First Shave, awesome, but bad lather.

Ok first shave. I suppose it is possible however I don't remember ever having a better shave. I used my new Lord L6 with Blue bird blade (I ordered Feather but got these, they will send me the Feathers but this is what I had to shave with) I used Williams with a pure badger brush.

I got a lot of soap in my brush and took it to the mug with the puck not in the mug, I just didn't feel that the lather was dense enough, it wasn't creamy, is that normal for shave soap? Very light on the face. Maybe I need to keep the soap puck in the mug? Take more time to wipe it with the brush? Any help would be great!

Over all though, great shave, 2 passes, 1 WTG and 1 XTG. Finished up with cold water, witch hazel and a splash of Clubman

 

You'll likely get two entirely different sorts of responses to this question:

1) William's Mug Soap takes more work than other soaps to get a good lather. You'll have to be patient with it and slowly add water as you work it.

2) William's Mug Soap is awful stuff not even worth the $1 or so that it costs, if you need a local source of soap try Van Der Hagen Deluxe from WalMart or Walgreen's Pharmacy, or C.O. Bigelow shave cream from Bath & Body Works, or Kiss My Face shave cream from most health food stores, or really anything other than William's.

I subscribe to the second train of thought. I absolutely hate William's Mug Soap. I have been able to get ok lathers from it, but I have never liked it.

 

Some of the things that help with Williams:
1 - Soak the puck while you shower and let it really absorb water.
2 - Drain it and load the heck out of your brush.
3 - Add water slower than you would other soaps/creams as it's VERY picky stuff.
4 - Beat the living snot out of it with your brush.

I don't hate Williams, I just don't like the work it takes compared to the vintage stuff. There's plenty of other soaps such as VDH that are inexpensive and not a pain in the backside to lather.

 

I bought a puck of Williams once and tried every possible way to get a good lather from it and just couldn't. I do have hard water and that could be my problem but there are lots of soaps out there that are easier to lather and smell a lot better too. If you really want to stick with it, thin lather is usually a sign that you didn't get enough soap in your brush. If more swirling doesn't pick up more soap, you probably need to start with a wetter brush or soak the puck.

I'd try a different soap/cream though. Van Der Hagen is a good choice and you can find it almost anywhere - drugstores, grocery stores, Wal-Mart. There are also some other possible locally available options. The Body Shop carries a Maca Root cream that's really good if you have one of their stores nearby. Crabtree & Evelyn carries a few soaps and creams. Their soaps aren't bad but I like their West Indian Limes cream better.

 

So far it's three strikes against Williams.
Let me make it four and suggest you toss it in the can.
Read those posts again - plenty of great alternatives.

 

some great suggestions here—particularly the one recommending you toss the Williams.
Being a new wet-shaver is difficult enough to 'get right' without having to wrestle with difficult or inferior tools.
Getting good lather with a poor quality soap puck is akin to trying to get a decent shave with a cheap plastic disposable razor. It's possible, but why bother when there are much better alternatives?

 

Don't toss the Williams, but use it to make some Van Der Williams. Grate the Williams into a cup and then melt an equal part of Van Der Hagen Deluxe and mix the two together. You will get great lather with Van Der Williams. BTW VDH will melt very quickly in the microwave. Start with 10 seconds.

 

Honestly, with all the other soaps and creams out there that are easier to lather and have a better smell than the skeeter-be-gone scent of Williams, why even mess with it? Is it really worth holding onto despite the fact it has to be doctored up to be useful?
"Grate it up and doctor with VDH." (read, "this soap is no good by itself")
"Use glycerine." (read, "this soap really needs help")
"Soak it some, then soak it some more." (read, "yup, lotsa help")
"Spend more time on the puck." (read, "you just gotta work harder with this soap than you do others')

 

I made about 10 batches in the last day, trying to get it right, I am convinced that it is just not worth it, using my can of goop until I get to the store and this weekend I am ordering something. Thought about "fixing" it but for a bottle of glycerin I can buy a nice puck. Thanks to all!

 

I use Williams but I would not recommend it to anyone much less to someone new to wet shaving. I hate to say this but take swarden43's advice and THROW IT AWAY! There are way too many nice products on the market to fool with Williams.

 

I use Williams once in a while..I can make it lather,but it can be a pain...I agree especially for a newbie get some Van der Hagan it's inexpensive and locally available like Williams, but lathers easily and makes a really good lather as well...
However "Don't Throw Away the Williams" keep it and revisit it over time, you do get a certain sense of acomplishment when you can consistantly make decent lather with Williams...

 

If you insist on keeping the Williams because you (not me! ) like the scent, here's what I do with my Woods of Windsor, another soap that doesn't make up the greatest lather, but I really like the scent: add a squirt of two of KMF Unscented cream. It will boost the lather without masking the scent of the soap.