The end of an era: Williams to be discontinued.

[Squire]

Good to see you back in the fold SonOfRobert, welcome aboard. Yes, some of our members have found hard or soft water to make a small difference in their lather generally. As for Williams I can make it work but there are other value shaving soaps out there such as Arko that work much better.

Of course the ultimate economy is make your own and we have lots of posts on that.

[SonOfRobert]

I bought the Williams because it was available here in Tennessee. Don't know what kind of response I'd get if I asked the proprietor for Arko. I'll ask the wife to get me some samples of soap for my next birthday. As you can see, I am new here. I really enjoy reading the various posts about shaving. Hope to hang around for a good long time.

[brothers]

Gary, Shave-a-buck used to import this specific variety of South African Williams soap in stick form. Maybe they still have some available

Thanks Lou. Joe at Shave A Buck has these in stock at the moment. I bought some, because I'll never have another chance.

A word of warning: Shave A Buck is a thing of the past. Literally, the website is no longer in existence. I ordered and paid for the Williams; never heard from Joe; filed my complaint through Paypal and I also reached out to Joe through any channel I could muster, and I did get my money back. No hard feelings, and I hope he's all right. No Williams!

[ShadowsDad]

I used the Williams soap several years ago (8-9) and also had a difficult time generating an adequate lather. I got away from DE shaving for a while and have only recently started back. My wife bought some fairly expensive cream soap, and I decided to get a bar of the Williams so I wouldn't use the expensive stuff all the time. Same result - poor quality lather. Had to use too much water to even make anything that looked like lather. It was thin and ineffective. Then I got a copy of Michael Ham's book about DE shaving. In it he advised using a different water before giving up on the soap. Hard water, it seems, can inhibit lather production very severely. During a storm a few nights ago, I gathered about a half gallon of rainwater. I filtered it through several layers of cotton cloth then boiled it for about ten minutes. I was pleasantly surprised at the lather the Williams bar was able to produce using the rainwater. Enough for three passes easily, then squeezed out enough from the brush for the clean-up. It has to be the water. Same brush, same mug, same technique. The only difference - the water. Michael Ham suggests using distilled water, but if you have a way to collect rainwater, you might try that. Just make sure to boil the stuff before you use it.

It's certainly possible to go through all sorts of gyrations to get anything to work, but IMO it should work at the drop of a hat, not under special conditions. At one time it was a pretty decent soap, so I've been told. I've only used the modern version and in my extremely soft water it was never a top performer; not even close. It's a pretty bad shave soap that gets outperformed by bar soap from the supermarket (Clearly Natural). Really? They didn't have anyone on staff or didn't know how to hire someone to formulate a good soap? I just don't think they cared. Ride it for all it's worth and at the end give it a bullet in the head.

You may never be able to get ARKO locally, but thankfully it's easy to get over the 'net and quite inexpensive bought in bulk. Buy one stick at a time and it's far more expensive.

I shred the stick into a tub, wet it a bit, and press it into a puck to fit the tub.

[Brutus]

Michael Ham suggests using distilled water, but if you have a way to collect rainwater, you might try that. Just make sure to boil the stuff before you use it.

It's certainly possible to go through all sorts of gyrations to get anything to work, but IMO it should work at the drop of a hat, not under special conditions.

I fully agree.

I have heard many Williams apologists suggest to add a few drops glycerine, use a different technique, increase the amount of water, use distilled or rain water, for all I care fly to Fidji where the water is supposedly wholesome.
At the end of the day the conclusion is clear: any soap that requires a special treatment is not doing its job - be that Williams or whatever.

The uninformed may call me a "Williams hater" if they like, but the truth is I don't even care enough about this product to hate it. Sadly, this indifferent soap elicits nothing but indifference.


B.

[Squire]

I bought the Williams because it was available here in Tennessee. Don't know what kind of response I'd get if I asked the proprietor for Arko.

Wouldn't be surprised, I've done a fair amount of shopping for shaving goods in TN (Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville) and never saw Arko or met anyone familiar with it. I mention it as an example of a good quality economical shaving product that is widely available on the net. There are a number of others and I'm told sometimes such soaps/creams are available in ethnic grocery stores.

Economy aside the good stuff provides an embarrassment of riches. Give us some idea of what scents you like and we can talk about that a lot.

[SonOfRobert]

I'm not defending the Williams brand soap as much as I'm curious as to the chemical reaction of certain soap formulas to different waters. I've also noticed in the shower a fair degree of difference in the ability to generate soap on a washcloth. I wonder, other than the mineral salts that make water hard, how much chlorine and fluoride have to do with the reaction. Our water here is so hard that if you boil a pot and crack an egg into it, the egg doesn't poach - it sits on the top and fries. With that, I'm off to try one of my better soaps with the rainwater.

[ShadowsDad]

SonofRobert, when Williams is no more there are decent widely available soaps that actually work.

