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I have never tried Williams

I have, on occasion, accused some of greatly exaggerating or at least innocently over estimating how long any given soap lasts and have had several very experienced members confirm that longer soap life is achievable. However, I would imagine that 40 would be the extreme outer limit for VDH in the hands of the most talented lathermeister.

I tend to agree, OldSaw. However, I would believe that someone could get 18-20 shaves if he knew how to make just enough lather for a shave without quite as much excess. I would expect the outer limit to be somewhere around 25 shaves by the average DE shaver.
 
Actually, I do soak the puck and brush in hot water for about three minutes before dumping the excess off and mug-lathering on the puck with a wet (not dripping) boar brush.

Stop doing both of those things and VDH will last you at least 30 or 40 shaves.
50% of your soap is going straight down the drain.
 
Stop doing both of those things and VDH will last you at least 30 or 40 shaves.
50% of your soap is going straight down the drain.

+1

In my opinion, those two actions combined are decreasing the longevity by about 50%.

There is absolutely no need, or benefit to submerging a super soft puck like VDH in water. It will just turn into into a mushy mess that is easily wasted.

I have lathered on the puck, and it is wasteful of soap, but it the combination of the two (lathering on the puck, and fully submerging the puck) that is resulting in so little longevity of the VDH puck.
 
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I appreciate the advice. I actually tried to lather my last puck with a moist brush and an unsoaked puck and ended up adding two teaspoons of water just to get lather started. To get enough lather to shave with required another two teaspoons plus. In my mug, four teaspoons will close to completely cover the puck in water anyway (about 70 per cent covered). That is what drove me to soaking the puck. Fortunately my pucks did not turn to mush, although I believe with enough time soaking it would -- so I don't soak it while I am in the shower, for instance. Maybe my puck wasn't made to spec or something, I don't know. I will try the moist brush approach with my new puck (only used for one shave) and see what happens. Whatever, I am happy with the VDH Deluxe soap and will continue to use it, even if I only get 12-18 shaves a puck with it. If I get 25 shaves with this new puck, I will be even more happy.

For the record, I also tried the moist brush approach to Williams and had to soak the puck just to get anywhere at all. Therefore it isn't just VDH that I have had trouble with that approach for.
 
I appreciate the advice. I actually tried to lather my last puck with a moist brush and an unsoaked puck and ended up adding two teaspoons of water just to get lather started. To get enough lather to shave with required another two teaspoons plus. In my mug, four teaspoons will close to completely cover the puck in water anyway (about 70 per cent covered). That is what drove me to soaking the puck. Fortunately my pucks did not turn to mush, although I believe with enough time soaking it would -- so I don't soak it while I am in the shower, for instance. Maybe my puck wasn't made to spec or something, I don't know. I will try the moist brush approach with my new puck (only used for one shave) and see what happens. Whatever, I am happy with the VDH Deluxe soap and will continue to use it, even if I only get 12-18 shaves a puck with it. If I get 25 shaves with this new puck, I will be even more happy.

For the record, I also tried the moist brush approach to Williams and had to soak the puck just to get anywhere at all. Therefore it isn't just VDH that I have had trouble with that approach for.

Just for fun try using some bottled water one day to shave with instead of tap water. You may have an issue with water hardness.
 
I love the stuff.

Actually bought three more pucks of it the other day at some grocery store I don't normally frequent because they were selling it for 99 cents.

Now that, my friends, is a cheap puck.
 
I love the stuff.

Actually bought three more pucks of it the other day at some grocery store I don't normally frequent because they were selling it for 99 cents.

Now that, my friends, is a cheap puck.

I bought my Williams at 99 cents a puck also, but unless you vacation in White Cloud, MI (I see you are from MD), it wasn't the same store. Around here, it usually goes for $1.29 to $1.89 a puck.
 
I bought my Williams at 99 cents a puck also, but unless you vacation in White Cloud, MI (I see you are from MD), it wasn't the same store. Around here, it usually goes for $1.29 to $1.89 a puck.

