Who Still Uses Williams Shaving Soap? What Have you Settled on as a Replacement? Thoughts on other Commercial Shaving Soaps as Alternatives?

[Lane101]

Curious as to who is still using Williams Shaving Soap regularly or as part of a rotation thanks to having reserve stock? For those that used to regularly shave with Williams and exhausted available supplies what have you settled on as a replacement soap? If you still have some how have your usage patterns changed due to limited availability? Great time to hear how folks adjusted now that we are 2+ years out from when Williams was discontinued. How do the soaps you use now compare to Williams?

I'll go first. I'm currently using a custom blend with roughly 30% Williams soap as part of my primary rotation. Prior to Williams being discontinued I rotated between straight Williams and my latest custom blend with occasional use of a few othe commercial soaps (Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF, original tallow version), Van Der Hagen Luxury and Proraso Red). Once Williams was discontinued I began to test other budget soaps including Razorock What-The-Puck (WTP) and Arko and found that both are excellent alternatives to Williams for a similar price per ounce of soap.

Later in 2022, when the British Pound collapsed, I acquired a number of other commercial soaps including Tabac (new formula), D.R. Harris Windsor and Cyril R. Salter and extra MWF tallow pucks. Also some LEA and Cyril R. Salter shaving creams. Now I enjoy the variety in my soap rotation with three primary soaps in open mugs (currently custom blend, Tabac and What-The-Puck) and the balance in sealed containers that are chosen from once or twice a week. Once I 3017 something to free up a container I plan to add straight Williams shaving soap back to my mix. Also have enough blended pucks for at least two years use at current consumption rates.

Suspect that the Williams discontinuation just accelerated a commercial soap exploration that was starting to happen anyway. For me the most enjoyable aspect of DE shaving is crafting my lather. My overall conclusions from my exploration to date are:

• Arko is the best overall substitute for Williams from a lathering ease and quality perspective at a similar price point when purchased in bulk (12 sticks)
• Razorock What-The-Puck it the best Williams substitute for those who don't like the Arko scent for just a little more money when purchased on sale.
• My other commercial soaps such as MWF, Tabac, D.R. Harris, Cyril R. Salter deliver similar quality core shaving performance (to Williams, my custom blend, Arko and WTP) with the added benefits (varies somewhat by product) of enhanced scent, a more luxurious creamy lather, and post shave feel offering reasonable value for the added costs if you prefer those benefits. Definitely well worth it for me as I was able to land these soaps at great prices such as under $6 for MWF.
• The two brands of shaving cream also deliver similar quality lather to my best soaps though they need to be dialed in differently with a thicker lather with less relative water added. They are a bit more convenient as there is minimal loading time, just apply the cream dollop to my face and/or brush and face lather. Start with a dryer brush and add bits of water until my ideal lather is developed. The main benefit of my Cyril R. Salter Luxury Creams over the more budget priced LEA Professional are the added scents (Wild Rose and French Vetiver). Both creams deliver excellent core shaving performance.

I'll always include Williams, while I have it available, in some part of my rotation for its core shaving performance and nostalgia. That said my soap exporation journey has been enjoyable.

How have you adapted to the discontinuation of Williams? Are you just working through your inventory or have you found one or more replacements? Those of you across the pond feel free to chime in regarding the discontinued Palmolive shave sticks or any other mainstay product that is no longer available?

P.S. While on this topic I've found that Cyril R. Salter shaving soap is the best alternative to the now discontinued MWF. Same base as D.R. Harris at a great price.

 

[poppi]

I have over 30 puck's of Williams, old and new, so think I'll survive for awhile. Especially when using synthetic brushes which seem to take up less product than a badger or boar. Nice stuff.

