Bad first experience whit Williams soap today.

[ShaveAddict]

Yesterday i bought 2 pucks of Williams and i gave it a try this morning.
Weew, it's the worse soap i have used so far, the lather dries up 1 mins after you applied it.
How do you guys are able to get a good lather whit it?

 

[masonjarjar]

Yesterday i bought 2 pucks of Williams and i gave it a try this morning.
Weew, it's the worse soap i have used so far, the lather dries up 1 mins after you applied it.
How do you guys are able to get a good lather whit it?

it's always bad the first time. you really have to use it every day for the puck to get moistened.. but no one really has the patience for it.

 

[Saltchuck]

it's always bad the first time. you really have to use it every day for the puck to get moistened.. but no one really has the patience for it.

I beg to differ. I for one have the patience for it, and the patience pays off with a very nice shave!

Masonjarjar does have a point that the puck needs to get moistened. I find a splash with water from a hot pot is enough. I also use a good boar brush (mine is an Omega 80097). Here is what I do:

1. Soak the brush in hot water while you shower. Splash a little hot water on the puck.

2. Shake out the brush well (4 or 5 hard shakes).

3. Spend some time on the puck. You are looking for thick, sticky lather at this point, and plenty of it. 20 or 30 seconds seems to work for me, but you might want to try longer.

4. Apply the thick lather to a wet face with your brush. It's much too thick and "sticky" at this point to shave with, but that's okay. Work it in.

5. Dip the tip of the brush in hot water and work it into the lather.

6. Repeat step 5 until the lather is moist and creamy.

7. Enjoy the shave!

If your Williams lather is dry and doesn't work well, you are simply not doing it right.

Good luck!

 

[Alacrity59]

It lathers very very quickly but that very quick lather is useless. You need to keep loading your brush until it is full. I've not timed it but I'd guess it takes about two minutes. Once you can do this you can face or bowl lather. Add a bit of warm/hot water but not too much or you will have that disappearing lather again.

 

[Mr.Max]

I think how a lot of guys get it to work is called super-lather!

 

[Gobias]

I also tried Williams for the first time this week. I was amazed at how fast a thick, rich, delicious looking lather developed...I was equally surprised at how fast it dried up on my skin. Through some experimentation I have found you just need to work it more and add water to get it more hydrated.

So far I like how my skin feels after, it leaves a very soft feeling. The cushion and lubrication it provides for shaving doesn't seem that great however.

I think Williams requires a little more experience and love to become a great soap to use!

 

[masonjarjar]

I beg to differ. I for one have the patience for it, and the patience pays off with a very nice shave!

Good luck!

I should have said "the majority" don't have time for it. Williams does have a small fanclub here..

Actually, after using it for over a decade, I find myself going back to it less and less.. but it is a worthy soap!

 

[ShaveAddict]

I will try to load the brush longer tomorrow, that product must not be around since 1840 for nothing.

 

[ShaveAddict]

Btw, should i start whit a brush full of water or should i squeeze it a little before starting to work the lather?

 

[professorchaos]

I thought you wrote "First Bad Experience.." My smart assed response was going to be: first bad experience? My only experience with Williams was bad.

 

[bookamatches]

If your Williams lather is dry and doesn't work well, you are simply not doing it right.

+1

 

[mrscottishman]

May I (ahem), humbly suggest the following steps to solve your Williams problem?

1. Put your shaving mug in hot water while you shower to start the process.

2. Rewarm the water around your mug when you get out of the shower.

3. Next, put a plentiful amount of hot water into the mug, don't skimp here. You want to cover the puck.

4. Run hot water over your brush and without shaking it insert it into the mug.

5. Press the brush frimly against the soap at the bottom of the mug and make a circular motion with the brush while pressing downward.

6. The puck of williams should now be loose in the mug and spin if you did the previous steps correctly.

7. Now that the puck is loose dump it into the trash.

8. Rinse the mug thoroughly and go to walmart and get some VDH shaving soap.

I hope this helps.

(I am in so much trouble with the Williams guys now, I have to hide!)

best wishes,
mrscottishman

 

[americanarmsdealer]

I posted this on another forum before I discovered the joys of B&B, and thought I would repost it here so everyone wouldn't think Williams is useless crap that no one can build a decent lather with. I actually like the stuff, and will continue to use it until I decide to try something different. I have no idea when that may come about, though.

I bought my first brush (a Burmashave) and shave soap (Williams Mug Shave Soap) on Monday. I've been experimenting trying to figure out how to build lather, and last night I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the results.

Day 1: I took an old straight walled coffee cup out of the kitchen that is way too small for actually drinking coffee out of (I drink mass quantities of caffeine in the morning, and would get nothing done but refilling this particular cup if I drank out of it), dropped the soap in the bottom, and then used a second, larger coffee cup filled with hot water to soak my brush in while I took a shower. When I got out, I dumped the hot water out of the 2nd coffee cup, squeezed the excess water out of the brush, and carefully loaded the brush with soap. I then transferred the brush to the 2nd coffee cup and tried to whip the lather. I learned some important things: Too little water, and the soap won't lather hardly at all. Too much water, and the soap just drips off of your face. And don't use just your wrist to move the brush, you'll get tired in no time. Move from the shoulder(I think...It worked much better for me that way.) I shaved with the too thin lather(still using cheap disposable razors), then rebuilt the lather and relathered, doing a much better job of controlling the amount of water the 2nd time. Still got a much better shave than just using the canned cream stuff.

Day 2: I used almost the same technique, but didn't squeeze the water out of my brush before loading soap into it, and used a 6 inch pyrex glass bowl instead of the 2nd coffee cup this time. A little better result, and a much thicker lather, but not great. I think I did a better job of controlling how much water went into the lather this time.

