Williams Experiment

There was a store local to me that used to sell current production Williams shave pucks on the cheap so a couple of years back I bought 4 or 5 on a whim as they do have tallow and I was curious. The first shave was not good however. Poor lather and little glide. It was then that I cut up one puck into small pieces and then kneaded in 40 drops (2 ml) of glycerin that I use to lube razors with. I pressed it into a plastic bowl and let it cure for months while shaving with other soaps. Fast forward to today & I  broke it out and poured very hot water onto it in the bowl & then showered. Dumping the water upon exit I hit it with a black fiber synthetic and face lathered. Marvelous lather and the kicker:  the shave with a Silver Blue blade used twice before was simply outstanding!! The added glycerin really brought this into the winner's circle IMO. Try it. Glycerin is sold at Walmart dirt cheap.

What other soaps do you own?


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What other soaps do you own?


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Too many to list. Why?

Life is too short to bother with mediocre shaving soaps or creams, for that matter. If a shaving soap cannot stand on its own merits then it gets used for hand washing.


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There was a store local to me that used to sell current production Williams shave pucks on the cheap so a couple of years back I bought 4 or 5 on a whim as they do have tallow and I was curious. The first shave was not good however. Poor lather and little glide. It was then that I cut up one puck into small pieces and then kneaded in 40 drops (2 ml) of glycerin that I use to lube razors with. I pressed it into a plastic bowl and let it cure for months while shaving with other soaps. Fast forward to today & I  broke it out and poured very hot water onto it in the bowl & then showered. Dumping the water upon exit I hit it with a black fiber synthetic and face lathered. Marvelous lather and the kicker:  the shave with a Silver Blue blade used twice before was simply outstanding!! The added glycerin really brought this into the winner's circle IMO. Try it. Glycerin is sold at Walmart dirt cheap.  

Taking out a fresh puck of Williams from its cardboard box and pushing it in a regular coffee mug and pouring the hot water on it while you shower has the same effect. And if its daily used, just a spoon full of hot water each day or just a wet brush kept on it overnight has the same effect as well.

Williams is still around inspite of its notoriety of being hard to lather, is that once you do get it to lather right, the razor glide is second to none.

And i forget - it has to be a boar brush!!

There was a store local to me that used to sell current production Williams shave pucks on the cheap so a couple of years back I bought 4 or 5 on a whim as they do have tallow and I was curious. The first shave was not good however. Poor lather and little glide. It was then that I cut up one puck into small pieces and then kneaded in 40 drops (2 ml) of glycerin that I use to lube razors with. I pressed it into a plastic bowl and let it cure for months while shaving with other soaps. Fast forward to today & I  broke it out and poured very hot water onto it in the bowl & then showered. Dumping the water upon exit I hit it with a black fiber synthetic and face lathered. Marvelous lather and the kicker:  the shave with a Silver Blue blade used twice before was simply outstanding!! The added glycerin really brought this into the winner's circle IMO. Try it. Glycerin is sold at Walmart dirt cheap.  

God bless you for taking the time to try and make Williams soap usesable, but I’m with Rhinehoth on that one. Just about EVERY soap I have ever used is better than Williams. The decision to discontinue that soap was several years too late. That was the first soap ever used that tallow couldn’t rescue.

That’s it for my rant.

I know people dislike Williams. And I get that. But I like it very much, and the lather and shave with Williams is equal in enjoyment to me as anything 20 times the price of Williams.

I can understand saying life is too short for Williams when there are better soaps out there. On the other hand, if you enjoyed Williams as much as Grooming Dept or Cyril Salter, as I do, there would be nothing gained from using the "superior" soaps.

I wouldn't use Williams if I didn't thoroughly enjoy it. I have plenty of other soaps. So, just consider the possibility that maybe it is not a sacrifice to use Williams. It so happens it works really well with my face, razor, blade, and water.

I hope they don't stop making it.

I will in all likelihood not buy any more as there are too many other great soaps that need no "tweaking". I merely shared this as a way to make a soap work better. I have never used a vintage Williams puck, but if it is anything like the vintage Colgate soap then I am sure it was at one time fantastic. Alas, the glory days are over as there is no real mass market for it today. RIP.

There is no need to tweek the reformulated Williams other than covering it with hot tap water for a few minutes before you use it. Dump the water off and go to making lather with your brush of choice. I probably overload my brush, but I am always rewarded with enough thick protective lather for atleast 4 passes. Back in the eighties the vintage Williams worked just as well when you hydrated the puck, and Colgate worked about the same. I will admit the vintage stuff did make a slightly creamier lather, and it lathered up just a hair quicker. The one I miss is Williams Menthol SS in the green box. Now I just add a bit of Cremo Cooling SC (blue tube) when I want menthol in my in my Williams.

Clayton

There is no need to tweek the reformulated Williams other than covering it with hot tap water for a few minutes before you use it.  Dump the water off and go to making lather with your brush of choice. I probably overload my brush, but I am always rewarded with enough thick protective lather for atleast 4 passes. Back in the eighties the vintage Williams worked just as well when you hydrated the puck, and Colgate worked about the same. I will admit the vintage stuff did make a slightly creamier lather, and it lathered up just a hair quicker. The one I miss is Williams Menthol SS in the green box. Now I just add a bit of Cremo Cooling SC (blue tube) when I want menthol in my in my Williams.

Clayton

Yes, I could get it to lather after a hot water bloom while showering, but the glide was never great with this current production. The addition of Glycerin changed that entirely. For a few pennies worth of Glycerin and some "elbow grease" this transformed this soap into a real winner. I was stunned!