Williams Mug Soap, perfectly fine.... don’t hit me.

[doug1066]

And it fits my mug perfectly.
Quite a bit softer, so it should lather up a bit more easily I would think.
View attachment 1113314

I hope you like it. I use the sticks while in a twist up tube and cut up and smashed into my mug.


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[doug1066]

Do it’s great for camping?


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It can be.


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[Stubblebum]

Do it’s great for camping?

Yes, it is best used far away from civilization.

 

[Rich_C]

It is heavy citronella. You can lessen the scent by opening the stick and letting it air for a couple of days. The plus side is that mosquitos don’t bother you.


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Didnt someone post a pic here a few years ago with flies happily camping out on a puck of Williams?

 

[Rich_C]

Ok, I have tried so many times with methods I have read or videos I have watched. Can someone please point me to the definitive foolproof one that works? A very detailed one. Nothing left out. Sometimes even the videos have something being done off screen.

I have no fancy equipment like a scuttle. I have an unkown brand badger brush over 20 years old, an Omega boar, dont remember the model and though I still have the box it doesnt say, so please look at the pic.

I have the green VDH ceramic bowl I usually keep the puck in. I have a plastic salsa bowl that works well, and can easily use a mug from around the house. I have a water softener in my house so my water is not hard.

Thanks

Ok keep it a secret.

 

[Tedolph]

Sometimes I think negative feelings towards modern Williams is tied to the shavers age. If I was 35 and had mostly used canned goo and carts, then some kind soul or an online forum like B&B taught me about hard soap and brushes and the proper way to lather Williams I’d think Willams was pretty sweet, especially a buck a puck.

If I was older and had started shaving back when Old Spice and what we now call vintage Willams and Colgate was cheap and on the shelf of every store a person may tend to view reformulated Williams as being a poor substitute.

I fall in the second group. As a teen and young adult I primarily shaved with Colgate and Williams. Old Spice in a mug was a luxury that came along once or twice over the years at Christmas. I never gave Williams any thought, I just used it, for decades. Then the formula changed. I can get a serviceable lather from it, but in my eyes they ruined the soap of my youth for the sake of profit. When Williams cheapened their soap many men like myself had to turn to what was available locally, and that was mostly canned goo. Those of you that are younger imagine for a moment having used your current favorite shaving soap for years, then being forced to use canned goo because it’s all you could get. Remember, internet shopping wasn’t fully operating yet. Yeah, it was a bitter moment.

So, I will always have sweet memories of Williams. It’s what my father taught me to shave with. Sure, I can get a serviceable lather from modern Williams but you will never find it in my house.

This is what happened to me. I started shaving a long time ago in the 70's with a mug of Old Spice soap and mug, an Eveready C40 Boar brush and one of my father's cast of TTO DE razors. Man, did that give a harsh shave. Anyway, When I couldn't find replacement pucks I switched to a Track II. and canned goo. The shave was milder but I spent the next 30 years suffering with ingrown hairs.

Now I have the best of all worlds. The straight razor gives me the most comfortable shave of any method I have tried by a long shot, and as close as I want (double pass for DFS or triple pass for BBS). Not a single ingrown hair-everd Started with Surrey and liked it then followed with its successor VDH Deluxe. It's so cheap I have never been tempted by Williams. Anybody have experience with both? If so how do they compare?

 

[doug1066]

This is what happened to me. I started shaving a long time ago in the 70's with a mug of Old Spice soap and mug, an Eveready C40 Boar brush and one of my father's cast of TTO DE razors. Man, did that give a harsh shave. Anyway, When I couldn't find replacement pucks I switched to a Track II. and canned goo. The shave was milder but I spent the next 30 years suffering with ingrown hairs.

Now I have the best of all worlds. The straight razor gives me the most comfortable shave of any method I have tried by a long shot, and as close as I want (double pass for DFS or triple pass for BBS). Not a single ingrown hair-everd Started with Surrey and liked it then followed with its successor VDH Deluxe. It's so cheap I have never been tempted by Williams. Anybody have experience with both? If so how do they compare?

I prefer VDH to Williams. I have used both. VDH, in my opinion, is far superior to Williams.


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[Tanuki]

I prefer VDH to Williams. I have used both. VDH, in my opinion, is far superior to Williams.

Which VDH? Regular, deluxe, glycerine? I have a two buck puck of the glycerine stashed in the soap cooler.

 

[kingfisher]

Vintage Williams and modern Williams are definitely not the same. The formula on the side of the box is even different.

I have a puck of vintage Williams that I bought at an antique store, and a puck of modern Williams that I bought at a local drug store. They lather up completely differently. Vintage Williams lathers much more quickly and easily, and the lather is thicker and more billowy.

By the way, for those who enjoy vintage Williams, CBL Tonsorial is a modern soap that has the same list and lathers and shaves exactly like vintage Williams.

 

[doug1066]

Which VDH? Regular, deluxe, glycerine? I have a two buck puck of the glycerine stashed in the soap cooler.

I have used all of them. My order of preference is:

Luxury
Glycerin
Deluxe
Regular.

