The "Infamous" Wilkinson Blue Soap Puck

[huck1995]

Dear Fellow Shavers,

A few days ago, I picked up the new Wilkinson Sword metal DE razor (from what I gather, it is not available in the US), but when I went to buy it there was two options:
Option A.) The razor and 5 WS blades for 18.95€
or Option B.) The razor, 5 WS blades, a WS brush, and the infamous WS soap puck in the blue tub for 14.95€

Well, I didn't need the brush, and based off of previous reviews I have read of the soap, I didn't want the soap, but what the heck, I save 4€ by getting them both along with the razor and blades, so that's what I got.
The reviews I saw of the soap puck were pretty much mostly negative, with some people complaining about the scent, but most people saying it doesn't lather worth a darn. I've already got several soaps and creams I quite like, so I don't have to rely on using the WS soap, but I figured what the heck, might as well use it to break in some cheap brushes and see if I can actually get the thing to lather.
When I first opened the tub, the scent hit me like a brick wall. Actually, I don't mind the scent, it's definitely not one of my favorites of soaps I have, but I kind of like it. Reminds me of a white antiperspirant "fresh" scent, with maybe a bit of citrus mixed in (grapefruit?). In any case, it smells clean, but man oh man is it strong!
The first two days I tried to lather it, I had almost no success. Sure, I got the soap to lather up on the puck, but no matter how long I tried to build the lather on my hand (since I wasn't using it to shave with, my hand was my face's surrogate), I was only able to get a thin, pathetic lather, which dissipated relatively quickly from both my hand and the brush, so that I wasn't able to make a "second pass" without going back to the puck. Today however, I actually managed to get what I would consider a decent lather! I'm not an expert by any stretch, and most of my creams and soaps still make a much better lather, but I actually was able to make a thicker (comparatively) lather than before, which persisted just fine on my hand for 5 minutes, and on the brush well enough for a second application. I can't speak to how well it cushions for shaving, but just that I was able to get a persistent lather out of the thing (with a cheap brush that I never use, mind you).

How have you folks gotten on with this soap? Anyone use it on a regular basis? Anyone have any foolproof tricks to get it to lather nicely?
Perhaps one day I'll actually shave with it..if I'm bored and don't want to use one of my other (rapidly growing selection of) soaps or creams.

Image 1: First "pass", 5 minutes after application to hand
Image 2: Second "pass", first application washed off, then a reapplication with a few extra drops of water, 5 minutes after application to hand
Image 3: The remnants from the brush after second "pass"

 

[huck1995]

And before I forget to mention, as with everything shaving and skin care related, YMMV.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Yes, I've used it. For the measly price, it's a decent shave soap, which is freely available in many places on the UK High Street. For normal shavers who don't buy a soap until they've just about run out (not online enthusiasts), it's a good affordable option that's easy to get hold of.

It's not what I would describe as a luxurious lather, but it does the job for DE shaving just fine. I haven't tried it for straight shaving.

 

[rockviper]

That lather looks fine to me, but I'm one of those that don't like the scent at all (preferred the black bowl). Before I found B&B, I used to use the Wilkie bowl and Williams. With both, my lather was thinner than I prefer and, since I don't like thick lather, that's saying something. I suppose I could have spent more time loading and lathering, but I'm perfectly happy with what I have now.

Down the road I might revisit (never say never)

 

[huck1995]

Yes, I've used it. For the measly price, it's a decent shave soap, which is freely available in many places on the UK High Street. For normal shavers who don't buy a soap until they've just about run out (not online enthusiasts), it's a good affordable option that's easy to get hold of.

It's not what I would describe as a luxurious lather, but it does the job for DE shaving just fine. I haven't tried it for straight shaving.

Out of curiosity, I take it that for straight shaving you'd want a thicker, more cushion-y lather? I've never used a straight, but might try sometime in the future!

That lather looks fine to me, but I'm one of those that don't like the scent at all (preferred the black bowl). Before I found B&B, I used to use the Wilkie bowl and Williams. With both, my lather was thinner than I prefer and, since I don't like thick lather, that's saying something. I suppose I could have spent more time loading and lathering, but I'm perfectly happy with what I have now.

Down the road I might revisit (never say never)

I can definitely see why people would have a problem with the scent. It's so strong that unless you REALLY like it, it would really be distracting.
I'm with you on being happy with other stuff. I never would've gotten this if it hadn't been cheaper to do so, but since I've got it now, I figured it wouldn't hurt to experiment a little. For what it's worth, I saw some people that said that they changed the scent somewhat a couple years ago. I never smelled it before, so I can't personally say whether they did or not, but it might be worth it for you to just open up a tub and give it a sniff the next time you see it in the store if you only used it pre-scent redo.

 

[rockviper]

For a straight, I actually want a thinner, wetter lather. A thick lather tends to stay on the blade when trying to rinse it at the sink tap between swipes, unless you turn the tap on a fair bit. A thin trickle of tap water should, in my opinion, be enough to easily wash away the lather+whiskers on a blade. It's because of straight shaving that I now understand that the thick billowy volumes of lather are actually sub-optimum (for me).

