And here I thought Williams was hard to lather..

[slybrewguy]

I know this is a revolving door topic but instead of rehash an old thread I figured I would start a new one:

I fell into the camp of hating Williams... Never got a lather that amounted to anything more then some bubbly suds.

For some reason I decided to revisit it, as a shave stick, and have been very pleased! Rub it on a wet face until I see a good amount of soap pick up, work it with my damp omega synth while slowly adding water, and I've got a fantastically slick lather that doesn't dissipate but also isn't so thick I have to fight through it. I did a 2 pass sink shave with the above plus a merkur 33c in less then 10 minutes with an almost BBS result and surprisingly no ingrowns or irritation the next day (I've you've followed my story over the years this is a milestone).

 

[emwolf]

I too have had issues with Williams. I started soaking the puck for about 10 minutes before lathering with good results, but I'll try the face lathering method here.

 

[sugardaddy]

Soaking the puck beforehand is essential IMO.

Second "trick" is to just keep mixing through the thin airy bubbles that come up first. The good lather is past that.

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[Grundi]

I know this is a revolving door topic but instead of rehash an old thread I figured I would start a new one:

I fell into the camp of hating Williams... Never got a lather that amounted to anything more then some bubbly suds.

For some reason I decided to revisit it, as a shave stick, and have been very pleased! Rub it on a wet face until I see a good amount of soap pick up, work it with my damp omega synth while slowly adding water, and I've got a fantastically slick lather that doesn't dissipate but also isn't so thick I have to fight through it. I did a 2 pass sink shave with the above plus a merkur 33c in less then 10 minutes with an almost BBS result and surprisingly no ingrowns or irritation the next day (I've you've followed my story over the years this is a milestone).

This is how I use Williams with excellent results. Using this method, I've been able to get better than 170 shaves from a single puck before the puck became too small and slippery for my hands. I use a synthetic brush, too, and I think this method lends itself well to the softer brushes.

 

[slybrewguy]

I too have had issues with Williams. I started soaking the puck for about 10 minutes before lathering with good results, but I'll try the face lathering method here.

This is how I use Williams with excellent results. Using this method, I've been able to get better than 170 shaves from a single puck before the puck became too small and slippery for my hands. I use a synthetic brush, too, and I think this method lends itself well to the softer brushes.

Exactly, grab the puck and rub it all around your face. The trick I found is to keep rubbing it around until it starts to feel tacky and stick to your skin instead of glide, this is when I know I've got enough soap. I had such success with it for over a week that I grabbed a twist tube for it and it now is actually a shave stick.

 

[honeybadger79]

Williams works for me if all steps are taken slow and gently. I find that it agitates into bubbles easily if you get rough or go fast with it.

 

[Chandu]

Success like this is a big hint that most who have trouble, don’t get the right soap to water ratio. I would think using as a soap stick would give you more soap than loading a brush on the puck.

 

[slybrewguy]

Success like this is a big hint that most who have trouble, don’t get the right soap to water ratio. I would think using as a soap stick would give you more soap than loading a brush on the puck.

Precisely! In all honesty, most soaps I've had trouble lathering were as a result of not loading enough soap and most of the time it was due to laziness as I never wanted to sit and just work a puck for several minutes before even starting my shave. This is why I've always gravitated towards soft soaps, hard soap sticks, and creams.

 

[BigJ]

Precisely! In all honesty, most soaps I've had trouble lathering were as a result of not loading enough soap and most of the time it was due to laziness as I never wanted to sit and just work a puck for several minutes before even starting my shave. This is why I've always gravitated towards soft soaps, hard soap sticks, and creams.

Good advice! For me the simple answer is usually, ‘Load it like you hate it!’

 

[pdieten]

Success like this is a big hint that most who have trouble, don’t get the right soap to water ratio. I would think using as a soap stick would give you more soap than loading a brush on the puck.