 

[Opolar]

I have over 100 vintage Canadian made in Montreal, Canada tallow first ingredient Williams mug soap. It’ll last me a life time especially at the rate that I’m using other soaps and creams in my rotations. I’ve not deviated on how I use my Williams soap ever since they’ve stopped making it. So it’s business as usual for me. I do like the classic Lea puck soap and classic Lea cream. I like the latest Haslinger soap and Tallow Tabac soap. Arko is good but I find it extra slimey it leaves more white film residue than any other soap I’ve ever used plus it’s drying with prolonged usage but it’s in my rotation as well and it’s good value. Lots of other soaps and creams that keep me going.

 

[mladenius]

I never used Williams but Cyril R Salter is excellent soap, and pretty hard (similar consistency like Tabac or Speick stick). On top of that it's cheap and have very nice, clean scent - it's identical to Monsavon only less intense. Puck of 100g should last ages. And quite curious new formulation is based on tallow which quite untypical trend, at least in Europe.

 

[Lane101]

I never used Williams but Cyril R Salter is excellent soap, and pretty hard (similar consistency like Tabac or Speick stick). On top of that it's cheap and have very nice, clean scent - it's identical to Monsavon only less intense. Puck of 100g should last ages. And quite curious new formulation is based on tallow which quite untypical trend, at least in Europe.

Hi, saw your similar post on another thread. Agree that Cyril R. Salter is excellent shaving soap and a great value. I see it as the best alternative to Mitchell's Wool Fat's discontinued tallow formulation from a performance basis combined with a different though high quality scent. Would definitely rank Cyril in a class above Williams as it's easier to lather and has a superior scent.

Williams can deliver similar core shaving performance though that requires extra effort. In my case I found that using stiffer boar versus my synthetics did the trick with Williams enabling loading of enough soap with a reasonable effort.

Never tried Monsavon though the ingredients are similar with both being tallow and stearic acid based. Did see a post roughly a year ago from @Golden_Edge (link below) on Monsavon who noted that the soap was not a hard puck like Cyril R. Salter and had the consistency of jello or pudding. Sounds like a French version of the softer Italian soaps based on a stearic acid/tallow base versus the stearic acid/coconut oil base used in many Italian soaps. Regardless sounds like a great soap at a value price when purchased locally in France.

Link to Recent Monsavon Review:

Mon Savon Au Lait - French Arko?

I was in France not too long ago. I didn't bother taking any soap or cream with me knowing I would find something there (be it French or not). Landed on a Sunday, went to a small supermarket on a Monday. Selection was small with mostly canned gels and foams. This small plastic jar caught my...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Lane101]

I have over 100 vintage Canadian made in Montreal, Canada tallow first ingredient Williams mug soap. It’ll last me a life time especially at the rate that I’m using other soaps and creams in my rotations. I’ve not deviated on how I use my Williams soap ever since they’ve stopped making it. So it’s business as usual for me. I do like the classic Lea puck soap and classic Lea cream. I like the latest Haslinger soap and Tallow Tabac soap. Arko is good but I find it extra slimey it leaves more white film residue than any other soap I’ve ever used plus it’s drying with prolonged usage but it’s in my rotation as well and it’s good value. Lots of other soaps and creams that keep me going.

The good news is that thanks to fellow B&B members like @EclipseRedRing use of vintage soaps we know our Williams pucks will last almost forever as they are one of the hardest soaps out there with little moisture. I've also found that my LEA cream (large 250g. Professional tube) and new formulation Tabac works really well. I see the residual slickness from Arko as a benefit during my touch-up passes though understand your perspective. One benefit of the LEA cream is that it provides nice residual slickness between passes yet rinses off fairly quickly when the shave is done. Well worth the under $4 U.S. I landed it for in one of my Connaught orders a while back.

 

[Brutus]

To be honest, I am struggling to understand why some people miss Williams shaving soap, except maybe for the old-fashioned barbershop scent that was truly lovely.

Please don’t call me a “Williams hater” or some other nonsense, but I think everyone can agree that Williams performance was, to put it mildly, unspectacular.

As possible candidates for a Williams stand-in that are inexpensive, the plain Musgo (not to confuse with Musgo Real) and Mogno shaving soaps from Ach. Brito on the European side, and the RazoRock What the Puck and Fendrihan own brand* shaving soaps on the North American side spring to my mind.


