Williams Week 9/10-9/16

Wednesday 12 Sep 12
Muhle R41
No idea what blade I whipped in there
Simpsons Chubby CH1
Proraso Red (Wheat)
No A/S

1 pass not exactly BBS but I didn't have time to care really. Heck I didn't even have time to make a real lather either.

 

WHAT?!? No Williams?
This is, after all, the Williams Week thread, and you come to party without your Williams?!?
Justin, Justin, Justin.... What are we going to do?

Nah. We'll let ya stick around. You're one of the good 'uns!

 

I wanted to use Williams but when you have 60 seconds to shave....not gonna happen

Actually I just realized I posted that in the wrong bloody thread to boot. I FAIL

 

Wednesday Shave

Lathered the Williams with a bit of glycerin, as straight shaving takes me more time the lather tended to dry out on my face . ATG was kinda rough going, picked up some weepers, don't know if thats the Williams protection weakness or not. Mission accomplished , whiskers removed, not a bad shave overall.

 

It's all good. I have been known to post my SOS in the previous week's thread.

 

Half wat through a puck now. Don't think I will purchase Williams again. I'd rather spend a dollar more and get a puck of vanderhagen

 

Half way in three days? Wow! Mine is only about 5% gone.

 

My synthetic brush worked best for me. I have to be honest, my lather was MUCH better than I expected after reading everyone's comments. You can see my photo above that the results were quite acceptable.

 

I thought this was rather nifty. Swiss Violet shaving soap pot. Not sure the era. Anyone know anything about this one?

 

Hanzo,

I did exactly what you said and it turned out much better. Although I didn't count. I whipped and dug until I got a nice lather. Hand applied the lather then finished over with the brush. Lather was more creamy and slick. I had a darn near BBS if I don't say. No irritation! (Day 4 of Astra SP)



So that is the trick sir. You hit the nail on the head.

It does require a bit more touch and working the lather after you have applied to get the best results. But I would say over all...dare I say nice. At the beginning of the week, I couldn't wait to stash the Williams away. Now I might break it out here and there.

 

I doctored another Williams' ad. I did use a few quotes form Williams' Week participants. I hope you don't mind. Enjoy!

 

I notice that when I look at many of the old Williams' ads, they really promote the soap big time! I think that is part of how they achieved so much success. Most their ads said something to the effect that if you cannot find Williams' at your druggist, etc They would send you a free cake of soap if you sent them the return postage stamps. Whether you like Williams or not. It has stood as a favorite among many for 172 years. That feat alone deserves applause.

 

Chris
Good point. You should try a puck of vintage Williams. It lathers like a good old fashioned soap should and there is a new appreciation among wetshavers of the vintage stuff, a puck is considered not unreasonably priced at $10. Yesterday there was an auction for a 8 puck , 1 pound package of Williams Tonsorial, sold for $55 on ebay. I would send you a puck of vintage but I sold all mine . Only issue with the vintage is the scent dissappears, all you smell is the tallow or fat. Same with vintage Colgate , its a very nice tallow soap, creates a great lather.

 

Thursday - another day closer

Drop a squirt of KMF Cool Mint and 3 drops of M Bomb into the lather bowl before coming in with a brush loaded down with Williams.
Not bad. Still, Williams is not a soap I will use outside of Williams Week.

 

Call me a rookie, but there is more than one version of Williams'? I will have to look into that. Is the vintage go back to the original recipe? (1840) I would love that. I will keep my eyes open.

 

The formula for Williams has changed over the years quite a number of times , vintage Williams you can still buy on ebay. The big deal for wetshavers is the tallow, the vintage versions have it and the new only secondarily. There have been some discussions here but the best thread on it is actually at Badger and Blade , its called Identifying Vintage Williams, much information and pics there to make one an instant expert.

I really liked vintage Williams at one point but I found for me Cella and Vitos Extra Super were comparable to the vintage stuff performance wise and whereas VW is made scentless over time the Cella and Vitos smell nicer.

 

No not three days. Its been about 4 months or so. I have been switching off with Arko. I great a good lather but Williams doesn't give much in the way of protection or lubrication.I am adding a bit of Erasmic now every time I use the Williams . So my thoughts are if I have to add another product to Williams to make it work why bother?

 

Merkur 1904
Gillette NEW
Gillette 7 o'clock Green
Williamsou sh
Semogue Owners Club Boar
Brut

Ok, so I gave the Merkur another spin, was better than the other times I tried but still not very efficient, so I switched to the NEW which mowed everything down nicely. Sorry 1904 you're hitting the chopping block.

 

Williams week how
I have an Old Spice mug dedicated to just Williams soap. It's sitting on the counter now just waiting for tomorrow morning. I don't have any of that neat vintage stuff so it will be the new version.
Kit for tomorrow:
EJ89 hooked to a Weber SS BullDog
BlueBird hi-stainless blade w/one shim
Bestshave #6 Horse Hair brush
proraso preshave followed by splash of electric shave
Nivea post-shave balm followed by Mennen original Skin Bracer a/s