It's been my experience that I can't get any brush softer than a pure badger to load a hard soap like Williams off the puck without taking too much time or soaking the puck. I suppose Williams is a relic of when most guys had boar brushes.

Semi-related, I finally got my first Arko stick the other day. Interestingly it says to load the brush from the stick and then apply to the face. But, as most guys here do, I applied directly to the head and then face lathered. My best badger easily turned that into an excellent lather. Now that you mention it, I expect that would work with Williams also. Probably won't bother though. I have enough lathering products to last me a decade without any Williams in the house. Those pucks last too long. I get bored with it.

 

[Chandu]

I finally got my first Arko stick the other day. Interestingly it says to load the brush from the stick and then apply to the face. But, as most guys here do, I applied directly to the head and then face lathered. My best badger easily turned that into an excellent lather.

A single tooth broken off a black rubber comb will lather Arko just fine.

 

[honeybadger79]

Imo, Williams justs needs us to slow our movements down by about 30 seconds and ease of the pressure of the loading and lathering.

After releasing just a bit of the water off the boar brush, I gently/slowly swirl and load off the puck for about 30 seconds, then slowly face latherig without splaying the brush. Some back and forth slaps of the brush at the end of the face-lathering.

very nice, plentiful lather. No air bubbles. No disappearing act by the lather.

not the best soap out there, but gives a good shave.

 

[TheVez2]

Love me some Williams..... and yes for me Blooming is essential. At least at first. if you use it every day, eventually it will take on some water, and be easier to load over time.

 

[FireDragon76]

It's been my experience that I can't get any brush softer than a pure badger to load a hard soap like Williams off the puck without taking too much time or soaking the puck. I suppose Williams is a relic of when most guys had boar brushes.

Horse hair will also work. There were alot of horse hair brushes at one time as well, I still see them on eBay and I've bought a few Rubberset brushes (all in good shape on NOS). For that matter, older nylon synthetics like Omega's Syntex, or newer ones like the S-Brush, will be fine.

This is not a soap for people with a "rotation". If used regularly, the soap gets soft and isn't particularly challenging to lather.

 

[Chandu]

This is not a soap for people with a "rotation". If used regularly, the soap gets soft and isn't particularly challenging to lather.

100 percent on that. Williams, the modern especially, is made as if that is your only soap.

Throughout most of the life cycle of Williams mug soap, shavers bought a puck, used it until gone and then bought another. Grandpa wasn’t waiting for the “drop” at GD, finger poised above the buy button.

 

[GaryTha]

100 percent on that. Williams, the modern especially, is made as if that is your only soap.

Throughout most of the life cycle of Williams mug soap, shavers bought a puck, used it until gone and then bought another. Grandpa wasn’t waiting for the “drop” at GD, finger poised above the buy button.

I agree. This morning, I completed my 200th shave on a puck of WMS. For the last 164 shaves, it was the only soap I used. I usually shave daily.

 

[Chandu]

I agree. This morning, I completed my 200th shave on a puck of WMS. For the last 164 shaves, it was the only soap I used. I usually shave daily.

I admire your discipline. I did a month of Williams. Got great shaves, but just got bored and wanted to use something else. Are you going all the way - same razor, brush and blades too?

 

[GaryTha]

I admire your discipline. I did a month of Williams. Got great shaves, but just got bored and wanted to use something else. Are you going all the way - same razor, brush and blades too?

I used a Van Der Hagen razor for all but about 8 shaves. I used a Cremo horsehair brush for all but a couple of shaves. I use Astra SP and Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades. I consider them equivalent blades. I have three more pucks waiting in line. Since I'm now only doing one pass, I may get close to 300 shaves a puck.

 

[FireDragon76]

Williams has been around for a century and a half. There used to be more soaps of this kind on store shelves, like Colgate or Old Spice, but Williams is the only one that's survived.

 

[Juanmosey]

Is Williams better with a boar brush? Years ago I got one good shave with it. Wish I could remember the secret.