Discovered Williams Mug

[Treynman]

Took me 3 pucks before I figured out how to make a usable lather from it, but now that I can, it's a very good performer, especially for $2.

I went out to my local value village and they had a white onion soup bowl for $1. I loaded a puck of Williams, soaked my brush and the puck during my shower, and proceeded to drain the water and build my lather. My problem before was I treated it like any other soap, so I would load my brush and then attempt to bowl lather. This always resulted in a whispy lather that did nothing for me. Lathering directly on the puck and then building the rest on the face worked like a charm! Lot's of cushion, face didn't feel to dry. Glad I found a way to use this soap since it's abundant at every pharmacy in town!

 

[VerbaVolant]

You are not the only one. I badmouthed this soap when I first used it but kept trying and not long after... success. I really like it now and get excellent shaves with it. The scent is fresh, as in air-dried clean laundry fresh. I get stable lather, very slick. This soap has a long shelf life, although I haven't used it long enough to put numbers behind that statement.
The one I use now it was yellowish and very hard, last item from a grocery shelf when they stopped carrying. I had to grate it and, it was so dry, never shredded but came out flakes and dust. Well... it still gives me great shaves.
Nice simple shaving soap.

 

[olschoolsteel]

I want to start a new club called "Skip the Scuttle" It seems everyone that has an issue with lathering a soap is trying to make lather is a separate bowl. The user, upon experimenting always finds the lather better when working it on the soap. My opinion is a scuttle is only for creams or soaps that don't come in containers big enough to lather in. Call me a traditionalist but I think every soap works better with this method.

 

[Topgumby]

My lathering bowl went back to kitchen duty.

Shave sticks rubbed right on the face, or lather built, or more exactly, loaded, on the puck is about all I do. Even on the rare occasion when I use a cream from a tube, it gets put directly on a wet brush and the face lathering begins.

It's very satisfying to build picture book lather in a bowl, but I don't need to do it to get a good shave. With soaps, like lowly Williams, that seem to do better the more the brush is loaded, it's even counterproductive.

 

[BigKev77]

I am hoping I figure it out too. You can't beat the price and it is a classic. I spent a week shaving with it everyday with several test lathers in between and still have not enjoyed it. When I did get a good lather it let my poor shaving technique shine through. I am going to stick to the cheater soaps for a while but I will figure this soap out some day.

 

[babybottomsmooth]

I took 3 pucks of Williams and threw them into the....................little food processor and minced it to shreds. I then slowly and I mean slowly added tiny amounts of water between whipping with the processor. I ended up with a sweet looking cream. It was the consistency of pancake batter. I put in an airtight Ziploc bowl with.lid and it has remained a hydrated cream style soap.

I soak my brush and shake out almost all the water. Dip brush in the Williams and palm lather (I shower shave and palm lather). I keep the lather a bit dry and beat it into a thick paste. Approx 1.5 minutes. The lather will initially grow and with more whipping it will then tighten up and get pasty. I then add a sprinkle of water into my palm and whip. The secret is in the amount of water added, a tiny bit at a time and trying to reduce to a paste after each addition of water, about twice as long as other soaps. Add water at a glacial pace and keep whipping you are almost there. I do this about three or four times to get my lather. With each watering the volume will slowly begin to increase in volume. Do this cycle until you have the lather you want. Takes me about three minutes. The lather will be primo, thick, creamy goodness. Slip, glide and cushion are awesome. It took me a while to get it down right so that I can do it perfect every time.

I think that people try to add too much water without fully incorporating all the water from the brush. Lots of whipping. Yes, Williams will take a lot of water and blow up huge but to get a dense, tight lather instead of sudsy dishwater foam it doesn't need that much. My lather looksand feels like it came from a can-o-goo.

With a damp brush I probably add about a teaspoon maybe a teaspoon and a half of water to the mix. The notion of adding more water is the opposite method which I employ. You will look like a fiddler crab when you are finished.

I love the lather and shave I get from Williams. I only have two soaps in my entire den; Vito coco and Williams. Not that other soaps aren't better, I like these two the best. Aside from these two soaps I am all creams and cans.

I am glad you got it figured and it only cost five bucks worth of soap. Lol

Do you feel it was what you expected after getting the lather right? I thought it sucked until I got the lather right.

 

[Jarick]

I've found the same thing with VDH Deluxe. Bowl lathering resulted in foamy lather with no redeeming qualities. Face lathering gave me a slick lather that's very usable.