The end of an era: Williams to be discontinued.

[Brutus]

On a different shaving forum a member quoted a communication that he had received from Combe Inc. that Williams mug soap was about to be discontinued.

Most recently, I failed to get the satisfaction from this old-fashioned soap that I hoped I would and I will certainly not miss the endless Williams debates.

If it would have been a different manufacturer taking better care of this product, this soap might have had a cult following, but after the last changes any such following seemed to have steadily withered away.
But I digress...


B.

[TheMonk]

To the current formula, I say good riddance! Absolutely awful soap IMHO, and nothing compare to the old versions.

[Brutus]

To the current formula, I say good riddance! Absolutely awful soap IMHO, and nothing compare to the old versions.

+1
Despite all my best intentions, I couldn't bring myself to finish the last puck.
Hats off to Squire who persevered.


B.

[brothers]

They can probably put a wick in it and sell it as a candle for three or ten times the price of the soap. Williams really died a decade or so ago, the current unusable hockey puck has just been a sad place-hold reminder of better days, now long gone. Adios Wllliams!

[ShadowsDad]

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.

[Gene]

I last tried to use Williams about 3 years ago. I could not get a decent lather, so the shave was poor, but I actually liked the scent, and my face felt...different...after the shave. Better, somehow. When I would rinse after the shave my face just felt great...and nothing I use now has ever duplicated it.

If it had worked I could easily see it being a go-to for me - especially for the low price.

[ShadowsDad]

Gene, I have to ask if you've tried ARKO? It's as close to a useable Williams as I've ever found. To try it I doubt you'd want to buy in bulk, but if you like it it can be bought in bulk very reasonably. I remember it selling somewhere in the vicinity of $1 per stick with shipping. You'd need to google it for the latest price.

Williams is not the easiest soap to use. It requires extreme load times at the very least. Lots of folks soak the puck to make it useable. If it was handed out for free it wouldn't be worth the aggravation IMO. That's why I stopped using it. I have far too much of it in the shave apocalypse stores. The good thing about it is that long term storage won't affect it in a negative sense. It won't make it better either.

[malocchio]

American Williams soap has been pure crap for decades.Sadly,the old formula ,still being used in the South African Williams stick has just been discontinued.Williams creams from Belgium and Spain are excellent and still available.......Why can't these geniuses who own the historic formulas create a noble puck from the 1940's formula ,charge $6 per puck,gain sales and restore profit ?

[Gene]

Hi Brian...Yes, I have a stick of Arko. I take it with me when I travel sometimes. It's good, but my face doesn't respond the same way. But - I will try it again tomorrow.

[malocchio]

I called Combe Inc. this morning.The customer rep advised me Williams is in "limited distribution" ,but it has not been discontinued.

[Squire]

Guess that means they've got some left.

[Ouchmychin]

Malochcio, if you have a telephone relationship with Combe why don't you ask then the question you inferred about the 1940's pucks? Seems you would be doing a service to the members of this forum if not the world.

[JayDee]

American Williams soap has been pure crap for decades.Sadly,the old formula ,still being used in the South African Williams stick has just been discontinued.Williams creams from Belgium and Spain are excellent and still available.......Why can't these geniuses who own the historic formulas create a noble puck from the 1940's formula ,charge $6 per puck,gain sales and restore profit ?

Ron, the Williams creams are made by a completely different company which has nothing to do at all with the Williams soap here in North America.

[brothers]

I never hoped for it to expire as a product, but it was inevitable.

[Straight Arrow]

Will all Williams haters please send me their reviled pucks? And please wrap them in paper currency as recompense for my trouble and your relief.

[malocchio]

@jaydee...That is correct,Williams Spain and Belgium creams are both Sara Lee products,Williams puck America is a Combe product.Not sure who had rights on the South African sticks,and now that they are dumped I probably will never get to try one.

[brothers]

Too bad none of us knew South Africa was a source of old-formula Williams shaving soap. I bet we could have tracked it down and bought some of it. Now we'll never know.

[huracan]

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

[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.

[SonOfRobert]

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.