MWF 2024 reformulation

[Barbarian80]

Not the best, not the worst

From my experience that is spot on for even OG tallow MWF.

 

[Goblin]

I have four unopened Palmolive sticks.

Treasure them. Or cash in!

I have one left, which I will never open.

I wonder if the new MWF formulation with lauric acid will turn out to be the same as the current Tabac formulation. It seems like after the old factory that made the tallow sticks and tallow Tabac shut down, there is a "new" factory that is producing the base that ends up in several products that had to find new manufacturers (e.g. Speick and Tabac). It could be this is the place that's responsible for the new MWF formulation too.

 

[Lane101]

20 quid a stick? Wow! I'll have to have a look at what I've got left!

Edit: just checked and I have four unopened Palmolive sticks.

We see something similar here in the U.S. with Williams Shave Soap since it was discontinued in early 2022. We see it posted on Amazon and Ebay for as much as $35-$40 for a 50 gram puck that we were purchasing at local supermarkets for 99cents just before it was discontinued. Recently a fellow B&B member posted on a purchase of 5 pucks for $20 each.

If not for the nostalgia value the above does tempt one to sell their reserve stock and and replace it with lower cost similar or better quality soaps that are still available with money left over.

 

[Lane101]

Treasure them. Or cash in!

I have one left, which I will never open.

View attachment 1798868

I wonder if the new MWF formulation with lauric acid will turn out to be the same as the current Tabac formulation. It seems like after the old factory that made the tallow sticks and tallow Tabac shut down, there is a "new" factory that is producing the base that ends up in several products that had to find new manufacturers (e.g. Speick and Tabac). It could be this is the place that's responsible for the new MWF formulation too.

If it is similar it will be a good soap. I currently use the new formula Tabac as part of my rotation and it is excellent.

 

[brucered]

We see something similar here in the U.S. with Williams Shave Soap since it was discontinued in early 2022. We see it posted on Amazon and Ebay for as much as $35-$40 for a 50 gram puck that we were purchasing at local supermarkets for 99cents just before it was discontinued. Recently a fellow B&B member posted on a purchase of 5 pucks for $20 each.

If not for the nostalgia value the above does tempt one to sell their reserve stock and and replace it with lower cost similar or better quality soaps that are still available with money left over.

You couldn't give the 99 cent Williams soap away for many years here on B&B. It was the butt of jokes, people tempted others to use it 3017 style and many mixed it with other soaps just to get it to work. For some, it was a boar brush break in soap.

Now that it's gone, it is the best soap ever and everyone wants it.

If you offered me a free puck & $20 to 3017 it, I wouldn't do it. There were better soaps available when it was around and there are still better soaps available.

Forum mentality drives people to want crappy discontinued soaps. I'm not buying into it.

There have definitely been some top tier soaps that have vanished or reformulated over my dozen or so years here: Tallow AoS, IM, I Coloniali, Calani, LaToja Manatiales, Tallow Haslinger and recently Tallow Tabac & MWF, Palmolive Sticks and probably a bunch I have missed, especially in the smaller Artisan category.

In the end, life and shaves go on. I didn't stock up on my all time favorite soap Haslinger when it was on its way out. In return, I found Tabac and it's my new favorite, which I did stock up on some of those. But if I hadn't, I would have moved on and found a new favorite.

I for one refuse to pay $$$ premium prices for a soap that is no longer available. In all honesty, you could take them all away and leave me with Proraso Blue cream in the tube and I'd be happy.

 

[zoidberg]

I didn't stock up on my all time favorite soap Haslinger when it was on its way out.

I've been using the latest Haslinger Schafmilch (there was another one straight after the tallow version) and it's an excellent lather. I never used the tallow one but I'd have no qualms recommending the formulation I have.

Treasure them. Or cash in!

I have one left, which I will never open.

View attachment 1798868

I wonder if the new MWF formulation with lauric acid will turn out to be the same as the current Tabac formulation. It seems like after the old factory that made the tallow sticks and tallow Tabac shut down, there is a "new" factory that is producing the base that ends up in several products that had to find new manufacturers (e.g. Speick and Tabac). It could be this is the place that's responsible for the new MWF formulation too.

I read (on another forum) soap manufacturers use 'soap noodles' (base ingredients) to produce their soaps and the tallow ones had either become too expensive or were no longer made by the suppliers.

Even though the factory that makes Tabac/Speick is in Germany, and the one that makes MWF is in the UK, it could be they both share a common supplier that provides them with their lauric acid soap noodles.

 

[KW Driver]

You couldn't give the 99 cent Williams soap away for many years here on B&B. It was the butt of jokes, people tempted others to use it 3017 style and many mixed it with other soaps just to get it to work. For some, it was a boar brush break in soap.

Now that it's gone, it is the best soap ever and everyone wants it.