They are all inexpensive, available in a traditional scent, and they even work - quite well actually.



B.

* as the Fendrihan branded shaving soaps don’t have much of a name to remember them by, here the link: Shaving Soaps · Fendrihan Canada · Ship Free $60+ - https://www.fendrihan.ca/collections/shaving-soaps/fendrihan

 

[mladenius]

Hi, saw your similar post on another thread. Agree that Cyril R. Salter is excellent shaving soap and a great value. I see it as the best alternative to Mitchell's Wool Fat's discontinued tallow formulation from a performance basis combined with a different though high quality scent. Would definitely rank Cyril in a class above Williams as it's easier to lather and has a superior scent.

Williams can deliver similar core shaving performance though that requires extra effort. In my case I found that using stiffer boar versus my synthetics did the trick with Williams enabling loading of enough soap with a reasonable effort.

Never tried Monsavon though the ingredients are similar with both being tallow and stearic acid based. Did see a post roughly a year ago from @Golden_Edge (link below) on Monsavon who noted that the soap was not a hard puck like Cyril R. Salter and had the consistency of jello or pudding. Sounds like a French version of the softer Italian soaps based on a stearic acid/tallow base versus the stearic acid/coconut oil base used in many Italian soaps. Regardless sounds like a great soap at a value price when purchased locally in France.

Link to Recent Monsavon Review:

Mon Savon Au Lait - French Arko?

I was in France not too long ago. I didn't bother taking any soap or cream with me knowing I would find something there (be it French or not). Landed on a Sunday, went to a small supermarket on a Monday. Selection was small with mostly canned gels and foams. This small plastic jar caught my...

www.badgerandblade.com

Hey!
I also have Monsavon in my collection - true, it's a soft soap, consistency is very similar to Cella.
Great soap actually given the fact that I paid 1.5 or 2 euros (can't remember) for it in Intermarche supermarket when I was visited France. In Proraso class but even more better. You have them in almost any supermarket there but they are difficult to get outside France or price is just outrageous considering it's a frugal, cheap soap.
Smells identical to Cyril R Salter only difference is that scent is more potent.

 

[geneaut]

The Cyril R Salter hard puck ( 70g or 100g ) is a tallow hard soap I am testing now that seems promising. It's not quite as cost effective as Williams though it is fairly inexpensive for a tallow puck.

I contemplated the Derby pucks ( extremely similar to Arko but with a slightly more subtle scent ), but they seem harder to find lately than they used to be, and I have the suspicion they may no longer be on the market ).

And as many people have said the actual answer is probably Arko.

 

[Ron R]

I use Williams mug soap(newer formulation) every once in a while. I find Speick stick and Razorock soaps much better soaps IMO.
I use Cyril R Salter creams , they are very good and also last a long time + lather qualities are excellent.

 

[ChriWilson]

The Cyril R Salter hard puck ( 70g or 100g ) is a tallow hard soap I am testing now that seems promising. It's not quite as cost effective as Williams though it is fairly inexpensive for a tallow puck.

I contemplated the Derby pucks ( extremely similar to Arko but with a slightly more subtle scent ), but they seem harder to find lately than they used to be, and I have the suspicion they may no longer be on the market ).

And as many people have said the actual answer is probably Arko.

I've never used Williams nor CRS, but have plenty of DRH - particularly in Marlborough...

 

[Lane101]

To be honest, I am struggling to understand why some people miss Williams shaving soap, except maybe for the old-fashioned barbershop scent that was truly lovely.

Please don’t call me a “Williams hater” or some other nonsense, but I think everyone can agree that Williams performance was, to put it mildly, unspectacular.

As possible candidates for a Williams stand-in that are inexpensive, the plain Musgo (not to confuse with Musgo Real) and Mogno shaving soaps from Ach. Brito on the European side, and the RazoRock What the Puck and Fendrihan own brand* shaving soaps on the North American side spring to my mind.


They are all inexpensive, available in a traditional scent, and they even work - quite well actually.



