Williams Mug Soap lather?

dax702 · Post by **dax702** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 6:24 pm

Hi, for people that use Williams mug shaving soaps, could you post a picture of your lather? I don't think mine is up to par and I want to see if it's perhaps my brush (cheap drugstore one)

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:56 pm

I am sorry that I don't have a digital camera so I can't help with a picture. I do have a cheap Burma shave brush which I think is an outstanding value and a very acceptable starter brush. It may be cheap but it works well. I am able to get a very decent lather from Williams with it and I can also get a great lather with C&E Sweet Almond Oil soap. The Burma shave soap does not work very well for me though. You might try deionized or bottled water and see if that helps.

JimT

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:02 pm

In my opinion, you will do better with home science experiments than with pictures.

Make some lather with what you know is way too much soap, and keep adding water until you like the result. Then later you can shoot for that result while using a more reasonable amount of soap.

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:27 pm

That last suggestion was a good one.

JimT

SilverKarn · Post by **SilverKarn** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:59 pm

stiffer brushes work better with Williams than soft floppy badger brushes, at least in my experience.

the VDH or Burma Shave brushes i find are the best.
My Omega boar brush doesnt cut it since the soap gets pushed up into the very top of the bristles and the lather comes out dry and airy.

Burma shave brush is perfect. Its short, stiff bristles pick up a lot of soap and create a nice lather with the williams.

Make sure you use enough water, and remember, its not how the lather LOOKS its how SLICK the lather is.

I have very hard water, when i lather up anything, be it Proraso or Williams, they always look like garbage, but the razor just glides over my skin.

scaryshoes · Post by **scaryshoes** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:39 pm

Dax,

I love Williams soap. I copied a prior post on this about how I go about lathering this soap:

I use Williams most of the time. After some tinkering the best way I found to get a good lather is to:

1. Soak the brush while showering, but then get most of the water out of the brush before charging it up w/soap.

2. While prepping the beard, I put a light layer of water on it and let sit for a minute. (BTW, we have really hard water here....) I don't do a lengthy beard prep.

3. After getting my Omega boar brush charged with the soap, I whip it up in my Seaforth mug. Depending on the mood I can create a good superlather with a cream at this time (e.g. Proraso or KMF). I began using the mug to whip up the lather and found that it is a longer lasting lather for this soap than face lathering, but YMMV of course.
(For me this soap works better when the brush is charged on the dry side and then water can be added later to the mug as I am whipping it up.)

Hope this helps. Best thing to do is to keep tinkering with it and find out what works best for you, like most everything else on this board

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:16 am

What works for me is using a lot of soap. I really just load up the brush crazily, building a lather on the puck of soap. When I think I'm done, I swirl it around some more. Then face lather. Williams Mug lather can be a little dry and thin, but using this method produces a dense rich lather for me.

MaduroMan_wcp · Post by **MaduroMan_wcp** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:59 am

Williams is a good soap to learn with, it's cheap and easy to get. if you can get a good lather every time with it you'll be able to lather any soap.

that being said, in my experiance, most problems w/ Williams lathering come w/ to much water.

you can cheat a little and get a tube of Kiss My Face and put a very small amount on the puck when you start...

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:02 am

no cheating!!

MaduroMan_wcp · Post by **MaduroMan_wcp** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:00 am

drumana wrote:no cheating!!

how about creative?

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:07 pm

I shake out the brush and pour a little dollop of glycerine on the Williams puck before making lather with it. I've also used a little dab of something like Proraso/COBigelow with Williams to make a superlather. But usually not. It does fine most of the time. When it doesn't, it's because I accidentally doused the brush and didn't shake it first.

Also, I have noticed that a very warm shaving scuttle causes Williams lather to just evaporate. One soap that seems impervious to a very warm scuttle, for example, is MWF. I'm shaving tomorrow with Williams. If it has a problem with the lather in the warm scuttle, then maybe it'll have to go on hiatus until warmer weather returns.

TRBeck · Post by **TRBeck** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 5:41 pm

Gents, I shaved with Williams this morning. I give it a shot every couple of months, hoping it or I will be different this time. Well, this morning, we were. The lather was rich, slick, and plentiful with just a touch more (dry) brush loading than my other soaps. The shave was magnificent, and I got none of the drying effect that has put me off of this soap. A few more test runs are in order, so I'll be using it for 3-4 days or so. But, yes, a few seconds extra swirling with a slightly drier brush seemed to work wonders for me.

Regards,

SilverKarn · Post by **SilverKarn** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:51 am

When i successfully create good lather with Williams it looks thick and creamy like my tabac lather

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:16 am

Me too. It's really a surprisingly good soap when you get used to it.

msandoval858 · Post by **msandoval858** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:46 pm

I have a puck of William's somewhere in the bathroom, I think? I only used it a few times, but I remember noticing right away that it takes a scritchier to get a good lather off it. Pure bader worked fine for me. Never really cared for the scent though, but definately worth a $1!

Stubble · Post by **Stubble** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:08 pm

I used Williams soap for years (before I found the really good stuff), and here is the trick to using it. Makes no difference if your water is hard or soft.

I usually shave after my shower. So, before you go into the shower, moisten the soap in your mug with a little water, and leave the water sit on the soap while you shower.

When you come out of the shower, dump out any water that hasn't soaked into the soap. Moisten you brush, and make your lather. You should get perfect lather every time, also I am a face latherer.

SilverKarn · Post by **SilverKarn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:36 pm

dax702 wrote:Hi, for people that use Williams mug shaving soaps, could you post a picture of your lather? I don't think mine is up to par and I want to see if it's perhaps my brush (cheap drugstore one)

Here is a link to my topic at B&B about Williams, scroll down to see pics.
Remember, this is what my brush looks like BEFORE i lather.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread ... post906024

Whistler · Post by **Whistler** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:46 pm

If you have to go through all this for a product, why not just buy the good stuff and make a great lather out of the box? I am all for tinkering, but to get a product to work, I think should be built into the product, tinker with the lather it produces, not how to get it to create a lather.

SilverKarn · Post by **SilverKarn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:01 pm

Whistler wrote:If you have to go through all this for a product, why not just buy the good stuff and make a great lather out of the box? I am all for tinkering, but to get a product to work, I think should be built into the product, tinker with the lather it produces, not how to get it to create a lather.

I'm sorry, but i moved to Wet Shaving with a DE to get away from paying the EXTREME prices of the cartridges. If i can buy a 1 dollar puck of soap from a LOCAL source, i'm going to do everything in my power to make it work.
The way I do it in the link in my post above is simple, quick, and produces lather on par with Tabac IMHO

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:52 pm

Williams worked fine for me for decades. If one wants a cheap substitute that lathers more easily then Arko would be a good choice.

SMF

Williams Mug Soap lather?

Williams Mug Soap lather?

Re: Williams Mug Soap lather?