Still having an issue with Williams shaving soap

Williams LOVES water! I generally soak the puck in boiling water (from a teapot) for at least 30 minutes prior to a shave. Once you get used to it, it's a good soap at a decent price.

My current soap is a "Van der Williams" mix (using Conk's Bay Rum this time). Simply grate up both pucks, mix it up and press it into the bottom of your mug. It brings out the best of both soaps.

Donnchadh_Sempill said:

Williams LOVES water! I generally soak the puck in boiling water (from a teapot) for at least 30 minutes prior to a shave. Once you get used to it, it's a good soap at a decent price.

My current soap is a "Van der Williams" mix (using Conk's Bay Rum this time). Simply grate up both pucks, mix it up and press it into the bottom of your mug. It brings out the best of both soaps.

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Well...I am a long-time WMS user and it's hanging in there (by its fingernails) as part of my team, but this seems like just a bit outside what should be expected for a shaving soap.

My Tabac practically starts to lather as the moist brush approaches the puck...if I was required to boil water and soak the soap for 30 minutes or more, the soap would be on its way to the landfill.

I really want to like Williams... but all these extra steps that people are taking to get a decent lather out of Williams just does not seem worth it. Which is really unfortunate because this soap is a classic... I think the real issue here is the change in formula I don't hear as much grumblings about vintage Williams

Perhaps we could all get together and petition them to change back to the old formulation. Surely a quick search of this board would show that people truly want to like it. They could sell as many pucks as there are members of this board on opening day.

"Still having an issue with Williams shaving soap" .... no kidding . I gave up on this stuff a week after buying my first brush. For a buck and a half, I threw it in the garbage when my first real soap arrived in the mail (Haslinger I believe it was). As others have said, why fight a product when there are so many awesome ones out there. Good luck with your journey, trust me, it won't end with Williams.

Sure there are better soaps out there, but WMS is cheap and easy to find. I keep a little water in my Old Spice mug over night to keep the puck hydrated, before my shower I fill that mug with water and let the brush soak. After the shower I pour out the water and load the brush for maybe 15-20 seconds. Then I take the brush to a salsa bowl and start working it. Add some water, work it, add water a 2nd time, and work it. Whole process from the end of the shower takes less than 2 minutes tops, and I get slick foam good for 3 passes. On some days when I want something really special I'll put 6-8 drops of glycerine in the salsa bowl before I start working it, and that really explodes the lather. I use several creams but WMS is in my rotation because it works for me.

I'm a fan. Both modern and vintage. I get stellar lather from both.

In my experience, there is nothing special required from modern Williams to lather it. I soak the puck while I'm in the shower, and load for about 20-30 seconds. No different from any other soap. I use the B&B recommended lather technique for all my soaps.

The only difference is that modern Williams needs a little bit of seasoning, before you use it. Like a cast iron pan, you need to give it a little bit of prep-work to get it to perform. I soak my puck for 24-48 hours after taking it out of the box. The puck will soak up a lot of water in this time. This added moisture will make loading and lathering much easier. If you use it daily, soaking every day as you shower or prep your shave, you will continue to give it moisture and it never reverts to it's dry state. The more you use it, the better it gets. Check out the WISE thread for my lather videos and pictures.


Yeah, I like Williams, a lot!

KJ you are a maniac!

TheVez2 said:

I'm a fan. Both modern and vintage. I get stellar lather from both.

In my experience, there is nothing special required from modern Williams to lather it. I soak the puck while I'm in the shower, and load for about 20-30 seconds. No different from any other soap. I use the B&B recommended lather technique for all my soaps.

The only difference is that modern Williams needs a little bit of seasoning, before you use it. Like a cast iron pan, you need to give it a little bit of prep-work to get it to perform. I soak my puck for 24-48 hours after taking it out of the box. The puck will soak up a lot of water in this time. This added moisture will make loading and lathering much easier. If you use it daily, soaking every day as you shower or prep your shave, you will continue to give it moisture and it never reverts to it's dry state. The more you use it, the better it gets. Check out the WISE thread for my lather videos and pictures.


Yeah, I like Williams, a lot!

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DEAR LORD! You are set until 4017 on Williams alone and I know you have an awesome aftershave collection to go with that! How much for a vintage puck lol?

TheVez2 said:

I'm a fan. Both modern and vintage. I get stellar lather from both.

In my experience, there is nothing special required from modern Williams to lather it. I soak the puck while I'm in the shower, and load for about 20-30 seconds. No different from any other soap. I use the B&B recommended lather technique for all my soaps.

The only difference is that modern Williams needs a little bit of seasoning, before you use it. Like a cast iron pan, you need to give it a little bit of prep-work to get it to perform. I soak my puck for 24-48 hours after taking it out of the box. The puck will soak up a lot of water in this time. This added moisture will make loading and lathering much easier. If you use it daily, soaking every day as you shower or prep your shave, you will continue to give it moisture and it never reverts to it's dry state. The more you use it, the better it gets. Check out the WISE thread for my lather videos and pictures.


Yeah, I like Williams, a lot!

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That might be the problem. Using a rotation of too many soaps would allow the puck to dry out.

cvargo said:

How much for a vintage puck lol?

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My vintage pucks increase in value (by a lot) the moment they enter my den. I don't give them up easily, LOL.

I will say that I've never paid more than $6 per puck (including shipping), and I average about half that when I find them in groups.

Blue Note said:

That might be the problem. Using a rotation of too many soaps would allow the puck to dry out.

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Definitely. Williams works best when used daily. I find is keeps getting better over time.

