Excellent project. This is my next project. I have my vintage Williams pucks and just got a cool vintage glass shaving mug w/lid on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/381373038936?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT I also have some menthol crystals coming. Question: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being freeze your face off and 1 being "did I add any menthol?" How "mentholy" did 5 grams make your soap? Thanks for the recipe, I can't wait to give it a go.
Since I spread the menthol over two pucks I give it about a 5 - 6 on the scale for 5 ounces. Good fortune on your batching.
Another option is to simply submerge the puck in a container filled with your favorite AS splash for a few days. Works a charm. BTW: Just for fun, a while back I did a comparison video of New Williams, Vintage Williams, and a control (Tabac). WARNING: I make weird faces when I make lather and I say "Uh" a lot: And a follow up about 30 minutes later to see how the lather was holding up:
Interesting Test. Many people who could lather with Current Williams simply don't want to because they don't like the smell. ARKO gets the same love/hate issues as well.
Arko...The very definition of a "Love/Hate Relationship" for me. Love the performance, hate the smell. In my opinion, much, much worse odor than new Williams. The only way I can abide Arko is to leave it in an open container until it stops smelling like a toilet Pez.
That is why if many people would simply grate up either Current Williams or Arko and let it sit in a room (that is not constantly frequented) for a month or so, most of the smell will break down to a much lower level.
I like to grate and press my Vintage Williams into a shave stick. Because someone once told me you can rub just about anything on your face.
I've been trying out the current Williams for about 2 weeks now. After watching the 3 way lather video, I decided to try to bowl lather instead of face lathering last night. I whipped up a huge bowl of thick, creamy lather from a 15 second load off of the puck. This lather would not dissappear. I let it set in the bowl for 10 minutes. However, it was nowhere near as slick as the lather I get when I lather in a mug on top of the puck. When I lathered up my face, the lather just fell apart, and started to evaporate in front of me. I guess further experimentation is needed.
I'm interested in vintage since I one of the few that can lather new Williams into a thick lasting foam. I just don't want to pay $16 a puck for it. Arko is easy to lather and I don't mind the smell. The price is better then new Williams too, Amazon sells it 12 sticks for $12.49. A puck of new Williams is $1.39 at my local store. I like the price of Williams better then its performance It's not the best soap but I used it for a long time because it was avalible and cheap. Now there are other options and as much as the Williams still has a fond spot in my memories I find that I not reaching for it any more unless I have a nostalgic moment.
I tried my hand at the Vintage Williams project this evening. My vessel is small, so I used one puck only. About 1.3 oz. I used 4 grams of menthol crystals. I hope that wasn't too much! My concoction didn't appear as soupy, but the soap did dissolve, with a lot of stirring. Here is a picture of the finished, albeit still very wet soap. I'll report back in a few days after my first shave.
You might want to take a regular paper towel and cover the soap while it dries. I placed mine on a shelf near an open air register so that the air can work on removing the water.
Oh yeah...do I ever. That's why I first stated that I hoped that I hadn't used too much. We'll see. I have two more vintage pucks and one vintage menthol (no menthol scent remaining) so I can always try again.
Remember that the menthol will dissipate over time. I had 5 ml menthol versus two pucks so by the time I get to the end of this batch there will be about 1/2 of the menthol strength as when the mixture was new.
