Revisited my williams puck after a long layoff this a.m. and it got me thinking exactly what is it made of. Not a bad soap but not as cushiony as a tallows like Tabac or palmolive( my two favorites) nor does it seem as slick as glycerin. So what exactly is it made out of? I'm sure this question has been answered approx.2,000 times and some are sick of it but I'm curious and couldn't find it in the first page of search results.
Williams soap ?
- Thread starter citizensoldierny
- Start date
Tallow actually.
Complete list:
Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Water, Glycerin, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentatate, Fragrance, Titanium Dioxide.
Complete list:
Sodium Tallowate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Water, Glycerin, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Pentasodium Pentatate, Fragrance, Titanium Dioxide.
Ingredients from packaging: SODIUM TALLOWATE, POTASSIUM STEARATE, SODIUM COCOATE, WATER, GLYCERIN, TETRASODIUM ETIDRONATE, PENTASODIUM PENTETATE, FRAGRANCE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE
- Thread starter
- #4
Thanks, btw Crawford I usually don't keep the box after I take the soap out and all caps is usually construed as yelling. Thanks anyway though.
I would assume it's inbetween-ness is a result of the other ingredients, or perhaps a water issue. I have gotten some good performance out of it, and enjoy the smell alright (not as much as my Tabac or Col. Conk Amber) but I do think it sits right in the middle of tallow cushion and glycerine slickness
neat question, and answers....
I like Williams, Im so ne that I've only tried 2 williams, and vdh deluxe.....
of the 2 I prefer, the VDH
I like Williams, Im so ne that I've only tried 2 williams, and vdh deluxe.....
of the 2 I prefer, the VDH
I found the secret to working with Williams is to soak it several minutes in very hot water, load the brush real good and face lather on a wet face. That method seems to work pretty good. The soap is so hard you really need to soften it or mill it into another container.
Pretty much, I quit milling mine and just soak it while I shower, full puck submerged.
Milling it causes it to lather real fast though, but I go through a puck a week that way.
I believe he was typing it exactly as it appears on the packaging, which was probably in all caps. I doubt he was yelling.
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- #10
I believe he was typing it exactly as it appears on the packaging, which was probably in all caps. I doubt he was yelling.
He might not have been but I percieved it as such. I admitted I thought it was an aggravating and most likely already answered question from the get go and I thought I might have irked him a bit.
- Thread starter
- #11
Not that it's a great loss but why submerge it? I get great results by just moistening it with the first shake of water from the brush. Makes a great lather which doesn't seem to have any really outstanding qualities you use a soap for i.e. cushioning, lubrication, moisturizing. But not horrible by any means, gets the job done, can be found everywhere unlike the other 95% or so shaving soaps, and is almost free.
Maybe he suffers from Voice Immodulation. 
I've always soaked it as well. In my experience, the "skin" of the soap is broken down during the soak, allowing for an easier lather. I've also found that a really scritchy brush (i.e. a Boreal 976) really shows Williams who's boss.
If Williams is hit with a load of #6 shot from a Winchester Model 12 (Full Choke) at about twenty paces, then placed in a glass of genuine pop-skull home brew for about two days, rinsed, and milled into a mason jar with one measure of 'possum fat and a dose of blackstrap molasses, it lathers pretty well, and I swear it smell just like Tabac.
I'll take it a step futher. It works best if you use it every day and NOT allow the puck to "dry out" between uses. The years I spent with Williams I learned that a brand new puck took several days to "Break in" - in my case, "break in" mean to be assimilated into the prior Williams "puck" (or what was left of it) at the bottom of my mug. I would usually buy a new puck once I got to the point where I *just* saw the bottom of the mug through the soap. Then I would MUSH the new puck into the old soap, and the old soap would form around the new puck, and it would be come absorbed after a few weeks or so. I'd get a new puck about every 2 or 3 months. Hard to believe I carried on like that for over a decade..
Sometimes it was Colgate, and maybe Burma soap once or twice, but never anything more fancy than that..
I never thought much about it, never "posted" on a newsgroup about it. I did it because it was 1) cheap and 2) I got better shaves than with canned stuff.
For me it's all or nothing with Williams. Every time I go back and try it, it's just not the same. It's a lifestyle kind of thing ..
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Topgumby strikes again!
I like VDH better. If you have only tried those two, you are in for such a treat when you finally try a better quality soap. Seriously. Even a mid-cost soap like proraso is great, and something like Trumpers, l'Occitane or Nancy Boy is about a zillion times better than Williams.
This is definitely a YMMV, but my philosophy is, and in fact I might have you tattoo across my back....
Life is too short for Williams.
I would hate to see Dan when something he likes breaks
Imagine mushroom clouds.
I believe he was typing it exactly as it appears on the packaging, which was probably in all caps. I doubt he was yelling.
Sorry not yelling just Cut, Copy, and Paste on my iPhone! But geeky iPhone things is an entirely different forum.
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