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Agreed. For straight shaving, I want really thin, but really slick.

 

[huck1995]

For a straight, I actually want a thinner, wetter lather. A thick lather tends to stay on the blade when trying to rinse it at the sink tap between swipes, unless you turn the tap on a fair bit. A thin trickle of tap water should, in my opinion, be enough to easily wash away the lather+whiskers on a blade. It's because of straight shaving that I now understand that the thick billowy volumes of lather are actually sub-optimum (for me).

Agreed. For straight shaving, I want really thin, but really slick.

Ah, I could see that. Thanks for the info!

 

[Tonysco]

I can lather it with no issues, and their brush although not that densely packed softens up nicely after a few uses.

One time i broke it up and into a mug, microwaved it to melt the soap, then added in some glycerine, tea tree oil and coconut oil. After cooling the scent had died down a bit, and it felt a bit better on the skin.

Its a very slick soap for sure. Probably our version of williams mug soap.

 

[sigthorson]

I've never used the blue bowl but years ago around the mid 80's I used the black bowl and it was horrendous. I thought it lathered fine, mind you that was back when I knew nothing about good lather. The scent was bad enough to turn me off of any of their soaps ever again, still to this day.

 

[Guitar10]

To my experience whit it is simple, it produce lather good enough to shave whit no problems. Is it a perfect soap? No. is it the best? No. Does it gave cushion and slickness? Yes.Did the scent was good? Strong but ok. Will I used it again? Why not. So the conclusion is simple it’s not the best but it get the job done.

 

[Seveneighth]

I haven't used a Wilkinson Sword soap bowl since the early 90's. I assume they have updated the formula since then?

 

[John Rose]

I don't like the scent of the WS soap at all, and I find the scent of Nivea Originals cream somewhat ... meh, but not offensive.

Blue Monday SOTD

• John Rose
• Jan 15, 2019

Personna barber blades, Wilkinson Sword soap, Nivea Originals cream, a Black-handled Super-Speed...

Combine them though, and you easily get a decent superlather.
The Nivea gives more slickness to, and moderates the scent of the WS; and the WS seems to give a better structure to the lather than with Nivea alone.
I call it "Blue Monday".

 

[ajkel64]

I have a blue tub that I use from time to time. Lathers fine and smells fine. I use it more as shave stick puck as the puck has got smaller inside the container it just spins around so I pick it up and face lather with it.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Combine them though, and you easily get a decent superlather.

I'm a fan of super-lathering with Wilkinson's Shave Soap too. When I used it by itself, though, I've gotten my best results from Wilkinson by using a firm synthetic brush and loading longer before face lathering.

 

[SpannerX]

I recently retried the blue tub, and still find it not good. Soupy lather. The shave stick by them in the other hand I find word great!

 

[huck1995]

I don't like the scent of the WS soap at all, and I find the scent of Nivea Originals cream somewhat ... meh, but not offensive.

Blue Monday SOTD

• John Rose
• Jan 15, 2019

Personna barber blades, Wilkinson Sword soap, Nivea Originals cream, a Black-handled Super-Speed...

Combine them though, and you easily get a decent superlather.
The Nivea gives more slickness to, and moderates the scent of the WS; and the WS seems to give a better structure to the lather than with Nivea alone.
I call it "Blue Monday".

I actually saw you say this on an old thread, but I didn't take the time to say on that thread that I love this photo and the idea of a blue shave!

 

[Bakker1964]

I had some last fall . . . it was okay. What was most surprising for me was that I ended up inverting it into on of my shave mugs after my first use. Came back to try it again about a week later, and the puck had "shrivelled" up to about 1/3 it's original size. Very strange, I have never had another soap do that.

 

[huck1995]

I had some last fall . . . it was okay. What was most surprising for me was that I ended up inverting it into on of my shave mugs after my first use. Came back to try it again about a week later, and the puck had "shrivelled" up to about 1/3 it's original size. Very strange, I have never had another soap do that.

That sounds strange to me too. I shrivelled up a proraso tub, just to see what would happen, and it shrunk a decent amount, maybe to 2/3 the original size, but that wasn't surprising considering it was a croap. Bizarre that the WS puck, which is pretty hard to begin with, could shrink so much! Too bad you didn't try to shave with it after the shrinkage.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I had some last fall . . . it was okay. What was most surprising for me was that I ended up inverting it into on of my shave mugs after my first use. Came back to try it again about a week later, and the puck had "shrivelled" up to about 1/3 it's original size. Very strange, I have never had another soap do that.

Yup! I've had that too. I took it out of the bowl and sat it on top of my vintage scuttle (the reason I bought it, was that it was a cheap soap to try that had the curved bottom) and it shrank and yellowed a bit. It still seems to lather up OK though.

I suppose I ought to feel a little more miffed at the high "evaporating ingredient" content, which is probably just there to make you feel you're getting more for your money, but being so cheap, and working so well, it still feels like a bargain.