"If You Can Lather Williams, Can You Lather Anything?

[cpacamper]

As a devout follower of frugality (my wife calls it being a cheapskate), I'm determined to get this cheap, readily available shaving soap to work for me, and to learn good soap lathering technique in the process. So this morning, I seated a puck in a cereal bowl and soaked it in hot tap water along with my Omega brush while I showered. Squeezed my brush, dumped the water, and proceeded to load the living daylights out of the soap by pushing, pulling, making circles, side to side, crazy motions with my brush, really working it for about a minute. Took full brush to my wet face and got lather! Nothing rich, thick, or creamy, but workable slick lather that lasted on my face and provided a dfs in 2 passes + touch up.

Here's my post-shave bowl, puck, and brush with lather remains.

I'll admit the soap left my face dry, but nothing a little balm didn't cure. I really want this to work. Probably too much

 

[talibeard]

Williams can give a rich lather for sure; you need some time and a lot of water to build it. Once you get that you may call yourself Lathermeister .

After that you still can get into lathering-trouble; I never could make really good lather out of soaps with saponified olive oil as first and main ingredient.

 

[Rufust445]

Looks like you have hard water, which is a problem with Williams, and a problem here too. If you like cheap, VDH DeLuxe soap makes much better lather and is available just about everywhere. I don't use it because it turns my face red and burns. Arko stick is also cheap and makes superb lather. I don't mind the smell either. I got through a puck of Williams by mixing in some KFM fragrance free, but Williams pucks don't last very long.

In other words, if you want to learn soap lather, starting with just about anything else but Williams would be less frustrating.

 

[cpacamper]

Lathermeister .

There should be a Brotherhood of the Williams Lathermeisters.

 

[cpacamper]

Looks like you have hard water, which is a problem with Williams, and a problem here too. If you like cheap, VDH DeLuxe soap makes much better lather and is available just about everywhere. I don't use it because it turns my face red and burns. Arko stick is also cheap and makes superb lather. I don't mind the smell either. I got through a puck of Williams by mixing in some KFM fragrance free, but Williams pucks don't last very long.

In other words, if you want to learn soap lather, starting with just about anything else but Williams would be less frustrating.

My shaving lather was much better than what's left in the bowl. Also, I can't even find VDH locally and easily, only Williams, so I'll just have to soldier on.

 

[oldtrout]

Nope. I can lather Williams, but I could not lather a puck of Classic Brand Wool Fat to save my life (five minutes with a boar brush produced a "usable" lather for me -- once).

 

[sandtrout]

ive been shaving with a Parker badger brush (a little over $30) and williams mug soap for a week now...getting a ton of lather. im probably leaving more water in my brush than you but...i also add 5-8 drops of glycerine on top of the puck or in the brush (bought at CVS drug store for $5) and that keeps the lather rich, slick, and non-drying (moist?). when i'm visiting my in laws, i buy a gallon of distilled water. they're water is HARD.

 

[vertelselaar]

I've got no problem lathering Williams, what's all the fuzz about?

 

[Neurotopia]

Williams just takes some patience. Now if you can get that utter ****e from Caswell Massey to maintain a lather for more than 30 seconds, THAT'S talent.

 

[shunka]

Been using Williams for a few weeks now. It's my first try with shave soap. I'm getting a pretty good lather with the "soak the puck first" technique. A friend gave me a stick of Arko, and I bought a Van Der Hagen luxury soap but haven't tried either yet. I'm really enjoying and having fun with the mug, soap, and brush way of shaving.

 

[Jimbob]

I started out with Williams as a kid( that's all that was available) but it's been so long I can't remember what it was like really, I may have to revisit it

 

[OldSaw]

Lathering Williams is easy. Shaving with it, on the other hand... well, that's where it always leaves me feeling incomplete.

 

[franstjohn]

I experimented with lathering Williams for some time and I finally think I have a solution to the lathering problem. I keep the Williams puck in a covered screw top container between shaves. This seems to keep the puck a little on the soft side. I add hot water to the container to soak the puck while I shower. After the shower, I dump the water and take a well shaken damp brush to the puck adding scant amounts of water as I lather the brush. I'm sure this process uses more product but I get an abundance of really nice lather and a really nice shave. At $1.50 a puck, I'm not complaining!

