The Dreaded Modern Williams Mug Shave Soap Review

[BigD]

You doubt me? I'll fall for your ploy. The PM's Scuttle is at the very bottom of the pic.
A Sierra cup fits on top of most other cups, BTW. If you plan on doing this setup yourself.

Nice. Very cool.

 

[Guitar10]

here's the results I get whit modern Williams

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

I like Williams best as a stick for face lathering.

Stickified Williams Mug Soap

• John Rose
• Dec 7, 2016

Williams Mug Soap mashed into an empty glue stick container.

or

Stickified "Brutus Vilius" - Stuffing the Container

• John Rose
• Jan 10, 2017

I got 82 g of mixed Brut aftershave and Williams Mug Shaving soap mashed into an empty Speed...

The proportions of the mug are a bit off for my taste, but that sure looks spiffy.

Ooh...I'm going to try to do this with one of these old Williams stick Holders I ordered

Any advice on forming it?

 

[BigD]

@Guitar10
Were your ancestors from Alsace-Lorraine that made it over to the Americas prior to the Napoleon Empire in France? You speak what sounds like French, but you are built like a German. You look like you could be one of my cousins. I'm assuming you are French Canadian.

 

[Guitar10]

@Guitar10
Were your ancestors from Alsace-Lorraine that made it over to the Americas prior to the Napoleon Empire in France? You speak what sounds like French, but you are built like a German. You look like you could be one of my cousins. I'm assuming you are French Canadian.

I'm french Canadian(Acadian)from New Brunswick.

 

[John Rose]

Ooh...I'm going to try to do this with one of these old Williams stick Holders I ordered

Any advice on forming it?

Not a clue, really. I have one similar to yours, I think, and as near as I can make out, it's simply a container for a loose stick, which you could then toss into a dopp bag.With a solid bottom and a tight-fitting stick, there'd be no way to push the stick out.
They sold a "holder top" version a bit later, but the caps on those go inside the tube.

If you want to make a loose stick anyway, I'd try finding a length of PVC pipe (or something similar) with an inside diameter that is a millimeter or two smaller than the inside diameter of the metal Williams tube. Grate the Williams Mug, add a wee bit of water, stuff it into the length of pipe, and let it, I dunno, "cure" for a day or two. Then push it out and trim to length. Maybe also wrap a bit of aluminum foil around it like an Arko stick, In which case choose a thinner mold.

I suspect the earlier tin tube was a disposable item, like any tin can, and it may corrode if it was used to store wet soap sticks indefinitely.

 

[BrooklynSalt]

Continuing my shave soap and cream reviews;​

This is my review of Williams Mug Shave Soap. Products used during the shower and shave were as follows;​

1. Pears Soap with Mint Extract Bath Soap
2. Dollar Shave Club Face Wash
3. The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Scrub
4. Williams Mug Shave Soap
5. Marvy Mug
6. Q-Shave scuttle
7. Omega 49 Shave Brush
8. Rockwell 6S on R5
9. Dorco Prime (2nd use)
10. Gentleman Jon’s Alum Block
11. Aqua Velva Aftershave
12. Brut Antiperspirant Deodorant

The following process is what I used for my SOTD with the Williams Mug Shave Soap. This is also the same process I use with all my shave soaps;​

1. While I brushed my teeth I made sure the scuttle ran under the hot water
   
2. I filled the water hollow and the lathering bowl portion of scuttle with hot water
3. Rinsed brush with hot water
4. Placed brush in Marvy Mug with Williams Shave Soap
5. Filled Marvy Mug containing Williams Mug Shave Soap for blooming
6. Took shower
7. Took out brush and rung out excess water
8. Used Bloom water from puck/bowl as pre-shave
9. Dumped scuttle water from both water hollow and lathering bowl area
10. Refilled water hollow with fresh hot water
11. Loaded damp brush from puck creating a cream
12. Started working the cream in the bowl
13. Added hot water via finger tips until desired lather is produced
14. Lather my face
15. Cleaned my glasses with finger tip of lather
16. Waited another minute to let the lather work its magic
17. Pass I WTG
18. Lather face
19. Pass II Lower Jaw to Nose
20. Lather face
21. Pass III Chin to Ear
22. Check for pick ups (None Needed)
23. Scrub face with some of the leftover lather (Kevy Shaves style)
24. Rinse face
25. Apply alum to Face
26. Rinse Alum Block
27. Clean equipment
28. Rinse off Alum from face
29. Dry off
30. Apply Aftershave
31. Apply Deodorant

Now for my thoughts. Just a heads up. Due to my process of bowl lathering unless the soap/cream is just horrible I always get a great lather. It takes longer, but the control of how much water is used really helps dial in the lather just right. Some soaps/creams take longer than others. So it is hard for me to find a soap/cream I dislike.​

1. Time to Lather
   1. Takes a lot of time and patience
      1. Once you think you have it, you don’t
      2. Once you think you have it again, you don’t
      3. When you are about to give up, you get it
      4. Very thirsty soap
2. Quality of Lather
   1. Great quality
      1. If you do it right
3. Cushion
   1. Great Cushion
      1. If you do it right
4. Slickness
   1. Whilst lathered
      1. The slickest I’ve had yet
   2. After Pass (Bare Wet Skin)
      1. Almost as slick as with the lather
5. Scent
   1. Must get used to
   2. Like an extreme industrial soap
   3. The pairing of the Aqua Velva is perfect
   4. Works great with any other EdT or EdC due to no real lasting smell
6. Rinse
   1. Rinsing Clean takes effort
7. Post Shave
   1. Meh
      1. Just like using a descent face soap
      2. Not moisturizing
      3. Not drying