B.

* as the Fendrihan branded shaving soaps don’t have much of a name to remember them by, here the link: Shaving Soaps · Fendrihan Canada · Ship Free $60+ - https://www.fendrihan.ca/collections/shaving-soaps/fendrihan

If you dig back into this forum and other reviews there were Williams loyalists who had been shaving with it almost exclusively for over 50 years since they started shaving. If you know how to lather Williams it's as good as many other soaps from a core shaving performance perspective and was the best value out there for 99 cents per tallow based puck in our local supermarkets. Amazing slickness.

The challenge with Williams is that it's the hardest puck out there and also relatively small at just 1.75 ounces so more effort is required to load enough soap for a great shave. Many folks, used to loading softer artisan soaps in as little as 10-15 seconds struggled to adapt to Williams. I initially started blending it with other soaps to get a bigger, slightly softer and easier to load puck and then figured out that a quality stiff boar was the secret. Even Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF), that many have complained about, is easier to lather than Williams. MWF works well with my softer synthetic brushes that are a challenge for Williams.

Finally there was the nostalgia value. Williams was the last of the domestic U.S. "old school" shaving pucks like Colgate or Burma Shave. I recall my grandfather using Colgate with his mug and boar brush.

I used to pick up a puck or two every time I was in my local supermarket and am glad I've got over a couple dozen Williams pucks that should cover my needs for a decade or more.

 

[Lane101]

The Cyril R Salter hard puck ( 70g or 100g ) is a tallow hard soap I am testing now that seems promising. It's not quite as cost effective as Williams though it is fairly inexpensive for a tallow puck.

I contemplated the Derby pucks ( extremely similar to Arko but with a slightly more subtle scent ), but they seem harder to find lately than they used to be, and I have the suspicion they may no longer be on the market ).

And as many people have said the actual answer is probably Arko.

I know the Derby sticks have been discontinued. Haven't seen one for sale for almost two years. It is similar to Arko though it is a harder soap. Cyril R Salter hard pucks are a good step up from Williams. More comparable to tallow Mitchell's Wool Fat in quality.

 

[Brutus]

If you dig back into this forum and other reviews there were Williams loyalists who had been shaving with it almost exclusively for over 50 years since they started shaving. If you know how to lather Williams it's as good as many other soaps from a core shaving performance perspective and was the best value out there for 99 cents per tallow based puck in our local supermarkets. Amazing slickness.

The challenge with Williams is that it's the hardest puck out there and also relatively small at just 1.75 ounces so more effort is required to load enough soap for a great shave. Many folks, used to loading softer artisan soaps in as little as 10-15 seconds struggled to adapt to Williams. I initially started blending it with other soaps to get a bigger, slightly softer and easier to load puck and then figured out that a quality stiff boar was the secret. Even Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF), that many have complained about, is easier to lather than Williams. MWF works well with my softer synthetic brushes that are a challenge for Williams.

Finally there was the nostalgia value. Williams was the last of the domestic U.S. "old school" shaving pucks like Colgate or Burma Shave. I recall my grandfather using Colgate with his mug and boar brush.

I used to pick up a puck or two every time I was in my local supermarket and am glad I've got over a couple dozen Williams pucks that should cover my needs for a decade or more.

I’m sorry, I am no longer engaging in discussions about the perceived qualities or faults of Williams.
Everything that can be said about Williams has been said about Williams many years and many times before.
In fact, I don’t recall any novel idea about Williams surfacing in the last 20 odd years.

If something was considered good 50 years ago that does not mean that it’s still acceptable today, or we would still be driving around in 43 hp Volkswagen Beetles without a/c.

Of course, if someone wants to do just that (or shave with a shaving soap that harks back to these days), who am I to object? Just don’t tell me it’s the bee’s knees, please.

I do agree with you on one point though; if one can shave well with Williams one can shave with pretty much any shaving soap, but that in itself is a rather barmy excuse for using it - let alone pay an insane premium these days.



B.

