchy brush, I find my Vie Long 4101 Professional 60% Boar / 40% Horsehair mix is my best brush for the job - but I face lathered fairly easily with my Chinese Synthetic Silvertip one morning just to see if I could, and the Synthetic Silvertip is kitten soft

Two more of B&B's laws - "load it like you stole it" and "load it like you hate it" work very well for me when lathering with Williams

I'd taken water quality into account, in Mallorca where I live the tap water has been voted as being some of the worst anywhere in Spain - and quite rightly so.......
It's not only very hard water, but it also contains a cocktail of chemicals too -
Lead - a residue from the lead pipes that weren't replaced with more modern copper pipes until the late 1970s or early 1980s, which are now slowly but surely being replaced with nice, new plastic pipes
Fluoride - said to be good for your teeth, but I wouldn't know because I squeeze toothpaste onto a dry toothbrush, brush thoroughly and rinse with mouthwash - I refuse to let unboiled tap water pass my lips
Nitrates - a by-product of..............
Chlorine - they add 4x the recommended amount, a necessary precaution to control the level of...............
E-Coli - from animal waste that entered the water supply as a result of 100s of years of agriculture.

Allowing for all that, I had very little difficulty making a palm lather using my trusty El Cheapo Chinese Horsehair brush (kitten soft too), a brand new puck of Williams and stone cold Mallorquin tap water........


I've read that Williams has a reputation for the lather "collapsing" in a mug or bowl - true, it does a little, but being a creature of habit, I always give the lather in the bowl/mug a few swirls with the brush to refresh it between passes, so it's never been a problem for me

IMHO - Williams can be a bit temperamental to load and lather, but the way I see it, now that I've worked with it, practised and can now load and lather with it on a consistent basis..............
I can get a lather on a consistent basis with any of the other soaps in my rotation comparatively easier

 

[honeybadger79]

I wonder if the maker realizes that their product is on the trickier side

 

[Graybeard57]

Congratulations. You've gotta work with it, but it make a fine lather.

 

[KeenDogg]

Nice work! A friend once told me a secret: soak it overnight! Works like a charm.

 

[jcs266]

Based on a couple Wiliams threads I decided to give it a try. I'm almost through my second puck now so will report my findings.

In the threads I read it was apparent it needed to be soaked thoroughly to begin with. I heated up water (to a boil) in the teapot and poured it over the puck in my Old Spice mug. I let it sit until it cooled to room temperature, dumped out the water and set it on the shave counter. The next morning I began using it.

Before each shave I fill the Old Spice mug with HOT water and let it set for about 5 minutes. My Simpson badger soaks in WARM water for about the same time. After my usual face wash and rinse I dump out the water and load the brush on the puck for maybe 20 seconds then face lather for about 20 seconds or so.

It's been as simple as that. No problems with getting a quick, slick lather with this method. I leave the brush loaded with water - after taking it out of the cup it's soaking in I give it 2 gentle shakes then take it to the puck.

1) Soak the brush and keep it VERY WET
2) Soak the puck in HOT water for 5 minutes prior to the shave

 

[EternalBachelor]

I like Williams soap. It's slick and creamy, smells decent for the price, just takes a bit longer to lather than my other soaps. It helps that I read up on how to use the soap beforehand. I don't even soak the soap, I don't find it necessary. If it dissipates, more water.

 

[honeybadger79]

Shave 2 was very good also. I think I have room to improve still. Resulting shave was dfs+. Maybe just shy of my norm. Face lathering took a while (imagine an ultra mwf process), but progressively got better with each pass, ending in a descent looking lather. End results were very good regardless with no irritation. One teeny weeper (but that can happen anytime)

 

[honeybadger79]

Update: minor irritation noted in areas that I buffed

 

[slyfox279]

I'm going leave it in water for month and see if it'll work. Everything else has failed.

I really don't get it do you all use this logic with other stuff?
It works great after you do this long list of things or combine it with a great soap.

No duh if you put tobs cream on top and load it'll work cause your loading tobs cream lol.

This car works great you just gotta tow it everywhere with this truck

Or

It's a rear car it just needs new engine, transmission tires, brakes, starring assembly, doors, tie rodes, but it's a great car

Mean a 32¢ soap from India way out performs it and lathers up easily

Think it's more of a case of nostalgia

Which is only reason I own any but I don't use it

 

[honeybadger79]

I'm going leave it in water for month and see if it'll work. Everything else has failed.

I really don't get it do you all use this logic with other stuff?
It works great after you do this long list of things or combine it with a great soap.

No duh if you put tobs cream on top and load it'll work cause your loading tobs cream lol.

This car works great you just gotta tow it everywhere with this truck

Or

It's a rear car it just needs new engine, transmission tires, brakes, starring assembly, doors, tie rodes, but it's a great car

Mean a 32¢ soap from India way out performs it and lathers up easily

Think it's more of a case of nostalgia

Which is only reason I own any but I don't use it

Lol. There's something about a challenge. Especially an innexpensive one.

 

[Bookworm]

Here's what I did.

Williams, out of the box, lathered up enough to give me a slick layer, which was a decent shave. People who claim they can't must be really shoving things around on their face, or they had a heavy growth. What bothered me more was the puck spinning around the mug

So, what I did for the next few days was each day, I'd try to remember to fill the top cavity of the soap with water. Probably a tablespoon or two. After four days, I went back and spent about 30-45 seconds spinning a wet brush on the soap, and came up with a decent lather. Not a screaming enormous foaming pile like some photos I've seen on the forums, but what I wanted; a good, thick layer of soap that coated everything. I waited 30 seconds, and pulled my finger across the lather. Even once I had scraped the later away, and rinsed my finger off in the water, there was enough residual slickness that my finger just slid on my cheek.

So yes, the key is _hydration_. To keep it in the puck, they took all the water out, and you have to put that back in to make it useable. Arko is more usable out of the box, but that's because it's more flexible - meaning holding water. Even VDH is softer than Williams.