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The 2nd Annual Williams Mug Soap 3017 Challenge!
- Thread starter Spider
- Start date
Day 28: Conclusion
28 days ago I joined the 2nd annual Williams Mug challenge. I cheese grated my puck and added Brut aftershave to scent the puck. I then compressed it into a bowl and loaded over top of the puck, which is a method of lathering i normally would never do. I’m an avid bowl latherer. But I kept an open mind. The only thing left was to shave with it until it was gone, or as close to it as possible. I knew Williams wasn’t easy to lather but I was interested in the challenge. Little did we know that Williams Mug had been discontinued, making this likely the last Williams challenge. It’s a bitter sweet moment that it has come to an end for me. Bitter because Williams Mug is no more, and this will likely be the last time I use it. Sweet because of the fact that the shaving hobby and the shaving industry has evolved to the point that people aren’t using Williams anymore, which is why it is going extinct.
There are a few important things I learned this last month:
1. Don’t give up! If you’re finding that a shaving soap is hard to lather, keep trying. Eventually repetition and muscle memory will prevail.
2. Consistency isn’t as bad as you think. I actually enjoyed having very limited variation in my daily shaves. My soap was always the same, and the aftershaves were (often) the same or very similar. The task of selecting a completely new combination from a massive collection everyday was a lot more daunting than I ever realized. I think I’ll appreciate binging on the same combo for a week ore more at a time. Certainly a lot more than I used to.
3. Don’t be a soap snob. We are spoiled with high performance, easy to lather, and robust shaving soaps. It actually took a fair bit of skill to lather the Williams puck anywhere close to a consistency that I’m used to. Eventually I realized that it didn’t need to be that way, and just because a soap doesn’t LOOK slick, that doesn’t mean it’s not. This soap was impressively slick and easy to shave with even when it looked like a substandard load. It didn’t matter. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, keep an open mind.
And this is where my place in this challenge comes to a close. My tiny little disk of soap in the bottom of the bowl has gotten small enough that it is no longer generating much of a lather even by its own standards. The last couple shaves were very difficult and time consuming to get a workable lather. The last couple shaves particularly have been more trouble than they’re worth. So this is where it ends. The final week or so of shaves included the RazoRock BBS with Gillette Silver Blue blades and some Mennen Skin Bracer. The brush was a 26mm Silvertip Badger from West Coast Shaving. I’m glad I joined this challenge, I learned a lot, and I hope we can do something like this again in the future. And I wouldn’t want a soap challenge with anyone else but you fine people here on The Shaving Cadre.
Folks, it’s been a pleasure.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
28 days ago I joined the 2nd annual Williams Mug challenge. I cheese grated my puck and added Brut aftershave to scent the puck. I then compressed it into a bowl and loaded over top of the puck, which is a method of lathering i normally would never do. I’m an avid bowl latherer. But I kept an open mind. The only thing left was to shave with it until it was gone, or as close to it as possible. I knew Williams wasn’t easy to lather but I was interested in the challenge. Little did we know that Williams Mug had been discontinued, making this likely the last Williams challenge. It’s a bitter sweet moment that it has come to an end for me. Bitter because Williams Mug is no more, and this will likely be the last time I use it. Sweet because of the fact that the shaving hobby and the shaving industry has evolved to the point that people aren’t using Williams anymore, which is why it is going extinct.
There are a few important things I learned this last month:
1. Don’t give up! If you’re finding that a shaving soap is hard to lather, keep trying. Eventually repetition and muscle memory will prevail.
2. Consistency isn’t as bad as you think. I actually enjoyed having very limited variation in my daily shaves. My soap was always the same, and the aftershaves were (often) the same or very similar. The task of selecting a completely new combination from a massive collection everyday was a lot more daunting than I ever realized. I think I’ll appreciate binging on the same combo for a week ore more at a time. Certainly a lot more than I used to.
3. Don’t be a soap snob. We are spoiled with high performance, easy to lather, and robust shaving soaps. It actually took a fair bit of skill to lather the Williams puck anywhere close to a consistency that I’m used to. Eventually I realized that it didn’t need to be that way, and just because a soap doesn’t LOOK slick, that doesn’t mean it’s not. This soap was impressively slick and easy to shave with even when it looked like a substandard load. It didn’t matter. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, keep an open mind.
