Your vote for the worst soap ever tried

¢orey;4186164 said:

Williams by a mile.

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+17,000

Williams is the absolute worst shave soap FOR ME. I had such a resentment against that soap I judged people who raved about it as "not to be taken seriously." I admittedly question one's definition of slickness and cushion when they go about touting it's wondrous properties. While I personally prefer boar to badger by a long mile, I don't belong in the cheap wins out category. It's snobby as all ___ to say that, such a definitive opinion about a shaving soap, I know, maybe it's the frustration I've had with it knowing so many loved it. But I digress.

That opinion has dwindled down to an "agree to disagree" type of opinion. Actually, a lot can be learned about lathering trying to get that soap to work. See, it's not that Williams can't lather, it's that the lather is terrible. I see pictures of people proudly "showing off" there Williams lathers and, to be honest, they look awful. If it works for you, I tip my hat off. That's kind of awesome. Me? I wouldn't shave with that at gun point. I see pictures of these lathers:

Bubbly. Airy. No sheen. Minimal peak-age. Foam all over the handle. Depressed knot from mashing the soap.


The extreme dissatisfaction with that soap still lingers. A good soap means you don't have to prepare it prior to use or add glycerin or a pre shave or any other homemade tricks, in my book. It should just work? I have never had a problem lathering any soap out there using a wet brush—ever, even Williams.

But Williams is the kind of soap whose lather you have to beat into submission. I understand it works fine for some, but all in all, you shouldn't have to fight a soap to get a good shave.

I have a puck somewhere in my shave den. I'll probably soak it for ten minutes in hot water, go at it with a wet brush, just like all of the Williams Community say to (I have soft soft SOFT water) and I'll still shrug my shoulders and throw it out like I knew I should have.

J743 said:

A good soap means you don't have to prepare it prior to use or add glycerin or a pre shave or any other homemade tricks, in my book. It should just work?

But Williams is the kind of soap whose lather you have to beat into submission. I understand it works fine for some, but all in all, you shouldn't have to fight a soap to get a good shave.

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These are my exact thoughts on MWF...for me, the worst soap I've tried

Native Sister's . Bay Rum.
Has a nice strong scent but was absolutely terrible trying to lather, very thin and would start to dissipate as soon as I set the brush down.

Something weird happened to me. In the early nineties I bought a bar of Williams mug soap and it worked great. Years later, I bought a couple more, since the supply for some reason had gone scarce where I lived. I don't know if they changed the formula, but it was like a different soap; I just couldn't get it to lather. The lather would dissipate so quickly it wasn't even funny. Worst soap ever.

Col Conk

GFT violet hard soap. Shockingly bad

Rocco11 said:

Mystic Waters. Bath soap masquerading as a shave soap.

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It's definitely a finicky soap that people either love or hate. I think it has a lot of fans for it's scents, natural ingredients and people with water that works with it

In general, many find it easier to criticize a product or give a negative review then a positive one. Just check restaurant reviews...everyone runs home and goes online to write a review when they have a bad meal but when they have a good one, they just go home.

One thing is for certain, the scents are pleasant, it feels good on the skin and Michelle is a world class vendor.

I may resist it in the future. I've had a love hate relationship with the lather.

Modern Williamson and Peraso.

Triumph & Disaster shave cream, more disaster than triumph! hard to lather and flat as a fart no matter the effort

Blenheim Bouquet before the most recent reformulation.

Mickey Lee's "Pantie Dropper".The soap lathers as good as any other soap but the scent or lack there of is very off putting,and IMHO makes an other wise fine soap useless.For lack of a better description I would liken it to the smell of deer hides during the tanning process.I could have maybe gotten a tub that has went bad some how,if that is even possible?I thought it was just me but I had the wife smell it,needless to say her pantie's stayed firmly in place

1+ on Marvy

I was gifted a bar of Apothecary Fairy Shave Soap. Maybe I went past it's "best by" date, but it was horrible. Redefined what disappearing lather meant. It was slick enough to shave with, but the reason I tossed it out was it stung my face.

For me GFT, although a high end soap, I could never get it to perform. I was very sad

One of the local artisan soap makers tried her hand at a shave soap. Too much olive oil. Doesn't lather all that well, but it is pretty slick. I really like cushion.

SEnSE said:

Conk

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+1

I might catch flak for this but in my first purchase for wet shaving I bought red, green and white tubs of Proraso because it was recommended to be. I got it and I hated the base scent of all 3.

The red sandalwood smelled so horrid that it put me off buying ANY other sandalwood products because I thought they all smelled like that. I recently bought another sandalwood product because I got a free brush out of it and the scent was about 3 billion times better.

The white left a white film over everything and left a lot of buildup on my brush. I never tried the green.

The lather was easy enough to build but it wasn't the slickest and post shave feeling wasn't the best.

I sent them all to the friends who swore by the brand and they even said that what I got is ungodly compared to the stuff in the tubes they have been using. They didn't even knew the tubs existed. The sandalwood smelled bad and all 3 were bad performers compared to their previous experiences.

Conk and Williams.

I am completely mystified by the people that like Williams. I just don't get it. I found the soap to be inferior in every way. And I've tried maybe 30 different brands by now.

AJ

AJ123 said:

Conk and Williams.

I am completely mystified by the people that like Williams. I just don't get it. I found the soap to be inferior in every way. And I've tried maybe 30 different brands by now.

AJ

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I just used Williams for the first time this morning. It definitely takes a bit more patience and elbow grease than anything else I've used, but it was a very good shave. I soaked it overnight and all, but it still required me to add water and keep whipping up the lather until I thought my arm was going to fall off. With that said, I will be buying every puck I can find in the wild, since, for the price, nothing touched it's performance for me. I know once I get it dialed in, it will be superb. Of course, YMMV as you stated it's inferior to you, and I can understand that aspect, as that is how I feel about Arko. Does it lather well, yes, does it provide slickness, yes. My two main complaints are that it didn't compete with other soaps I've tried in the performance aspect, and the smell of it, I just couldn't get over. Will I use what I have until it's gone, absolutely, since it's there and it still does a pretty nice job for a shave.

Its sad to write, unfortunately MFW