Just used shaving soap for the first time in years and years (and years)....

I have totally enjoyed using Proraso, Truefitt & Hill, and Taylors of Old Bond Street - all creams! As well as some other creams. For me, its been cream all the way.

Well... recently, I have run low on my blessed creams. At the moment all I have left is half a tub of Taylor's Lavender, and tiny amounts of other creams.

But I have had a stockpile of some soap. And I have been looking to save some money so I thought "why not try some soap?"

So I put two cakes of Williams Shaving Soap into an old Old Spice Shaving mug and that was it.

Recently, I read here that adding a bit of Glycerin to the soap was a good idea. And having had great experiences with Glycerin the past I did this without hestiation.

And then the shave... I did my best to lather up, rubbing it into my well prepped beard...


The result...





Well... it was okay. Not great. Not like a fine English crream. But still pretty good. What I do like about this soap is that its a total icon among the world war II generation. That's pretty cool. And its also really, really cheap. That's nice.

I got a good shave from this and followed up with a good splash of another old Williams product - Aqua Velva. It felt great.

Again, this was not a great shave. Not the shave that I have had with other products. But one thing that I have learned in this whole journey of wet shaving is that its not all about the product, but also about technique! Great technique even with less than great products can produce an excellent shave.

Does anyone else here use Williams soap? Do you like it? Do you think its good value for the money?

"Their is something about an Aqua Velva man" Williams mug soap

indeed there is!

Christoph --

I shave with everything, but prefer soaps. I have a Williams around here somewhere... But I generally use soaps from the three Sues, LtlSuz, and TGQ.

When I 'go cheap' I use the Arko shave stick which is a very generic shave soap and provides a great shave. One of these days, I'll buy a 'fancy' soap, but for now, I'm happy with products from our soapmistresses.

-- John Gehman

All the soaps I've tried from the Sues are fantastic, but I have to say - I've been shaving with my L'Occitane for about three days in a row now (on the road at my parent's house) and I didn't even need aftershave this morning. Can't be beat.

Fortunately for all our resident soapmakers, I like variety, too.

Christoph said:

Does anyone else here use Williams soap? Do you like it? Do you think its good value for the money?

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I use Williams on a regular basis. It is a staple in my shave rotation. When I first came to Wet Shaving I bought a puck of Williams and a Burma Shave brush from Wal-Mart. The shave I got from that soap and brush was superior in every way to anything I had gotten from my Mach3. And ever since I have kept Williams in my cabinet. Sometimes I will add some different creams to it to produce a nice "superlather", my favorite being the addition of some proraso to my brush after I have loaded it with Williams. That is a very nice shave.

Boogie said:

I use Williams on a regular basis. It is a staple in my shave rotation. When I first came to Wet Shaving I bought a puck of Williams and a Burma Shave brush from Wal-Mart. The shave I got from that soap and brush was superior in every way to anything I had gotten from my Mach3. And ever since I have kept Williams in my cabinet. Sometimes I will add some different creams to it to produce a nice "superlather", my favorite being the addition of some proraso to my brush after I have loaded it with Williams. That is a very nice shave.

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I will occasionally mix something with Williams, like Palmolive or Proraso. You gotta respect a product that's been in continuous use since 1840, and is the only lathering product still available in many areas. I remember my grandfather using it when I was a kid. And the scent!

Norm

I like Williams and use it often. It takes a bit of trial and error to get a good lather but once you get the technique down it's great stuff. Sometimes I add a slurt of Palmolive brushless to it and it lathers up thick and luscious.

After using it for a few days now I will say that I kind of like it. I like the feel. It lathers well. But it does make my skin feel a bit drier. Still, I think it can be part of a good shave.

Of course, if you want a comparison to your 3-T english creams, why not try a 3-T english soap?

Williams and the Mach 3 gives me a nice, quick shave. The four pass DE shave is a bit much for me. I'm 23 and like to get it over with as quickly as possible, so the Williams allows me to quickly whip up some lather and one pass with the Mach 3 will give me the same result as two WTG passes with a DE...with a lot less blood!

Oh, you can't beat the Williams scent either. Very Clean!

Recently moved from Sumerset shaving oil + Mach III to brush (Omega Puro Tasso), soap (Proraso Sapone Da Barba) and double edge blades (Merkur superior). Enjoying it, actually loving the calming daily ritual and would never go back... but I'm not sure that I'm getting a really good lather and can't figure out whether it is best to make the lather in a mug, in the soap jar or on my face.

For the last few days I have been making the lather on my face. And it's okay, but not very thick or creamy. When I squeeze the brush against a bowl, I get a thick lather coming out, but somehow that doesn't seem like the way I should be doing things.

Any thoughts or advice on how to get a thick, moist and creamy shaving lather would be very welcome.

By the way, my access to products is a bit limited. I live in Sydney, great city blah blah, but often hard to find things that are not run of the mill commercial stuff found in supermarkets and department stores.

I went to the Dr's office. I told him I thought I had issues with my Gillette and canned foam that I was using at the time.

I remember him saying that Williams was a good soap to shave with because it would be gentle/good for my skin.

When it came to making a lather, it's safe to say, I didn't know what I was doing, or what the final product should look like. In all likelyhood, it probably didn't look anything like what our Lathermeisters here could produce.

jeremy said:

Recently moved from Sumerset shaving oil + Mach III to brush (Omega Puro Tasso), soap (Proraso Sapone Da Barba) and double edge blades (Merkur superior). Enjoying it, actually loving the calming daily ritual and would never go back... but I'm not sure that I'm getting a really good lather and can't figure out whether it is best to make the lather in a mug, in the soap jar or on my face.

For the last few days I have been making the lather on my face. And it's okay, but not very thick or creamy. When I squeeze the brush against a bowl, I get a thick lather coming out, but somehow that doesn't seem like the way I should be doing things.

Any thoughts or advice on how to get a thick, moist and creamy shaving lather would be very welcome.

By the way, my access to products is a bit limited. I live in Sydney, great city blah blah, but often hard to find things that are not run of the mill commercial stuff found in supermarkets and department stores.

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Welcome to B&B, Jeremy!
Lathering is something that takes practice, trial and error. I would recommend experimenting with how much water you use. You should eventually get an excellent shave using the Proraso. It is a great shaving cream used by many here. Glad to have you on the board! There are lots of resources here, and folks eager to help!

Norm

Jeremy, when you make your lather try this - after you soak the brush, shake out most of the water, then spend a bit longer loading the brush with soap. Really work the brush into the soap. Then when you move to your face you should have lather that's almost too thick - just barely dab the tips of the bristles into hot water to add water into the mix until you wind up with a good lather on your face. After that you should be set.

Thank you both. I very much appreciate the good advice and the warm welcome (I suspect that this is a rapidly growing community). I'll try experimenting with the water tomorrow morning (which is sooner here than there). I was concerned that perhaps the brush wasn't up to the mark - but since no one commented, I'll assume that piece of the puzzle is ok. Cheers, Jeremy.

The Omega is a boar bristle, I assume? You would see better results with a badger-hair brush, but you should still be able to get a pretty decent lather with a boar brush.

according to the good folk in the shop, the brush is badger

jeremy said:

according to the good folk in the shop, the brush is badger

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Absolutely correct. Dusting of my Italian, puro tasso is pure badger. Welcome and enjoy.

Thanks Ron. I cheated and resorted to an online translation.
Meanwhile, if any of you are heading to Sydney, bring your blades with you. I gave up trying to buy anything locally and ordered a year's supply of Merkurs and Feathers from classicshaving.com