I am finally ready to admit it- I hate Williams Mug Soap!

[Chandu]

I don't recall having any problems getting a lather with it, but maybe it was my ignorance at the time and they were really lousy lathers.

Even if they were lousy lathers, you got a good shave due to the slickness. You really don't need yogurt with peaks, but generally you do need slick and Williams delivers on that. That's about the only thing that keeps me using modern Williams at all. I can get an ok lather but it's more work than it should be, but I cannot complain about the shaves.

Congrats on joining the wet shaving ranks.

 

[kingfisher]

I grated a puck, added some glycerine, and a few drops of bergamot and lime essential oils. The I pressed some into a bowl, and the rest into a push up for a stick. Works for me.

Nice! Essentially the same tweak that l did a few months ago.

I am almost out of my grapefruit-scented tweaked Williams, so yesterday afternoon i took the opportunity and made a new puck, this one mostly tangerine scented. I hope I got the glycerin to soap ratio right. I won't know until i lather it up and use it, but the last puck lathered and shaved beautifully. Can't wait to see how well my tangerine Williams works.
Plan for the future is to make a fantastic grapefruit-vetiver scented tweaked Williams. First I have to find a nice grassy/green vetiver that isn't smoky....

 

[Owen Bawn]

Life is too short to expend effort on a shave soap. If I have to jump through hoops to "make it work", I'll move on.

It's this type of thinking that explains why there are so many more kids playing the guitar than the oboe.

 

[Chandu]

It's this type of thinking that explains why there are so many more kids playing the guitar than the oboe.

True. Any git can grab a pick. But to sharpen a knife to cut a reed...

 

[SilentTuba]

It's this type of thinking that explains why there are so many more kids playing the guitar than the oboe.

I don’t think that’s a valid comparison at all. It’s more like playing a cheap, low quality instrument, vs. a handmade, professional quality instrument. Sure, that $99 purple clarinet on Amazon seems like an attractive deal, but the mouthpiece included with it is garbage, and it is near impossible to play in tune. An accomplished clarinetist could get decent results out of it, but the amount of effort it would take isn’t worth it; there are better clarinets out there.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I don’t think that’s a valid comparison at all. It’s more like playing a cheap, low quality instrument, vs. a handmade, professional quality instrument. Sure, that $99 purple clarinet on Amazon seems like an attractive deal, but the mouthpiece included with it is garbage, and it is near impossible to play in tune. An accomplished clarinetist could get decent results out of it, but the amount of effort it would take isn’t worth it; there are better clarinets out there.

I was making a joke, but one of your premises is flawed. Williams is inexpensive, but it is not low quality. There are thousands of testimonies on this website as to its excellence, and 180 years of continuous production that can't be denied. It really is guitars and oboes.

 

[EspressoAndAftershave]

Just ordered a 24-pack of Williams and a Marvy Mug. I feel like having an old-timey straight shave.

 

[luv2shave]

Just ordered a 24-pack of Williams and a Marvy Mug. I feel like having an old-timey straight shave.

The 24 pack is what I ordered 2 of when their PR Office wrote to me that they were going to discontinue Williams in response to my query on formulation. I am pretty much insulated against any future reformulation or any such event.

Its going to last me a long time !

 

[EspressoAndAftershave]

The 24 pack is what I ordered 2 of when their PR Office wrote to me that they were going to discontinue Williams in response to my query on formulation. I am pretty much insulated against any future reformulation or any such event.

Its going to last me a long time !

I figure Williams will store for a couple of years, lol. Might as well grab it while we can.

 

[Owen Bawn]

The 24 pack is what I ordered 2 of when their PR Office wrote to me that they were going to discontinue Williams in response to my query on formulation. I am pretty much insulated against any future reformulation or any such event.

Its going to last me a long time !

What exactly did they say?

 

[bluesman 7]

It's this type of thinking that explains why there are so many more kids playing the guitar than the oboe.

Guitar player's quip; "You start playing guitar to get chicks...and end up talking to middle aged men about your fingernails."