One is Kiss My Face, you'll find it in a pump bottle, and it's quite good. Another is Van der Hagen (WalMart). Where ever you shop should be able to get those for you. Sorry, I haven't tried them in hard water. For quite some time I used them and didn't miss a thing. If you can't find those, Clearly Natural bar soap from the dollar store or supermarket is actually better than Williams ever thought of being. Too, it comes in flavors but you can melt it and mix in whatever scent you want, pour it into a tub and it'll harden. Another advantage to the Clearly Natural or VdH is they are glycerine soaps and they'll clean your brush just by lathering. Or at least that's how I kept my brushes clean.

[Rufust445]

Yes, lots better products that are actually missed are pushing up daisies. A lack of Williams soap is no loss to the shave community. I hate to see a shave products company go under but...

What I don't understand is how can they go from a good formulation to what they presently make and not know that it is their terrible formulation that is the problem and not fix it? Can they be that stupid, pigheaded, whatever? Do they operate in a vacuum and not know how reviled the product is? Heck, the Turks can make a soap, ship it over here, and easily compete against Williams with a superior product similarly priced. For those who don't know, I'm referring to ARKO.

What you described is how the Detroit3 went from a dominant position in the domestic automobile market to bankruptcy for two and a near death experience for the third in the past decade. 'Tis the work of top management: The bean counters cut costs and quality to maximize profits, and the snake oil salesmen try to paper over the product shortcomings with BS in the hopes that the customer won't notice.

[Squire]

It does seem nonsensical to put out a product that doesn't work very well, but then that's a good way to kill off a product that they want to get rid of anyway.

[ShadowsDad]

I simply can't understand that thinking. How do they live with themselves? No ethics whatsoever? Make junk to sell to the masses and use another product on their own faces?

If I EVER cut quality for the sake of a few pennies, well, it'll never happen. My thrust is just the opposite and I hope that folks recognize what I've done to give MORE value for the money and not less.

I can understand a company making a less expensive QUALITY product and dropping the price to match to reach a different set of buyers, but in the case of what I make that'll never happen either. I got into the business to make something for my use and I wanted the best that I could make. Not one product for my use at a high quality, and another quality for the hoi palloi. Maybe my business model will work and maybe it won't, but I simply won't follow the "produce crap and hope folks won't notice" business model. I simply cannot understand it. My first question with any change is, "Does it make it better?". Yes, I can produce my products with less expensive ingredients and a much faster process and most would never know, but I need to be able to sleep at night and live with myself when I'm awake. I consider my customers to be my friends that I literally invite into my home with their orders and not folks to be fleeced. I really enjoy hearing back from users and that means more than the little money that I make.

Sorry I went off on a tangent, but I simply can't understand how folks like that can live with themselves. "Yay me and screw you", simply doesn't compute for me.

Oh well, good bye Williams.

[California Cajun]

Not so fast. I wrote earlier this week to confirm the status of Williams Mug Soap. Another forum originally posted that it was being discontinued, then said they were undecided, then said it wasn't being discontinued. I wrote again and on 10/01/15 it is not being discontinued. "Limited distribution" could mean they will sell off what they have left and then 86 it. It could also mean fewer stores want it, so they are cutting down production to the level of current demand. Who knows?
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thank you for your email to Combe Incorporated. We sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to your request.

We are not discontinuing the William's Mug Soap but this product is in limited distribution.

Again, we apologize for the delay and want to thank you for taking the time to contact us and appreciate your patience.

Sincerely,Tamara
Tamara
Consumer Resources Consultant

Case #545162

Do not reply to this email. If you wish to reply Please Click Here

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Comment:
Are you discontinuing Williams Mug Soap?

[brothers]

Combe emailed me this question: "Have you discontinued using Williams Mug Soap?" Here was my response: "Thank you for your inquiry. No, I have not discontinued the use of Williams. However, the product is in limited use as birdies in place of clay pigeons on the skeet range. I also have plans to use it as the heat shield on my homemade space shuttle. In the event you should wish to expand your product line in the future to include a soap for men's shaving purposes, you might ask your chemists to develop a version of this product that will produce lather when exposed to water. I believe this might result in a new and profitable product for your company. This stuff smells quite pleasant in a masculine way. Thank you for allowing me to offer this suggestion."

[John Rose]

I my little town, (cue Simon & Garfunkle ) I was able to get Williams Mug at Jean Coutu (a regional chain") for $1.98, and at Guardian Pharmacy (a Canada-wide chain of independents) for $1.89.
At both stores the packaging was bilingual, and the quantity given on the label was metric only, i.e. "49g" in the upper right, which is cropped in these photos:

flip side:

On the little flaps inside it says "Made and printed in U.S.A." - the box only, or box and soap?

Compare with USAvian version:


Maybe Canada is one of the markets that it's limited to.

[nicodemus38]

Williams isn't supposed to be a huge wall of lather guys...

[malocchio]

Williams isn't supposed to be a huge wall of lather guys...

once upon a time it was !!

[Squire]

Great stuff.

[Brutus]

Williams isn't supposed to be a huge wall of lather guys...

I am with Squire on this one, but if you'd exchange "isn't supposed to" with "is unable to" I might agree with you too.

While I can get a decent shave from Williams, this product is so far behind others in my rotation that it is not really worth keeping.

[Squire]

I appreciate the support Brutus but I actually meant the ads. I can make Williams work but there is so much other stuff to use I won't miss it.