Used modern Williams for the second time, and I can't complain.
- Thread starter nsl
- Start date
That's the complaint a lot of us have. "It worked good enough, I guess, I've used worse" isn't really a ringing endorsement. Once you've used some products that make you stop and say "wow, that was a GREAT shave!" you'll understand the difference.
I'm a big fan of modern Williams. In fact, I'd say it's probably my favorite soap. The reason that I love it is, once you find the sweet spot with the right water combination, it provides a fast, thick lather, with an incredibly luxurious slickness. Williams is about water. Its thirsty. I think the people that don't like Williams haven't found the right water ratio.
Me, everytime I get a new puck, I soak it in hot water for an hour or two. Then I do a few practice lathers. Just warming the soap up and getting it ready. Then, after a few days, I'll soak it in hot water before I shower (along with the brush) and then gently pour out the excess water and work a lather. It almost always works well.
And I love the scent. Nothing really compares to the scent of Williams. It's a scent you'll either love or hate. And I ALWAYS get a good shave from it. Better than VDH, Prosaro, and even some of my TOBS. Keep playing with it. I think you'll grow to love it.
Me, everytime I get a new puck, I soak it in hot water for an hour or two. Then I do a few practice lathers. Just warming the soap up and getting it ready. Then, after a few days, I'll soak it in hot water before I shower (along with the brush) and then gently pour out the excess water and work a lather. It almost always works well.
And I love the scent. Nothing really compares to the scent of Williams. It's a scent you'll either love or hate. And I ALWAYS get a good shave from it. Better than VDH, Prosaro, and even some of my TOBS. Keep playing with it. I think you'll grow to love it.
I believe you just revived a dying thread!
I also agree with everything you said. The trick with Williams is to add way more water than you think you need. At first, the lather looks "soupy", however, if you work it more, it becomes thick and slick. I have almost worked through my second puck of it!
I use C. O. Bigelow and William, and I like them both.
Aaah, good ole Williams! Though I haven`t used any recently but once I finish off some soaps that are already opened up I`ll crack open a William soap for old times sake.
Oops..For whatever reason this was a post I thought was newer. Must have been researching Williams threads when this came up LOL! Still, it's a thread brought back to life!
And yeah, once you figure it out, man does it work wonders! I'm purchasing my next puck soon. Have maybe two shaves left on the first one.
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Many of my "best ever" shaves have come as a result of using BOTH C.O. Big role & Williams to make a lather at the same time.
Similar story to the thread originator. I used my backup brush (boar) and puck (Williams) over the weekend for the first time in a while. The first lather was pathetic, and I ended up spewing flecks of it all over the mirror and counter. I then realized I had to compensate both for the stiffer bristles and the thirstiness of the soap, and once I did that, a minute later I had a thick, slick, luxurious lather that made for an enjoyable hot shave on a cold winter's day. Nothing better!
"Good" and "bad" are highly personal and so subjective and individual judgments when it comes to shaving soaps. One person's awful is another person's meh and still another's awesome-- at every level of the price scale. Nothing objective about any of it. If it works for you-- it's good...for you. If it's bad for someone else, it's bad for that person. Period. Now if you identify personally with your choice of soap that you feel insulted when it's called subpar or junk (or think that calling it this will offend the other person because you derive your self-esteem from using higher-end products), you've got some personality problems that no choice of soap can fix.
"Good" and "bad" are highly personal and so subjective and individual judgments when it comes to shaving soaps. One person's awful is another person's meh and still another's awesome-- at every level of the price scale. Nothing objective about any of it. If it works for you-- it's good...for you. If it's bad for someone else, it's bad for that person. Period. Now if you identify personally with your choice of soap that you feel insulted when it's called subpar or junk (or think that calling it this will offend the other person because you derive your self-esteem from using higher-end products), you've got some personality problems that no choice of soap can fix.
Modern Williams, the best value in shaving soaps, IMHO. When dialed in, it's very slick and protective, but rinses off cleanly, unlike other soaps I've used, esp. VDH Deluxe. I had some difficulty with it off and on since I started wet shaving in April of last year, even resorting to adding glycerin to get a usable lather. It would take me much longer than other soaps or creams. But recently I acquired two new brushes, the RazorRock Plissoft Barber Handle Synthetic and the Omega S-Brush S10019 synthetic boar. Both whip up lather quickly and easily with modern Williams. Oh, I still need to watch my water ratio, but I can make a good lather much quicker than with the Body Shop Synthetic that finally broke with all the effort it used to take me to make a good lather with modern Williams.
Just follow the usual caveats: soak the puck, start with little water and add more gradually as the lather builds. If it's drying or dissipating on the face, more water is needed or possibly more product and water both. If it's sudsy and runny at first, that's too much water to start, just keep working it and it should resolve or add more product. I'd recommend the videos posted by the Vez in the WISE thread if you really want to see how great lather is made with modern Williams. Once you get the hang of it, it's no harder to lather than other soaps. I've seen similar issues of lathering written about Mitchell's Wool Fat soap. I received a puck of that recently and had no issues lathering it, probably due to all the practice I got with modern Williams. So if you need to keep to a budget, but are frustrated with modern Williams, just keep at it, check out the WISE thread, and maybe try a different affordable brush. YMMV.
Just follow the usual caveats: soak the puck, start with little water and add more gradually as the lather builds. If it's drying or dissipating on the face, more water is needed or possibly more product and water both. If it's sudsy and runny at first, that's too much water to start, just keep working it and it should resolve or add more product. I'd recommend the videos posted by the Vez in the WISE thread if you really want to see how great lather is made with modern Williams. Once you get the hang of it, it's no harder to lather than other soaps. I've seen similar issues of lathering written about Mitchell's Wool Fat soap. I received a puck of that recently and had no issues lathering it, probably due to all the practice I got with modern Williams. So if you need to keep to a budget, but are frustrated with modern Williams, just keep at it, check out the WISE thread, and maybe try a different affordable brush. YMMV.
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