Day 3: Used the pyrex bowl only as a kind of warming dish for my mug. I set the mug in the bowl, set the bowl in the sink, and then filled the mug and bowl with hot water from the tap. Then I dropped the brush into the filled mug and took a shower. After showering, I dumped the water out of both the mug and bowl, and then refilled the bowl with fresh hot water and set it on the counter. I actually made the lather in the mug on top of the puck of soap this time, with amazing results. The lather came out rich, thick, and creamy! Lathered up, and set the mug back in the warm water in the bowl. Shaved, and then built up the lather a little bit, which only took about 5 seconds. Relathered, and then went for a 2nd pass. Awesome results! And I'm still just using cheap disposables.

Not using cheap disposables anymore, but I'm still having great results using the day 3 method! That is, until I can drop some coin on a Georgetown Pottery G5 Scuttle. Gonna be a while, I think.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

I have tried Williams also, and I was not to impressed with it.. I guess patience is the requirement for this soap. So as usual YMMV applies. For me I think that there are plenty of better soaps that you can get locally and skip this one.

 

[Saltchuck]

Btw, should i start whit a brush full of water or should i squeeze it a little before starting to work the lather?

You need to get the right balance between soap and water. You have [at least] 2 choices:

1. Start dry and add water as you go. Shake/squeeze the brush to get excess water out. Swirl the brush on the puck to add soap. When you get plenty of soap, and I mean a lot of soap, the lather will be way too thick and sticky. Then start adding water a little at a time until the lather is rich and creamy and moist. This is what works for me.

2. Start wet and add product. Start with a lot of water in your brush and keep working the brush on the puck until the lather is right. You'll produce a lot of worthless, bubbly lather this way, but if you persist, eventually you will get good lather. It's a lot of work, but it can be done.

My theory is that people who have trouble with Williams use the second approach, but quit halfway when the lather is still worthless and bubbly.

Williams is not for everyone. In particular, it's not for wimps!

 

[mrscottishman]

Williams is not for everyone. In particular, it's not for wimps!

+1
The smell certainly isn't!

(here come the williams guys, I got to go hide again)
mrscottishman

 

[DoughBoy68]

I use sort of a combination + of what every one here does. I add an extra ingredient to my Williams Soap.......glycerin. You would be surprised what 4-5 drops of it will do for Williams. Here is what I do;
Use a VDH bowl filled with hot water to soak a VDH boar brush. I let it sit under hot running water while I'm steaming my face. Also add some hot water to soap, just enough to cover the puck. After I soak the face I dump water from bowl & soap and shake water from brush, 3-4 good shakes. Load the brush with Williams, squirt 4-5 drops of glycerin in bowl and proceed to whip with brush turning bowl occasionally to thoroughly mix. The lather ends up thick and creamy and stays pretty moist for 3 passes. I never could get Williams to lather good until I added glycerin.

To keep the lather warm attached pics show the setup I've been using for a couple of weeks and works pretty good for me with minimal expense, third pass lather is still fairly warm. The bowl is part of the VDH set which includes soap, bowl and boar brush for around $8. The white dish was $ .25 at a yard sale.....now that's a fancy, high dollar scuttle!

 

[michiganlover]

I thought you wrote "First Bad Experience.." My smart assed response was going to be: first bad experience? My only experience with Williams was bad.

+1

Williams is by far the worst shaving soap I have yet to experience. It smells awful, and I can't get it to generate an adequate lather no matter how hard I try.

I have given up on it, as far superior products (cough...VDH...cough) are available for just a few pennies more.

May I (ahem), humbly suggest the following steps to solve your Williams problem?

7. Now that the puck is loose dump it into the trash.

8. Rinse the mug thoroughly and go to walmart and get some VDH shaving soap.

I hope this helps.

(I am in so much trouble with the Williams guys now, I have to hide!)

best wishes,
mrscottishman

+1,000,000.

The best place for Williams is in the trash. Why waste your time trying to get a foul smelling product to work properly?

 

[professorchaos]

May I (ahem), humbly suggest the following steps to solve your Williams problem?

1. Put your shaving mug in hot water while you shower to start the process.

2. Rewarm the water around your mug when you get out of the shower.

3. Next, put a plentiful amount of hot water into the mug, don't skimp here. You want to cover the puck.

4. Run hot water over your brush and without shaking it insert it into the mug.

5. Press the brush frimly against the soap at the bottom of the mug and make a circular motion with the brush while pressing downward.

6. The puck of williams should now be loose in the mug and spin if you did the previous steps correctly.

7. Now that the puck is loose dump it into the trash.

8. Rinse the mug thoroughly and go to walmart and get some VDH shaving soap.

I hope this helps.

(I am in so much trouble with the Williams guys now, I have to hide!)

best wishes,
mrscottishman

Classic.

 

[ShaveAddict]

May I (ahem), humbly suggest the following steps to solve your Williams problem?

1. Put your shaving mug in hot water while you shower to start the process.

2. Rewarm the water around your mug when you get out of the shower.

3. Next, put a plentiful amount of hot water into the mug, don't skimp here. You want to cover the puck.

4. Run hot water over your brush and without shaking it insert it into the mug.

5. Press the brush frimly against the soap at the bottom of the mug and make a circular motion with the brush while pressing downward.

6. The puck of williams should now be loose in the mug and spin if you did the previous steps correctly.

7. Now that the puck is loose dump it into the trash.

8. Rinse the mug thoroughly and go to walmart and get some VDH shaving soap.

I hope this helps.

(I am in so much trouble with the Williams guys now, I have to hide!)

best wishes,
mrscottishman

i was reading your post looking for the right way to go whit the Williams.