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Williams mug shave soap good or bad?

Picked up 4 picks of these very cheap. I've read the new stuff isn't that good and the packaging seems to be for newer soap but a also read if it has tallow it's good stuff. So how does this stuff rate?
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Nice score! I heard Williams had been discontinued.
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Thus from the smallest spark is an inferno born.
 
Picked up 4 picks of these very cheap. I've read the new stuff isn't that good and the packaging seems to be for newer soap but a also read if it has tallow it's good stuff. So how does this stuff rate?View attachment 807617 View attachment 807618
Tallows listed first so this soap should make some rich creamy lather. Soak the puck while you soak your brush. Williams like's water. Load your brush like you hate it, and right when you think the lather looks good add a little more water. The lather should look like whipped cream and have lots of peaks. It should feel cushiony between your fingers.

Clayton

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Williams is rather controversial here, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a great soap. It will not make mountains of hard, dry foam under any circumstances, but even thin rapidly dissipating Williams lather will be super slick and give you excellent shaves.

You only need enough lather on your skin to keep it wet while you are shaving. Make that lather shiny wet and soft, and you will get much better shaves, plus your blades will last longer (mainly because there is less skin drag). Big piles of dense, dry lather do absolutely nothing for shaving, it makes the skin sticky and causes irritation since you have to use too much pressure to get the razor to move.

Once you figure that out, Williams is a great way to shave. My brother has been using a single puck for about 8 months now, so you can get an idea of how much soap you really need.

Used properly four pucks should last you a couple years.
 
I picked up a dozen of these over a 4 week period at Shop-Rite. They were closing them out @ .59 a puck, purchased a few each week until they were gone. They seem to be available at other local markets, SR just stopped carrying it.
 
It took my many tries to get a decent lather from this one. I bought a few pucks when the last scare about them discontinuing production. With that said, the primary virtue for me is that it is inexpensive. I just don't think that it takes too much extra work to get a decent lather. However, when combined with a nice cream it makes the scent more agreeable and the lather a lot easier.
 
Someone should email Williams (Combe) to see if they're going to discontinue it. I've written several times and probably on the Do Not Reply list.
 
Wow, Shop-Rite stopped carrying it? That's where I bought it last.
One pharmacy in my neighborhood has carried it and will get it on request.

I'm a backer.
 
I read a lot of positive and negative reports about Williams on B&B, but I decided to try it out for myself a few months ago and I wasn't disappointed.
Ilive in Mallorca which has some of the worst tap water in Spain, as well as being very hard, it contains traces of lead which is a legacy from the old fashioned lead pipes that weren't replaced with more modern copper/brass or plastic pipes until about 30 years ago. They add fluoride to the water, which is pretty futile considering that hardly anybody brushes their teeth with tap water, let alone drink it. It also contains nitrates, which are a by product of having 4x the recommended level of chlorine - a necessary addition to control the e-coli that is present in the water supply after 100s of years of using animal waste to grow crops.
Having said all that, I had no problem making lather with Williams using stone cold tap water.
I think Williams should be a benchmark soap - if you can lather with Williams, you can lather with just about anything

What can't speak can't lie - here's a photo to show Williams in action.............

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Williams is rather controversial here, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a great soap. It will not make mountains of hard, dry foam under any circumstances, but even thin rapidly dissipating Williams lather will be super slick and give you excellent shaves.

You only need enough lather on your skin to keep it wet while you are shaving. Make that lather shiny wet and soft, and you will get much better shaves, plus your blades will last longer (mainly because there is less skin drag). Big piles of dense, dry lather do absolutely nothing for shaving, it makes the skin sticky and causes irritation since you have to use too much pressure to get the razor to move.

Once you figure that out, Williams is a great way to shave. My brother has been using a single puck for about 8 months now, so you can get an idea of how much soap you really need.

Used properly four pucks should last you a couple years.
Thin lather equals razor burn for me. I get a good load on my brush, plus as I load what ever excess lather goes into my salsa bowl also. With about two teaspoons of water and some work with my brush I can make some Vintage Williams like lather that will allow me to do a comfortable multipass shave. A puck of the reformulated Williams will last me about a month and I don't mind that because it's inexpensive, and available at my local store. Matter a fact I bought a box yesterday for a $1.04.

Clayton



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
It took my many tries to get a decent lather from this one. I bought a few pucks when the last scare about them discontinuing production. With that said, the primary virtue for me is that it is inexpensive. I just don't think that it takes too much extra work to get a decent lather. However, when combined with a nice cream it makes the scent more agreeable and the lather a lot easier.
On hot days I like to do a superlather of TOBS Peppermint/Williams. Talk about a cool shave.

Clayton

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
My 'new' Williams has stearate listed before tallow. It makes decent lather but it takes a lot of work. At first the lather dissipates in the bowl, but then with more brushing it gets better.
 
I think the modern Williams has too much stearate, I made a soy wax based soap with 70% stearic acid in the fatty acid profile and it's much like Williams -- rather difficult to lather up and tends to collapse. Slick as all getout thought, which is the point. I may grind up a puck and mix it with a lower stearate soap and see what happens, although I don't mind it as is.

If thin lather "causes" irritation for you, likely you are either using too much pressure or need to adjust your shaving angle. If the soap is slippery, correct blade angle should give you a great shave every time regardless of the amount of lather on your skin, it's only active at the interface of skin and blade. I missed today on making lather with my home made soap, so the second pass was VERY thin, but super slick -- felt about the same before and after the pass. Super comfortable shave, super close.

I'd adjust my technique rather than depending on dense, thick lather to protect my skin, but I'm a cheapskate. Looks as though I'm fixed for soap for a couple decades at the moment....
 
I think the modern Williams has too much stearate, I made a soy wax based soap with 70% stearic acid in the fatty acid profile and it's much like Williams -- rather difficult to lather up and tends to collapse. Slick as all getout thought, which is the point. I may grind up a puck and mix it with a lower stearate soap and see what happens, although I don't mind it as is.

If thin lather "causes" irritation for you, likely you are either using too much pressure or need to adjust your shaving angle. If the soap is slippery, correct blade angle should give you a great shave every time regardless of the amount of lather on your skin, it's only active at the interface of skin and blade. I missed today on making lather with my home made soap, so the second pass was VERY thin, but super slick -- felt about the same before and after the pass. Super comfortable shave, super close.

I'd adjust my technique rather than depending on dense, thick lather to protect my skin, but I'm a cheapskate. Looks as though I'm fixed for soap for a couple decades at the moment....
Thin lather has air bubbles in it and that's why it causes irritation. Modern Williams can be lathered into MWF type cushiony lather, it just takes a little more work with your brush and about two teaspoons of soft water. My lather doesn't go away or dry up either.

Clayton

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