You know it's funny; CVS around here sells the Williams for $1.54, so when I saw them at Super Fresh(I think ?) for .99 I snapped three of them up. When I got home and inspected one, I noticed the rim of the puck had just a touch of aged-looking discoloration. My theory now is that when they put them on the shelf at 99 cents (long aeons ago), that was probably what they went for everywhere(!), and there they sat until yours truly rescued them from purgatory.

I wonder if I'm obsessed enough to track down the lot number on the boxes and find out when they were pucked.

Yeah, probably. :tongue_sm

Cheers!
 
You know it's funny; CVS around here sells the Williams for $1.54, so when I saw them at Super Fresh(I think ?) for .99 I snapped three of them up. When I got home and inspected one, I noticed the rim of the puck had just a touch of aged-looking discoloration. My theory now is that when they put them on the shelf at 99 cents (long aeons ago), that was probably what they went for everywhere(!), and there they sat until yours truly rescued them from purgatory.

I wonder if I'm obsessed enough to track down the lot number on the boxes and find out when they were pucked.

Yeah, probably. :tongue_sm

Cheers!

There is a chance that you have vintage Williams there if that is the case. Is Sodium Tallowate the first or second ingredient? If it is the first, you have some vintage Williams in your possession.
 
There is a chance that you have vintage Williams there if that is the case. Is Sodium Tallowate the first or second ingredient? If it is the first, you have some vintage Williams in your possession.

I'm at work now, but you can bet the first thing I'm gonna do when I get home is make a beeline for the medicine chest to check this out.

Mission Accepted.
 
I picked up a puck of 1989-1999 Beecham-Era Williams today for two bucks :thumbup:

I have used the late seventies version and the current and love them both so I imagine I am in for a treat!
Wp
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
I picked up a puck of 1989-1999 Beecham-Era Williams today for two bucks :thumbup:

I have used the late seventies version and the current and love them both so I imagine I am in for a treat!
Wp

I went to McDonald's and had one of their regular hamburgers and it was much better than Red Robin too. :001_rolle
 
The moment I read that it "smells like citronella" I burst into tears and screamed to no one in particular "THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED"

Where can a Dutchman get his Williams fix?
 
The moment I read that it "smells like citronella" I burst into tears and screamed to no one in particular "THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED"

Where can a Dutchman get his Williams fix?

This is not easy but here is what I did; I made a nice swap with EU-palmolive for Williams with some of our fine members and all went well. Didn't find a Eurpean webshop carrying this great stuff.
 
Williams makes a nice meringue when mixed in a bowl following this site's "how to" sticky.
I tried it for the first time without mixing in the small mug and was really pleasantly surprised at the big difference.
 
The moment I read that it "smells like citronella" I burst into tears and screamed to no one in particular "THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED"

Where can a Dutchman get his Williams fix?

I'll buy and mail you all the Williams you want if you can get me some good Euro soaps/shave sticks in return! :thumbup1:
 
If there ever was a case of the grass being greener, it's illustrated by our European members, who, of course, in American eyes have to push the high quality, low priced soaps and shave sticks aside merely to move down the aisles in every store they enter.

I did a trade with a fine Spanish member who sent me not only a La Toja shave stick, but also threw in a tube of La Toja Shave cream for a puck of humble Yankee Williams, and he seemed to think it was a fair swap.

We ought to have a contest to see who can get the best swag for a puck of modern Williams sent to Europe....
 
My friend Gijys lives in Amsterdam and hopefully is making a trip to the US sometime this year......I may tell him to load a suitcase full of Williams and take it home with him, it would beat his last haul which was a case of Mountain Dew and KKK novelties he bought from a Frenchman with an umbrella on his head at a swap meet here in Alabama :blink:. ....I honestly SAW that with my own eyes, A Dutchman buying Klan mementos from a French guy wearing an umbrella on his head ten miles from my house. What an earth we have! lol
Wp
 
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