Williams Institute for Shaving Excellence (WISE)
- Thread starter TheVez2
- Start date
I'd say 6 for daily use.
A puck gave me 60 shaves when I tried it.
lathering in a bowl helps you to conserve, and I was probably getting four or five passes of lather per shave, fyi.
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I've decided to 3017 a modern Williams in an old school way. Have put a puck in a william marvy rubber mug. I put a modern burma shave brush on it. I get great lather from WMS and dont need to drown it et al
Morning in the shower I dip the brush in hot water l, take it out immediately and without rinsing keep in on the soap in the mug.
Lather in the mug on the soap for like 30 seconds take the pasty goodness and face lather to a rich creamy slick lather in another 30 seconds.
Once done I now keep the brush back on the soap in the mug for the next shave. No rinsing the brush and waste that lather, it all goes back in the mug.
No lather gets wasted as none goes down the drain, except what's on the face !
Will see how many shaves I can get by being such a frugal, cheap bastard
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I get about 250 shaves/puck
I've seen some praise for WMS recently, so I decided to order some from Walgreens. $1.49, free ship to store. I think if I pass by an Ingles they stock it for even cheaper. Anyway, my attempts at lathering went like this:
- Flaked some into bowl, pressed flakes so they stick, damp brush to load, then lathered. Result was sort of airy, but not too bad. Very slick.
- Flaked some into bowl, pressed flakes so they stick, drier brush than first time to load soap, then lathered. Added water slower. Result was much better.
- Flaked some into bowl......... etc, got an even better lather. I think I went further with the work and further with the water, and the result was outstanding.
- I turned the puck into a shave stick. A few swipes across the face (really, not much at all), introduced a damp brush, added some water, and BOOM! Excellent lather. I feel like it was faster than Arko.
I think you talked me into making my spare puck into stick.
It was too hard for me to hand-form. I suggest a cheese grater, then pack it into a deodorant tube.
I no longer count how many shaves I get from a puck. I am just delighted to have gotten to a place where I look forward to a Williams shave. I have plenty of pucks and am glad that I enjoy using them. There is a learning curve, for sure, but there can be some fun in that.
Agree on the hand-forming impossibility. I even heated it to 130F to see if that would soften it up. No go.
My Mouli grater made easy work of it. The grated puck tamped down to perfectly fill one of those plastic twist-up shaving stick tubes. I'm letting the stick set up, and looking forward to my first Williams stick shave.
Back in the day, when there were actual Williams sticks, there were classy metal flip top storage tubes:
Shiny!
That tube is really cool! Now I want one, but they are a little pricey on eBay... Pretty neat that they're available, though.
Totally bizzarre. I was rocking a puck of Williams and then stumbled onto a used one that I had in a container which was fairly wet still. I threw it in the mug and it’s not lathering well like the one I was rocking.
hmmm. Maybe a few more shaves will work it out.
hmmm. Maybe a few more shaves will work it out.
Switching to a synthetic brush seems to have solved the problem.
I am very glad I took this to heart. My new Williams stick is working really well.
I had my first Williams shave today, which was my paternal grandfather’s soap - thanks to the video posted by TheVez2 I got a real serviceable lather - in time and practice I’m sure I can get it better - still a real comfty shave with no problems. Aces!
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I had my first Williams shave today, which was my paternal grandfather’s soap - thanks to the video posted by TheVez2 I got a real serviceable lather - in time and practice I’m sure I can get it better - still a real comfty shave with no problems. Aces!
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Looks like an all-around classic shave! Winning!
I used it today, I got some good passes from it, the problem I have with it is that I can't make a great lather, I make a ok lather with it. I did learn that less water is more when it comes to making the lather, and obviously the more you whip it up, the better the lather becomes.
I will try it again later this week perhaps, I love the smell of the stuff, it's awesome, and it's truly great stuff. I paid $1.29 today for my puck, so worst case scenario if I can't get over the hump with it, it will go into the shower and it will become a bar of shower soap.
I will try it again later this week perhaps, I love the smell of the stuff, it's awesome, and it's truly great stuff. I paid $1.29 today for my puck, so worst case scenario if I can't get over the hump with it, it will go into the shower and it will become a bar of shower soap.
Purchased my first 3 pack of Williams. Looking forward to giving it a try. Hopefully I won't have any problems lathering. I have a green Marvy mug that it's going to live in.
If you can nail it right away that will be a plus. Most people need to play with it a bit till they figure out what works for their water etc. Dialing it in isn't generally easy but most find it rewarding when they do, but many just never get it to work. Good luck and enjoy!
I think that the secret for most of us that have achieved good lathers with Williams is to use a lot more product and water than you think you might need. One of the problems with Williams is that it seems to come off the puck more easily than it really does and you have to work it a bit more to pick up enough product. This is why a lot of people tend to have very thin, quickly disappearing lathers and lathers that dry very quickly. The new formula is predominately sodium hydroxide, and if you read the soaper threads you'll see that this isn't as soluble in water as potassium hydroxide. Thus, you will need to soak it longer and work it more to get enough product on your brush.
Once you figure out the proper technique you will be able to produce a nice thick, very slick lather, since sodium hydroxide tends to make a slipperier lather.
My main issue with Williams is that even after getting many great lathers I still have a number of dud lathers. Some days it just doesn't seem to be in the cards.