If you offered me a free puck & $20 to 3017 it, I wouldn't do it. There were better soaps available when it was around and there are still better soaps available.

Forum mentality drives people to want crappy discontinued soaps. I'm not buying into it.

There have definitely been some top tier soaps that have vanished or reformulated over my dozen or so years here: Tallow AoS, IM, I Coloniali, Calani, LaToja Manatiales, Tallow Haslinger and recently Tallow Tabac & MWF, Palmolive Sticks and probably a bunch I have missed, especially in the smaller Artisan category.

In the end, life and shaves go on. I didn't stock up on my all time favorite soap Haslinger when it was on its way out. In return, I found Tabac and it's my new favorite, which I did stock up on some of those. But if I hadn't, I would have moved on and found a new favorite.

I for one refuse to pay $$$ premium prices for a soap that is no longer available. In all honesty, you could take them all away and leave me with Proraso Blue cream in the tube and I'd be happy.

I mean… easy now. At $30-40 a puck I could sell off my last Williams and be in the black for a week or so.

I tried those horrid things one last time. Ended up with a three pack. One got used as body soap (also not the greatest). One became the base of a frankensoap and did ok with a couple Sterling samples worth of tallow in it, and it’s got some other tallow scraps now. And one in the box.

People here got mightily offended when I said I’d get a better, easier to build lather off a $0.39 bar of Ivory soap, and I still stand my that assertion. Did that for lather and shaved with a $5 Gold Dollar 66 just fine to annoy members of an other, so now defunct forum.

I think I’ve got 2 1/2 pucks of tallow Fat, 12 1/2 sticks, and about a 90g tin of Speick, and transitioned seamlessly to Hasslinger’s Aloe Vera.

I suspect I’ll survive the great EU tallow purge.

 

[Lane101]

You couldn't give the 99 cent Williams soap away for many years here on B&B. It was the butt of jokes, people tempted others to use it 3017 style and many mixed it with other soaps just to get it to work. For some, it was a boar brush break in soap.

Now that it's gone, it is the best soap ever and everyone wants it.

If you offered me a free puck & $20 to 3017 it, I wouldn't do it. There were better soaps available when it was around and there are still better soaps available.

Forum mentality drives people to want crappy discontinued soaps. I'm not buying into it.

There have definitely been some top tier soaps that have vanished or reformulated over my dozen or so years here: Tallow AoS, IM, I Coloniali, Calani, LaToja Manatiales, Tallow Haslinger and recently Tallow Tabac & MWF, Palmolive Sticks and probably a bunch I have missed, especially in the smaller Artisan category.

In the end, life and shaves go on. I didn't stock up on my all time favorite soap Haslinger when it was on its way out. In return, I found Tabac and it's my new favorite, which I did stock up on some of those. But if I hadn't, I would have moved on and found a new favorite.

I for one refuse to pay $$$ premium prices for a soap that is no longer available. In all honesty, you could take them all away and leave me with Proraso Blue cream in the tube and I'd be happy.

Some shared your view. In reality there were a wide range of views on Williams that ranged from your perspective to those that loved it. After learning how to lather Williams it with a boar brush was my initial favorite when I returned to DE. It is the hardest of all my soaps and will always be part of my rotation in some way. It's also a key part of my excellent custom blends.

Now that I've lots of experience with other soaps my take on why Williams was challenging for some is that most other soaps are softer (MWF is the exception though its larger puck does make it easier than Williams to load) and formed in larger pucks that make them easier to lather often with 15-20 seconds of loading time. Lathering Williams like other soaps is unlikely to work well. A single Williams puck will require more time than that and because it is so hard a stiffer boar works best.

When it was discontinued I decided to experiment with alternatives such as Arko, Razorock What-the-Puck, MWF, Tabac, Cyril R. Salter and more. Currently enjoy a variety of commercials soaps though at 99 cents a puck Williams was one of the best value available in the U.S. At $20+ per puck there are better options out there - guess that some will still purchase it for nostalgia value or as a collectable for display.

You are right that once Williams was discontinued most posts have been in favor of it bemoaning its passing. The main remaining polarizing budget soap is Arko with most of the debate focused on its scent.

P.S. Which version of Tabac are you using? Tallow based or the new formulation?

 

[brucered]

P.S. Which version of Tabac are you using? Tallow based or the new formulation?

Tallow for me. Connaught had the tallow at original prices in the Refill Stick and Shave Stick size, up until about a month ago. I stocked up at the end of 2023.

 

[Lane101]

I mean… easy now. At $30-40 a puck I could sell off my last Williams and be in the black for a week or so.

I tried those horrid things one last time. Ended up with a three pack. One got used as body soap (also not the greatest). One became the base of a frankensoap and did ok with a couple Sterling samples worth of tallow in it, and it’s got some other tallow scraps now. And one in the box.