This is a very polarizing soap. I love this soap. It has a great slickness and great lather. However, to get a good lather takes time, patience, and technique. I see a lot of folks mixing their pucks with other things for a better scent and faster lathering. There’s a really nice guy who has his own YouTube Channel who speaks against even blooming the puck. If he reads this he’d probably say something like, “Don’t molest the Williams.” I personally do not deviate from the process unless the process does not work. My process with this soap gives me a great lather that does not dissipate. If someone put a gun to my head and told me I was allowed only one soap for the rest of my life, it would be Williams. I wish Combe would bring back some Williams Mug Shave Soap swag. Like a mug. That would be nice.​

I have bought this soap in bulk. I have over thirty pucks of this stored away for safe keeping. If the world ends I will still be able to have great shaves as long as I can find water and purify it. I highly doubt this is a needed concern, but I am not running out of Williams any time soon. For about a dollar a puck, I believe it’s well worth the money. This is the shave soap Wyatt Earp would have used. There’s just something about that that makes me smile.​

I do recommend it if you are like me and accept challenges knowing the payoff in the end is worth it. If you do not have the patience, don’t buy this soap. You’ll just become frustrated. Are there easier to lather soaps with a nicer scent? Of course, but there’s just something about achieving a top tier lather with top tier slickness with a product that’s so inexpensive.​

Fantastic review. Now I need to get a puck of Williams.

 

[MyOldKentuckyHome]

Not a clue, really. I have one similar to yours, I think, and as near as I can make out, it's simply a container for a loose stick, which you could then toss into a dopp bag.With a solid bottom and a tight-fitting stick, there'd be no way to push the stick out.
They sold a "holder top" version a bit later, but the caps on those go inside the tube.

If you want to make a loose stick anyway, I'd try finding a length of PVC pipe (or something similar) with an inside diameter that is a millimeter or two smaller than the inside diameter of the metal Williams tube. Grate the Williams Mug, add a wee bit of water, stuff it into the length of pipe, and let it, I dunno, "cure" for a day or two. Then push it out and trim to length. Maybe also wrap a bit of aluminum foil around it like an Arko stick, In which case choose a thinner mold.

I suspect the earlier tin tube was a disposable item, like any tin can, and it may corrode if it was used to store wet soap sticks indefinitely.

Thanks

 

[BigD]

Fantastic review. Now I need to get a puck of Williams.

As my DS used to say, "Get some!"

 

[rreynoso]

Great review! Williams it's my choice for when I want to take my time and enjoy... In this mug never had a problem

Cheers

 

[BrooklynSalt]

I’m in

 

[BigD]

View attachment 966971 I’m in

NICE!

 

[BrianP]

I picked some up last night, thinking "why not". I'm on a business trip now so engineered a shaving mug out of the disposable coffee cups in the room by tearing off the first couple inches off the top. First pass was good, second pass lather was fading, but still slick. I blame the user at this point.

 

[steveclarkus]

It takes me less than two minutes to get a good non-dissipating lather with this. I don’t get this problem so many people have lathering Williams.

 

[BrooklynSalt]

Just tried it

Soaked in hot water in a mug w Semogue brush during shower.

Drained water
Loaded heavily
Face lathered heavily. Added water

Good soap. Think lather, very slick. Did not dissipate. More mild on my skin than Arko. Arko burned my mug.

 

[kluber]

Similar just tried modern Williams for first time last week. Also soaked the puck. Used a boar brush.

Lather was okay. Didn’t dissipate on me either. Smell is pretty subtle. Smells better than Arko to me. Not my favorite soap but wasn’t bad. only tried it once so far.

 

[DE_enthusiast]

Still newer to DE shaving and about the 4th time with the Williams soap. Really like using it warm with my PM scuttle setup. 'Paint the fence' then work it in. A thick warm coat and repaint to the desired thickness.
It seems to work at it's best heated and tames the more soapy smell. Last shave it left such a slick protective coat and with my Gillette adjustable set at 3 with a Persona red blade, I rarely ever felt the blade pass. Had to tell myself to slow down. so I don't chisel off a corner of chin or lip.

No dry soap irritation this time out either. Able to finish with some Clubman for the first time. Success.

Have two white mug style scuttles with hole drains on the way. I could perhaps put half a puck in the drain side and form my warm lather directly?

 

[EricSki]

I wanted the challenge of lathering Williams so I went to 7 different stores looking for it. I found none of them carried this soap anymore. I was able to get a puck on Walgreens.com for $1.50 and free shipping to the store.

When I was lathering it it was literally as easy as proasso or Arko to lather. It just blew up with thick lather. I didn’t soak it or anything. Just wet the puck, dropped it in the mug, and within seconds it filled the whole mug with lather so thick it didn’t dissipate hours after the shave (still foam in the mug and sink). I thought I might have gotten an old puck but I don’t think so.

Not sure if it’s my softened well water or what but this soap was awesome. Might have to order a bunch before I can’t get it that cheap anymore.

 

[Bogeyman]

...Might have to order a bunch before I can’t get it that cheap anymore.

I wouldn't fear a sudden price increase after 179 yrs.

 

[EricSki]

I wouldn't fear a sudden price increase after 179 yrs.

Ha ha. No I meant in case I can’t find it. I was only able to get it on Walgreens.com, good thing for the free shipping to store.