I get mine from any loblaws in Toronto or online at well.ca
Williams Institute for Shaving Excellence (WISE)
- Thread starter TheVez2
- Start date
I get mine from any loblaws in Toronto or online at well.ca
Sorry for your loss.
You are a fortunate man to have a find like that one. Awesome shape and probably shaves as good as it looks.
So today I left even more water in there, still worked great. Perhaps Williams isn't as much of a prima donna about requiring you to start dry and add water only a scant few drops at a time until properly hydrated, instead you can just give it the water it needs from the beginning?
- Thread starter
- #84
It isn't picky at all. I just don't like working with sloppy lather. I briefer to build mine from the other side of the wetness scale.
I agree with KJ, Williams is like using any other soap except it likes more water. You can start with a dryer brush or a wetter brush or somewhere in-between. You can bowl, face or palm lather. If you are bowl lathering try starting with a dryer brush and load until you have enough soap in the brush and try to have a little bit more than a half tablespoon of water(soapy water if preferred) in the bowl before you start mixing. Add water as needed, if needed.
I tried the method KJ uses last night. The puck was only soaked for about 5 minutes max. I palm loaded a broken in (37 shaves) Omega #49 until the torque built on the brush. Then I face lathered and added hot water to the center of the brush about every 20 seconds of so. I had plenty of good lather, enough for 4 passes easy. Since I had already shaved earlier, I just shaved for 1 pass and rinsed and lathered for the remaining 3 passes. Nice lather, no issues. It has slickness the other soaps do not.
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+1 Williams is great soap.
Williams is my favorite shaving soap. I have been known to shave with it even when I didn't need a shave, just so that I could smell like it; I love the fragrance. I just scored one of the Williams bicentennial shaving mugs off of the Bay. I also love collecting Williams memorabilia. Yes, I am a WISE man through and through! 
Just a heads up for any of you W.I.S.E. men who like to collect, there are a few of these bicentennial mugs available over on the Bay for dirt cheap (no, they are not my auctions). If you type "Pewter Shaving Mug," "Wilton Armetale Mug," and "Bicentennial Mug" into the search engine you will find them. They should go to our WISE members. Many people don't know what they actually are or the story behind them, and they are not actually pewter, but are made of "armetale," an alloy of aluminum. No knocking it off the counter and breaking it! 
- Thread starter
- #90
Post your collection here, I'd love to see it. I love collecting Williams stuff too. Most of my collection is on the first post, but I have a few other pieces as well.I also love collecting Williams memorabilia. Yes, I am a WISE man through and through!
I don't know why I have been so hell-bent on getting a good, long lasting lather from this .99 puck of soap. Tonight, planning in using a sample from Ogallala, I watered down the Mug.
After getting ready for the shower, I dumped the water, stated to load my brush, then filled up the cup with water again.
After the shower, I stated the prep work, load, load, load. I usually don't bowl lather, but tonight I did.
Agitate, add water, agitate, more water, agitate, more water...more water....
The result- my 1953 Super Speed gave me an outstanding shave. The lather was wonderful, and didn't have to go to my back up of Ogallala soap that was patiently waiting.
I would like to enter my name for consideration in this fine club.
Thanks,
B.G.
After getting ready for the shower, I dumped the water, stated to load my brush, then filled up the cup with water again.
After the shower, I stated the prep work, load, load, load. I usually don't bowl lather, but tonight I did.
Agitate, add water, agitate, more water, agitate, more water...more water....
The result- my 1953 Super Speed gave me an outstanding shave. The lather was wonderful, and didn't have to go to my back up of Ogallala soap that was patiently waiting.
I would like to enter my name for consideration in this fine club.
Thanks,
B.G.
You guys made me buy one. Tried a test lather and had no problem getting the lather to overfill my container and face lathered a nice thick layer. Wasn't going to shave so I tried a few passes on the upper lip and cheek. It seemed thick and did last a while, didn't seem to cushion very well on the few passes I attempted. Can't wait to try it tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
Complete fail. Short summary, loaded the same as MWF, lather was over flowing in the jar so I moved to face lathering. Worked it for a good two minutes and all I got was this airy type of lather that dried up pretty quickly. Did a two pass shave, had quite a few nicks. I haven't given up though. I'll try it a couple more times. Probably the worst first attempt at a cream or soap I've ever had.
I like Williams soap. I'm kinda into the vintage stuff mostly but the modern soap is fine once you get the hang of it.
Me - I don't like lather the new stuff with a brush that has any 'flop' at all to it. A a black badger brush does nicely though.
I have a small lot of the older soap, along with a pewter Centennial mug and a coupla double-cap sticks that didn't make it into the photo.
Me - I don't like lather the new stuff with a brush that has any 'flop' at all to it. A a black badger brush does nicely though.
I have a small lot of the older soap, along with a pewter Centennial mug and a coupla double-cap sticks that didn't make it into the photo.
That would last me the rest of my life and then some.
I would like to apply to become a WISE-man. I use a boar brush and a ton of water and it makes lather just like any of the high grade tallow soaps. Super thick, creamy, and slick. Had a shave with it today that was perfect. I have very hard water and Williams doesn't give me any problems.
Needs more water than other soaps.
- Thread starter
- #98
+1. If your lather is drying or dissipating on your face, then you haven't used enough water to make your lather.
When I first started with Williams, I was getting this type of result.
Here are a number of fixes that work for me:
Soak a new Williams puck over night to get it started.
For an already softened puck, soak the 15-30 minutes while you shower.
KJ is palm loading a soaked but rather dry brush that allows for picking up a generous amount of Williams without making a huge amount of weak lather. Once you have enough loaded in the brush, put all of what is in your palm on your face.
Start brushing this lather on your face adding water every 15 seconds or so until you get the consistency you want. Then add a wee bit more water.
Hydrate your face well between passes and lather. Add water as needed to maintain that consistency.
Badger brushes generally will hold more soap and water than an equivalent sized boar brush. Therefore you may have to add water more frequently than KJ does in the videos.
Boar brushes can have considerable back bone for picking up hard soaps. The boar brush has a break in period of about 20 uses before it starts to make good lather.
I palm lather with a new boar until the lather looks good enough to use.
It is worth the effort.
I managed a very pleasant DFS shave using this combo this morning.
Weber PH + Voskhod Teflon (5) + Williams.
The Voskhod is done.
The puck sat for almost a week and after about a 10 minute soak, the Omega #10049 picked enough soap to get 4 passes and touch ups.
KJ's recipe works for this newbie.
Note that I like a more wet and slick lather than KJ.
I agree with the previous posts this soap needs a lot of water.
Keep trying and enjoy.
Gene
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Awesome collection. You are a true aficionado of all things Williams!