 

[Lane101]

I’m sorry, I am no longer engaging in discussions about the perceived qualities or faults of Williams.
Everything that can be said about Williams has been said about Williams many years and many times before.
In fact, I don’t recall any novel idea about Williams surfacing in the last 20 odd years.

But I do agree one one point; if one can shave well with Williams one can shave with pretty much any shaving soap, but that in itself is a rather barmy excuse for using it - let alone pay an insane premium these days.


B.

Your post above, about struggling to understand why many miss Williams, implied a desire for an answer. Also not everyone will agree with your statement that Williams was "unspectacular" per the many historical posts. No need to discuss it further. Also others reading this thread may be interested in the response.

You are right, once one masters Williams they can shave with most other soaps. Also while well worth 99 cents there are better options for far less than the $40+ it's currently listed for on Amazon.

 

[awk_m4]

To be honest, I am struggling to understand why some people miss Williams shaving soap, except maybe for the old-fashioned barbershop scent that was truly lovely.

Please don’t call me a “Williams hater” or some other nonsense, but I think everyone can agree that Williams performance was, to put it mildly, unspectacular.

As possible candidates for a Williams stand-in that are inexpensive, the plain Musgo (not to confuse with Musgo Real) and Mogno shaving soaps from Ach. Brito on the European side, and the RazoRock What the Puck and Fendrihan own brand* shaving soaps on the North American side spring to my mind.


They are all inexpensive, available in a traditional scent, and they even work - quite well actually.



B.

* as the Fendrihan branded shaving soaps don’t have much of a name to remember them by, here the link: Shaving Soaps · Fendrihan Canada · Ship Free $60+ - https://www.fendrihan.ca/collections/shaving-soaps/fendrihan

Thank you for the suggestion! I’ve never tried Williams so I don’t what I’m missing. Tabac and TOBS are my my top two but will take a look at what the Fendrihan banded soaps for more variety.

 

[Brutus]

Thank you for the suggestion! I’ve never tried Williams so I don’t what I’m missing. Tabac and TOBS are my my top two but will take a look at what the Fendrihan banded soaps for more variety.

When I made these suggestions, I also had a price similar to Williams in mind and the likes of D.R. Harris, Tabac and Taylor of Old Bond Street fall IMO in a different category than Williams.

Among potential North American stand-ins for Williams, RazoRock What the Puck would be my first suggestion.
I am very fond of Fendrihan their products and their service, but the RazoRock shaving soap might just be a little better than the Fendrihan soap.


Hope this helps…


B.

 

[Edgelord]

I go to antique stores pretty regularly, and I see Williams pucks at a good amount of them.

 

[awk_m4]

When I made these suggestions, I also had a price similar to Williams in mind and the likes of D.R. Harris, Tabac and Taylor of Old Bond Street fall IMO in a different category than Williams.

Among potential North American stand-ins for Williams, RazoRock What the Puck would be my first suggestion.
I am very fond of Fendrihan their products and their service, but the RazoRock shaving soap might just be a little better than the Fendrihan soap.


Hope this helps…


B.

Thank you for your suggestion! I really appreciate it! RazoRock products are very popular here and will add it to my list of things to try.

 

[Lane101]

When I made these suggestions, I also had a price similar to Williams in mind and the likes of D.R. Harris, Tabac and Taylor of Old Bond Street fall IMO in a different category than Williams.

Among potential North American stand-ins for Williams, RazoRock What the Puck would be my first suggestion.
I am very fond of Fendrihan their products and their service, but the RazoRock shaving soap might just be a little better than the Fendrihan soap.


Hope this helps…


B.

@awk_m4 , seconding Brutus's recommendation of Razorock What-the-Puck as a great Williams substitute. Excellent soap that is part of my rotation that you can get for $3-$4 per puck when on sale. These are hard milled soaps that last a long time with ingredients similar to many far more expensive shaving soaps. Also at 100 grams these are twice the size of the Williams pucks.

They are non-tallow. If you want a tallow based Williams substitute then Arko is your best bet.