 

[luv2shave]

What exactly did they say?

You may Want to read this thread.

***Updated! All is well, see post 380. R.I.P. Williams Mug Soap

After reading some threads on Williams being in limited distribution, I wrote to Combe an email to verify its authenticity. The response says it all. Thank you for your email to Combe Incorporated. We sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to your request. We are sorry to inform you...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Owen Bawn]

Yeah I read that thread five years ago. Your post suggests you were in contact with them last week sometime.

 

[mozartman]

I was making a joke, but one of your premises is flawed. Williams is inexpensive, but it is not low quality. There are thousands of testimonies on this website as to its excellence, and 180 years of continuous production that can't be denied. It really is guitars and oboes.

Not sure how we started discussing cheap musical instruments on Amazon, but I agree completely. Those instruments are no more than a trap for the unwary or inexperienced, and Williams is not that. It might be accurate to say that better soaps (and a few worse ones too) have come along since 1840, but that is not the same thing.

 

[FarmerTan]

You may be right. I doubt it's all down to process, but that could well play a part. It also strikes me that some of the ingredient names do look like they could be the same thing only using a different name. (Water, H20, Di Hydrogen-Oxide) I haven't had but a couple of semesters of chemistry - and hated it mostly, but some of the naming could be semantics.

My biggest wish is there was simply one Combe executive that was a shaving enthusiast that would get a puck of vintage, a puck of new and do a side by side. And then head off to work that morning with a mission in mind. That would be wonderful.

Open invitation to anyone from Combe that runs across this thread. We, the denizens of Badger and Blade will supply you with several vintage pucks to be used to compare to your existing pucks for comparison purposes.

Brother, you speak for yourself on the volunteering of old pucks! The only one I got is the one you gave me, and that executive will have to pry it from my cold, slippery fingers!
(I face lathered that puck, so I honestly couldn't tell a difference between it and the current production stuff. Both were superb.)

 

[luv2shave]

Yeah I read that thread five years ago. Your post suggests you were in contact with them last week sometime.

I am done asking Combe ever again !

My post sounds like last week, acknowledged, but my reference was to 2018.

 

[FarmerTan]

I am done asking Combe ever again !

My post sounds like last week, acknowledged, but my reference was to 2018.

It really is irritating that they could probably spend 2 pennies per puck more and turn it back into a great soap. Something that would make it softer, hold more water?

Then raise the price by 50 cents.

 

[luv2shave]

It really is irritating that they could probably spend 2 pennies per puck more and turn it back into a great soap. Something that would make it softer, hold more water?

Then raise the price by 50 cents.

I agree. There is a market where a 50% price hike and make the formula easier to lather is a great way to go. Heck go out and call it Williams New or Williams deluxe and test the market with a new version while retaining the old and increase the price. See how it goes. I am all for it.

Having said that - let me add that there is something about the modern Williams lather which makes me keep coming back. Fortunately my water or perhaps my technique or both that I am blessed to get good lather. Its thinner but very slick shiny yogurty not thick creamy and does the job perfectly well. It is definitely lather with good cushion and not the bubbly sudsy foamy stuff which dissipates.

I don't bloom it or drown it or grate it or spike it with Glycerin or any such thing. I just put a tablespoon or two of hot water on the puck while I have my bath, then just load the soaked brush for around 30 seconds and face lather for 10 or 20 seconds to create great lather. If it gets in to daily use the load and lather times reduces dramatically as the soap is well hydrated and ready to go.

Makes me think if we are just spoilt by choices and all the artisan soaps out there.

Give me modern Williams as the only soap to ever use and I can absolutely use it

 

[EspressoAndAftershave]

So, is the general consensus that new Williams works just like ol' Williams?

 

[luv2shave]

So, is the general consensus that new Williams works just like ol' Williams?

Modern Williams works for me, not sure what vintage was like. I do not find anything missing in the modern Williams except for some tricky lathering techniques used by some folks here. Hard water seems to make lathering finicky is what I gather.