YMMV


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[Rich_C]

I don’t hate Williams. I just find it to be “meh” at best. As far as putting “work” into getting a lather, well there are soaps out there that are readily available, are as inexpensive, don’t require special treatment and provide better lather. ARKO is one, VDH is another, as is Col. Conk. Creamo cream is a fourth. Shoot, CO Bigelow can be had extremely inexpensively as can L’Occitaine Cade. And I haven’t even got to Cella, Palmolive or LEA. So, I just don’t bother with Williams.


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The only soaps I see in stores here in New Jersey are VDH in major chain supermarkets or drugstores, and Williams in mom and pop pharmacies. Not that I dont have enough creams I bought locally still to try, but where can you find Arko or Col. Conk? I buy enough stuff online but I enjoy the luxury of going into a brick and mortar.

BTW, in stores I only see VDH luxury while the deluxe is available from those same stores but only online. I dont see the plain vanilla VDH anywhere. I didnt find much difference between the deluxe and regular anyway. They both lathered easily and performed well. I havent tried the luxury though. It just seems too pricey for VDH.

I stopped using VDH when I read that Sodium Laureth Sulfate, one of the ingredients, is absorbed by the body through the skin and remains there for several days. I just googled it and Wikipedia says it is safe. But I had read differently, perhaps on this forum. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is found in many creams and soaps and is not the same. That being said, I just googled and found this:
“According to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, SLS is a "moderate hazard" that has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, organ toxicity, skin irritation and endocrine disruption. Sodium lauryl sulfate allows shampoos and other body products to foam.”

Source: Dangers of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate | Livestrong.com - https://www.livestrong.com/article/174367-dangers-of-sodium-lauryl-sulfate/

But it ain’t Wikepedia, because:

 

[Rich_C]

I have used all of them. My order of preference is:

Luxury
Glycerin
Deluxe
Regular.

YMMV


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I dont recall seeing the one called Glycerin. Did that come out after the Deluxe but before the Luxury?

 

[Rich_C]

By the way, for those who enjoy vintage Williams, CBL Tonsorial is a modern soap that has the same list and lathers and shaves exactly like vintage Williams.

I haven’t seen the word Tonsorial used since movies from the 30s where a barber shop was called a “Tonsorial Parlor”. No, I am not that old. But I have watched tons of old movies.

Skip to 0:30, but this whole short film is worth watching.

Almost a shaving scene at 3:45, but he just applies the lather with a brush.
Now where can CBL Tonsorial be found, besides online?

thanks

 

[kingfisher]

I haven’t seem the word Tonsorial used since movies from the 30s where a barber shop was called a “Tonsorial Parlor”. No, I am not that old. But I have watched tons of old movies.

Now where can CBL Tonsorial be found, besides online?

I believe it is online only. Search for CBL soaps and you should be able to find it.

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[doug1066]

I dont recall seeing the one called Glycerin. Did that come out after the Deluxe but before the Luxury?

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[Retroman1969]

As far as availability, I ordered Arko through Amazon and it was delivered overnight.
I've also been ordering my Tabac refill pucks through Amazon or EBay sellers depending on who has the best deal.
when I gave up the cartridge and can for the DE and mug around five years ago, a refill of Tabac was just under $7. Then it went up to $9-$10, and now that it’s up to $16-$18, it’s losing its value to me.
This is what sparked off my testing of cheaper soaps just to see what I’d find.

 

[EspressoAndAftershave]

Pears from the dollar store is glycerin, too, iirc.

 

[Rich_C]

As far as availability, I ordered Arko through Amazon and it was delivered overnight.
I've also been ordering my Tabac refill pucks through Amazon or EBay sellers depending on who has the best deal.
when I gave up the cartridge and can for the DE and mug around five years ago, a refill of Tabac was just under $7. Then it went up to $9-$10, and now that it’s up to $16-$18, it’s losing its value to me.
This is what sparked off my testing of cheaper soaps just to see what I’d find.

Is Arko that good to be worth ordering online though? I just ordered a 6 pack of Palmolive tubes from Amazon because it is supposed to be amazing.

 

[kingfisher]

Pears from the dollar store is glycerin, too, iirc.

Pears isn't really a shave soap, though. Just FYI. It's a bath soap or hand soap.

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[Atlantic59]

Is Arko that good to be worth ordering online though? I just ordered a 6 pack of Palmolive tubes from Amazon because it is supposed to be amazing.

Palmolive sticks or tubes are very good. You won't need any more shaving soap for quite awhile. Some people might find it drying, but that's what shave balms and moisturizers are for.

Arko is a real bargain if you don't mind the scent. A case of 12 sticks runs about $14-15, including shipping. Each stick is 75g, 12 sticks is 900g or around 2 pounds of soap. That's probably enough for two to three years.

As noted, if left open to the air, Arko loses a lot of the scent and smells a bit like Ivory. You might want to get a stick or two just to try it, if you can get free shipping.

The La Toja stick is one of the best. It's very cheap in Spain, under 2 euros. If you order from any of the UK or Euro vendors, you might want to throw in a stick or two of La Toja. La Toja also has a shaving cream in the tube.