Well clearly if anyone would know it is KJ in the near future maybe I will devout a whole week to nothing but williams

I love Williams .

Thesil said:

Thanks for all of the advice lads. I do use other creams and do get a great shave. I think that for $1.00 , I can afford to deep six the Williams. I just wanted to make use of my mug with it. I use a shaving bowl for the creams. I'll try another softer soap down the road

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Jim's post contained the operative word: Modern Williams.

Jim can certainly speak for himself but I know he used Vintage Williams 30 years.

When Combe bought the J.B. Williams Company tallow became the second ingredient and that's when lathering problems started.

Combe denies changing the formula but either they are lying or the PR department flat out doesn't know. (Go to www.williamsmugsoap.com and the box pictured has the word "mug" printed in blue. The new adulterated box has "mug" written in white trimmed in blue.)

Most Williams enthusiasts concede that the current product is not as good as it used to me.

Deltaboy said:

I love Williams .

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PM me with your address and I'll send you my Williams.

I'd agree with the others that say skip the Williams. It's too hard. It's not worth it.

To heck with Robert Frost and his less travelled road. Just play that video game on the easiest setting. Don't climb the mountain, take the elevator. Man was not meant to be tested, to struggle, to triumph over adversity. When you think of it, all the great men and women of history got there by taking the easy way out.

Modern Williams is a vale of tears best left to those fools who find pleasure hunting with front stuffers, who put Pop Tarts in a toaster instead of microwaving for three seconds, or who write actual letters with fountain pens instead of dictating an email by voice command.

It's best to just walk away.

SHAVEWIZARD420 said:

I let mine soak in a bowl of water overnight. in the morning it was much easier to lather. I still ended up with terrible razor burn but I still don't want to give up on this soap. a lot of people swear by it for a reason and I think its a matter of dialing in the correct amount of water/soap

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You're halfway there. I've used Williams exclusively for years now and this is how I get the optimal results from it. When I open a new puck I put it in my shave mug and cover with hot water from the sink and leave it over night. This is the only time I soak it after that it's not necessary. Every morning when getting ready to shave I put a (coffee) cup full of water in the microwave oven for 2 minutes while I brush my teeth. When the water comes out of the microwave I pour half of it over the williams and the other half I put my shave brush in to get it real hot (I use a simple and cheap VDH Boar bristle brush).

Do some other part of your morning routine while the brush soaks in the water for a couple of minutes and the soap is getting hot in the water. I don't know, tie your shoes or something it's just a matter of adjusting your routine to accomodate a couple minutes time for the soap and brush to soak and get hot. That's all there is to it, you're ready now to create some really hot and fluffy soap. Remove the brush from the water and shake it one time, pour the water off of the soap and go to town working up some lather it only takes me about five or ten seconds to get a rich fluffy lather after doing the hot water thing. It took way longer to type this than it actually takes to do it. Once you make a routine out of it it goes quickly. I love the really hot lather using the microwave to heat it up, it would cost a fortune to turn my water heater up high enough to get these results from the tap.

Someone mentioned the effect hard water may have, I'm not sure but I think my method would work regardless of the water, it's really the heat that does the trick I think. I also like having that remaining really hot water in the mug to dip my razor in, it's the closest thing to a great barber shop shave I can get. Also if your lather cools a bit during shaving just dip your brush tips in the hot water to reheat.

I don't know if this will work as good with badger brushes because I don't like badger but it works great with boar.

Topgumby said:

I'd agree with the others that say skip the Williams. It's too hard. It's not worth it.

To heck with Robert Frost and his less travelled road. Just play that video game on the easiest setting. Don't climb the mountain, take the elevator. Man was not meant to be tested, to struggle, to triumph over adversity. When you think of it, all the great men and women of history got there by taking the easy way out.

Modern Williams is a vale of tears best left to those fools who find pleasure hunting with front stuffers, who put Pop Tarts in a toaster instead of microwaving for three seconds, or who write actual letters with fountain pens instead of dictating an email by voice command.

It's best to just walk away.

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Regardless of what is has become, I will always have a puck for when the mood strikes!

California Cajun said:

Jim's post contained the operative word: Modern Williams.

Jim can certainly speak for himself but I know he used Vintage Williams 30 years.

When Combe bought the J.B. Williams Company tallow became the second ingredient and that's when lathering problems started.

Combe denies changing the formula but either they are lying or the PR department flat out doesn't know. (Go to www.williamsmugsoap.com and the box pictured has the word "mug" printed in blue. The new adulterated box has "mug" written in white trimmed in blue.)

Most Williams enthusiasts concede that the current product is not as good as it used to me.

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Well I'm not sure what "used to be" means. I've only been using Williams for going on eight to ten years. Exclusively for the last five or so.

The tallow is the exact reason why I do use it. I actually like the VDH pink quite a bit but the hot water routine I use (see post above) absolutely destroys it. Not immediately of course but a puck will only last a week or so where as the Williams will last nearly a month. I'm just partial to a really hot lather. I first became addicted to it when the barber used to put that hot lather on my neck and shave it with a straight razor back in the day. Back then I had no clue how to get a shave like that at home and it was years later in my 50's that I discovered wet shaving thanks to the internet.

I started using Williams because it was cheap and easily available at my local CVS store. I have to order it from ebay nowadays. But it's the only soap that allows me to use really hot water to get the shave I like. I'm not one that has a lot of different soaps and brushes I use in "rotation". I like to get the same exact shave every single day. I'm not interested in different scents that much and anyway I can get that from my various after shaves.