 

[cpacamper]

I experimented with lathering Williams for some time and I finally think I have a solution to the lathering problem. I keep the Williams puck in a covered screw top container between shaves. This seems to keep the puck a little on the soft side. I add hot water to the container to soak the puck while I shower. After the shower, I dump the water and take a well shaken damp brush to the puck adding scant amounts of water as I lather the brush. I'm sure this process uses more product but I get an abundance of really nice lather and a really nice shave. At $1.50 a puck, I'm not complaining!

Actually saw this method on another post last night, so I soaked the puck for a few minutes before bed and left wet puck covered overnight. Lather this morning was pretty darn nice, the best so far. I love making this el cheapo soap serve well!

 

[shakin_jake]

Amazon sells 12 pucks of VDH deluxe soap for less than $18. www.amazon.com/Van-Der-Hagen-Deluxe-2-5-Ounce/dp/B001A3DNY6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364412573&sr=8-1. Pretty sure they deliver to Miami

~~~here's an economical shave soap

http://stores.atlantabarber.com/-strse-283/Shaving-Mug-Soap/Detail.bok

shipping will bump the price up though...has anyone tried this soap through this vendor?



Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.

 

[J.K.T.]

I rub the puck on my wet face like a shave stick. Lather up and I am good to go. Great lather and a wonderful shave. In fact its my go to soap when I HAVE to have a perfect shave. Slickest soap out there IMHO.

 

[mharris127]

Nope. I can lather Williams, but I could not lather a puck of Classic Brand Wool Fat to save my life (five minutes with a boar brush produced a "usable" lather for me -- once).

I also hear the old formulation of Caswell-Massey shave soap was even worse than Williams. I am tempted to order the new formulation now that people say it is adequate but I think I will give them some time to clear out old stock so I know I won't get stuck with a old-stock dud.

 

[JBLA]

As a devout follower of frugality (my wife calls it being a cheapskate), I'm determined to get this cheap, readily available shaving soap to work for me...

I'll admit the soap left my face dry, but nothing a little balm didn't cure. I really want this to work. Probably too much

If the lather isn't "rich, thick or creamy", and it left your face drive, why bother with it?

Leaving aside the debate about the whether some things in life are worth spending money on (especially if you're taking them seriously enough to participate in a web forum about them), and taking your frugality as a given, Williams still isn't that great a deal, especially if you're having to add the extra cost of after-shave balm to remedy the dryness.

Williams Mug Soap costs about $1 per 1.75oz puck, or about $0.57 per oz.

For $3.30/lb, you can buy bulk glycerin shaving soap base, as used by a wide variety of smaller soapmakers who add scents and other goodies and packaging before retailing it at a higher cost. That's less than $0.21 per oz.

By using Williams, you're paying more than twice as much as you need to. Plus glycerin's the 4th ingredient on the list, so you shouldn't even need to use balm, which will save you even more.

That said, there's a reason people will pay $12-$50 for a shaving soap, and it's not because they love wasting money.

 

[dfigz]

I have one of those Marvy Rubber Shaving Mugs that I grate Williams in with a cheese grater ... this works for me.

 

[cpacamper]

If the lather isn't "rich, thick or creamy", and it left your face drive, why bother with it?

Leaving aside the debate about the whether some things in life are worth spending money on (especially if you're taking them seriously enough to participate in a web forum about them), and taking your frugality as a given, Williams still isn't that great a deal, especially if you're having to add the extra cost of after-shave balm to remedy the dryness.

Williams Mug Soap costs about $1 per 1.75oz puck, or about $0.57 per oz.

For $3.30/lb, you can buy bulk glycerin shaving soap base, as used by a wide variety of smaller soapmakers who add scents and other goodies and packaging before retailing it at a higher cost. That's less than $0.21 per oz.

That $3.30 pound of glycerine base costs $8.50 to ship! bringing the price to a bit under $.74 per ounce. Williams is the clear price winner here, I can get it at Publix, and while the lather isn't the same as my Proraso tube cream, it's thick enough for me and it's very slick. I like it well enough to keep using it.

That said, there's a reason people will pay $12-$50 for a shaving soap, and it's not because they love wasting money.

I never said people waste money spending $X on product Y, that's none of my concern and I apologise if I gave that impression.