People here got mightily offended when I said I’d get a better, easier to build lather off a $0.39 bar of Ivory soap, and I still stand my that assertion. Did that for lather and shaved with a $5 Gold Dollar 66 just fine to annoy members of an other, so now defunct forum.

I think I’ve got 2 1/2 pucks of tallow Fat, 12 1/2 sticks, and about a 90g tin of Speick, and transitioned seamlessly to Hasslinger’s Aloe Vera.

I suspect I’ll survive the great EU tallow purge.

Since you have one Williams in the box the link below outlines what I've found to be the best way to lather it if you want to try it again. The key is a stiff brush and lots of loading time so you can load around a gram of soap.

The Secret to Easy Williams Mug Soap Thick Lather: A Good Quality/Low Cost Boar Brush

Hi Everyone. My new quality Blondie boar brush easily produces excellent lather from a puck of Williams Mug shave soap. Details as follows: Background: I've been a fan of Williams Mug Shave Soap since my return to DE shaving a couple years ago thanks to its glide and slickness. Also it is the...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[KW Driver]

Some shared your view. In reality there were a wide range of views on Williams that ranged from your perspective to those that loved it. After learning how to lather Williams it with a boar brush was my initial favorite when I returned to DE. It is the hardest of all my soaps and will always be part of my rotation in some way. It's also a key part of my excellent custom blends.

Now that I've lots of experience with other soaps my take on why Williams was challenging for some is that most other soaps are softer (MWF is the exception though its larger puck does make it easier than Williams to load) and formed in larger pucks that make them easier to lather often with 15-20 seconds of loading time. Lathering Williams like other soaps is unlikely to work well. A single Williams puck will require more time than that and because it is so hard a stiffer boar works best.

When it was discontinued I decided to experiment with alternatives such as Arko, Razorock What-the-Puck, MWF, Tabac, Cyril R. Salter and more. Currently enjoy a variety of commercials soaps though at 99 cents a puck Williams was one of the best value available in the U.S. At $20+ per puck there are better options out there - guess that some will still purchase it for nostalgia value or as a collectable for display.

You are right that once Williams was discontinued most posts have been in favor of it bemoaning its passing. The main remaining polarizing budget soap is Arko with most of the debate focused on its scent.

P.S. Which version of Tabac are you using? Tallow based or the new formulation?

For me, keeping the Fat hydrated was/is the key. Swell it up without getting goopy, leave a lid on to maintain a microclimate and it’s dead simple to use. If it never develops a crust… it’s just fine. If it does… wet it. If it cracks, grate it, wet it, and set it.

 

[KW Driver]

Since you have one Williams in the box the link below outlines what I've found to be the best way to lather it if you want to try it again. The key is a stiff brush and lots of loading time so you can load around a gram of soap.

The Secret to Easy Williams Mug Soap Thick Lather: A Good Quality/Low Cost Boar Brush

Hi Everyone. My new quality Blondie boar brush easily produces excellent lather from a puck of Williams Mug shave soap. Details as follows: Background: I've been a fan of Williams Mug Shave Soap since my return to DE shaving a couple years ago thanks to its glide and slickness. Also it is the...

www.badgerandblade.com

Thanks, but nah. I got it figured out with the body soap puck. But it still wasn’t good enough for me. Slick while shaving, but still too drying post shave.

Imma bank it a few years and retire on the eBay sale probably

 

[Lane101]

Tallow for me. Connaught had the tallow at original prices in the Refill Stick and Shave Stick size, up until about a month ago. I stocked up at the end of 2023.

Sounds familiar. Connaught is great and was where I've acquired most of my newer shaving soaps back in the fall of '22 when the exchange rate fell. Was landing old formula MWF for under $6 U.S. a puck and new formula Tabac for under $7. Stocked up on these and others. Too bad Connaught dropped their free U.S. airmail on larger orders since the first of the year.

 

[Lane101]

Thanks, but nah. I got it figured out with the body soap puck. But it still wasn’t good enough for me. Slick while shaving, but still too drying post shave.

Imma bank it a few years and retire on the eBay sale probably

I'll let you sell yours first. With ready supermarket access to 99 cent pucks of Williams, before it was discontinued, I have so many that if I decided to sell them I could cause the market price to collapse.

 

[HymixBB]

Treasure them. Or cash in!

I have one left, which I will never open.

View attachment 1798868

I wonder if the new MWF formulation with lauric acid will turn out to be the same as the current Tabac formulation. It seems like after the old factory that made the tallow sticks and tallow Tabac shut down, there is a "new" factory that is producing the base that ends up in several products that had to find new manufacturers (e.g. Speick and Tabac). It could be this is the place that's responsible for the new MWF formulation too.

I think I have one old Tabac stick, too. Will have to double-check.