William's Mugg Soap sucks

I just took a shave with Godrej shaving soap, which is the equivalent of Williams in India. As I stated in the SOTD post, Williams wishes it could lather as richly, or as easily as this stuff.

 

YUP....

I grew up on a cotton farm.. could be where the tough hide comes from with me.Well I am off for a Williams shave...

Fuzzy

 

I dug out an old puck (and I mean old) of Williams this morning. It lathered up beautifully, and better than some higher priced competitors..

So I'm easy to please, but for my money, one could do much worse!

 

Just so you are aware, there are many people who believe Williams has been reformulated, multiple times. The composition of your wonderfully lathering old Williams puck is not the same as the product sold today.

I refuse to believe that the difficult to lather, quick to dry out lather of today's Williams would have ever sold well (if at all) when it was sold alongside the likes of Old Spice, and Yardley back in the day. That alone is proof to me of reformulation.

 

I will put my Williams lather up against most anything else anyone can make. I get great lather that does not dry out from a brand new puck. I get a close comfortable shave with a straight, DE or SE .

Fuzzy

 

Again... .quick to dry out lather is not a problem with Williams but a technique problem. Different soaps require different techniques. Sometimes its a subtle difference and you can go from one soap to another and make it work without thinking. Williams is different and it takes a little different technique. When done proper it is wonderful. I had a great shave yesterday with a fresh new puck of Williams (purchased Friday morning from a new CVS so it is not old stock sitting on an old dusty shelf).

If learning a different technique is not your thing, then leave well enough alone. But there is no sense bashing a product that many of us can attest works great once you learn to use it. Does it have a learning curve? Yes. Does it work great, Yes. Is it disappointing if you don't know what you are doing, yes... but so is just about everything else.

Too sum up... bad lather with Williams is not a Williams issue, it is a user issue. It takes different technique, if you don't want to learn to get the best out of Williams, then don't try it and don't bash it.

 

I don't use Williams, more so because of the bug-be-gone scent rather than a lathering issue. I don't use MWF, more so because of the lathering issue than the scent. But I couldn't agree more with what Etoyoc had to say. Bottom line, if you don't like it, don't use it, but don't ever bad mouth it. More for everyone else.

 

I think you totally missed my point: a mass marketed product, marketed towards shavers who likely don't hang out on these boards, should not be finicky, and difficult to lather.

Yardley, and Old Spice are still regarded as being wonderful top quality products. If a common user, of that time period, could produce an excellent top quality lather from them, but had to struggle with Williams do you really think they would have bothered with it? The Williams of old, is clearly not the same product that is sold today.


I tired multiple techniques for a whole week to make Williams work. I couldn't generate an adequate lather from it. I can get wonderful lather from just about anything else. At this point in my wet shaving career, considering how many superior products are available for just a few dollars more, it's not worth struggling with a product, especially one that smells like bug dope!!

If the product works for you, that's wonderful, but you should also understand that a lot of people hate it, and for good reason.


P.S. Bad mouthing Williams is a lot of fun. I can't believe how many people are willing to defend a $1 inferior product.

 

John, I understand how you feel. I am not a Williams fan either, in fact, I use it only for showering. I actually find the scent pleasant--to me it is old school, barbershoppy, and clean. I cannot succeed in getting a really good lather from it, but that is another story. There are many other guys who love the stuff, my Dad for example, and my brother-in-law. Maybe my technique for using the soap for shaving is no good, or maybe I was just never lucky, but as I said, Williams soap is better in my bathtub than in any of my shaving mugs. I have tried other soaps, which I paid a lot of money for, and believe me, I found them to be crap. AOS for example--25,00$, and after 2 shaves, I threw away the soap. I am not that impressed with VDH either, which a lot of guys seem to enjoy. It is all about YMMV--some guys love something, and some guys hate it.

 

Well put Jeff, and a good time to put in this reminder, since I see a lot of people that are seeming to forget a crucial point.

This forum is for the open exchange of ideas and opinions, and that point must never be forgotten.

If you have tried something and don't like it, you are more than welcome to come here and voice your opinion, without fear of attacks from those that like the product.

If on the other hand you have tried said product and like it, you are also more than welcome to come here and share your experience, we love to hear about it.

The forum is here so people can give their thoughts on shaving products. Not to passively-aggressively attack people that disagree with you, just because you like the product.

 

Thanks, Bill--I didn't know how else to express it.

 

I used to love William's, yet you can never get that "Picture" perfect shot, regardless of what anyone here says.

You of all people should know and ironically I agree with you here now. :happy102


*edit* Meh forget B&B

 

Williams?
Lathers like dishsoap and smells like bugspray
I can't stand the stuff and have no idea how they have stayed in business all these years. With quality soaps like VDH available today and Old Spice and Yardley available in stores years ago HOW has it survived???? I wish Proctor and Gamble would buy it and reformulate it into something that works or else put it in a can
Wp

 

It survived by being a cheap, usable soap that many people like to use on a daily basis. If it was as bad as many have said in this thread, then it would be gone, plain and simple.

 

Good point. I don't use it now but I have in the past, mostly because it was readily available and my favorite, Old Spice, was not and it got the job done.

Also, it is not the same soap now it was in the 1800's. It's not even the same soap it was in the 60's. The soap was reformulated numerous times as the company merged and was bought. There are those who believe these reformulations were not part of product improvement efforts. For those who want a more complete story, there's a Williams soap history on B&B.

As one who's used it for years, I think it's a decent soap but, IMO, there are better soaps for me out there.

 

Don't blame the hammer if you can not drive the nail.


Fuzzy

 

:sihns011

Williams will lather, it took me a bit, but I got it going.

 

:happy096 Here, Here! This thread kinda reminds me of others at that place down the street. Clubman Lilac Vegetal sucks, domestic beer sucks, if you don't like...you suck, etc. Williams, like Lilac Vegetal, domestic beer, oysters on the half shell or liver and onions is a matter of personal taste/preference. It seems folks either love it or can't stand it. Some of the haters represented here would give Williams it's proper place in the world about the same time I ate liver and onions for dinner or roughly...NEVER. Just as no amount of rigorous defense or cajoling will change their mind about Williams, I'd sooner eat the rectum from a dead goat than liver and onions. FWIW, Williams and Clubman Lilac Vegetal is indeed a winning combination, especially when imbibing a cold Budweiser and a couple dozen oysters

 

Too many screwdrivers can cause that problem...::