And this is where my place in this challenge comes to a close. My tiny little disk of soap in the bottom of the bowl has gotten small enough that it is no longer generating much of a lather even by its own standards. The last couple shaves were very difficult and time consuming to get a workable lather. The last couple shaves particularly have been more trouble than they’re worth. So this is where it ends. The final week or so of shaves included the RazoRock BBS with Gillette Silver Blue blades and some Mennen Skin Bracer. The brush was a 26mm Silvertip Badger from West Coast Shaving. I’m glad I joined this challenge, I learned a lot, and I hope we can do something like this again in the future. And I wouldn’t want a soap challenge with anyone else but you fine people here on The Shaving Cadre.
Folks, it’s been a pleasure.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, not at all. We will keep it going, one way or another.
Agree. All great points.
100%
Indeed it has. Thanks for playing along.
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
Depending on how thin this is, tomorrow might be the last shave.
Fightingillini22
Master TSC Shave Member
The last of my Canadian puck is really holding on here at the end. Keep expecting it to disappear but it keeps carrying on and producing fantastic lathers!
Williams refuses to die! Hence my thoughts for next year's challenge!
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
.... and we're done! My modern Williams lasted 33 shaves, most of which were sub-standard until I mixed in a heavy dollop of Proraso Pre/Post-shave. After that, it improved immensely.
Will I buy Williams again? No, unless I find some of the old vintage stuff.
Am I happy it is out of production? No, just because I don't like something doesn't mean that others don't enjoy it.
Will I buy Williams again? No, unless I find some of the old vintage stuff.
Am I happy it is out of production? No, just because I don't like something doesn't mean that others don't enjoy it.
I’ve got to say….. this past week I’ve been using one of the most expensive soaps out there…. And, well, the lather was barely better than I was getting from Williams, and the slickness was way less than Williams. The only thing better was ease of lathering.
Williams, for the price, is simply a great soap.
Williams, for the price, is simply a great soap.
I prefer not to say, and doesn’t really matter. Mainly just praising Williams and how well it does stacked against others.
Fightingillini22
Master TSC Shave Member
33 shaves and my puck of Canadian Williams gave up the ghost this morning. I averaged 1.6g of soap per shave, FAR below my 3.9g per shave I used last year on my Skin Bracer soaked puck. Shaves were great and it was refreshing not having to pick a soap for each morning's shave. That said, excited to get back to some of the other soaps in my den I love!
You could take what's left ( the disk ) and "marry" it to any sample soap you have and then have another awesome soap. I once took a puck of Williams and a puck of VDH and grated them together and then took the gated soap and pressed it into an empty Cremo travel shave stick tube that was empty and its still getting use and that was done about a year and a half ago and it's still practically full !! My wife Alicia started using it in the shower to lather her legs and underarms... She keeps a synthetic brush in the shower to use with it. She rubs the stick on and then uses the brush to build her lather ( like we would face lather ) she has other soaps she bowl lathers in but she likes the simplicity of the Williams / VDH combo and we still can carry it with us as a travel shave soap when she isn't using it if we want to...Day 28: Conclusion
28 days ago I joined the 2nd annual Williams Mug challenge. I cheese grated my puck and added Brut aftershave to scent the puck. I then compressed it into a bowl and loaded over top of the puck, which is a method of lathering i normally would never do. I’m an avid bowl latherer. But I kept an open mind. The only thing left was to shave with it until it was gone, or as close to it as possible. I knew Williams wasn’t easy to lather but I was interested in the challenge. Little did we know that Williams Mug had been discontinued, making this likely the last Williams challenge. It’s a bitter sweet moment that it has come to an end for me. Bitter because Williams Mug is no more, and this will likely be the last time I use it. Sweet because of the fact that the shaving hobby and the shaving industry has evolved to the point that people aren’t using Williams anymore, which is why it is going extinct.
There are a few important things I learned this last month:
1. Don’t give up! If you’re finding that a shaving soap is hard to lather, keep trying. Eventually repetition and muscle memory will prevail.
2. Consistency isn’t as bad as you think. I actually enjoyed having very limited variation in my daily shaves. My soap was always the same, and the aftershaves were (often) the same or very similar. The task of selecting a completely new combination from a massive collection everyday was a lot more daunting than I ever realized. I think I’ll appreciate binging on the same combo for a week ore more at a time. Certainly a lot more than I used to.
3. Don’t be a soap snob. We are spoiled with high performance, easy to lather, and robust shaving soaps. It actually took a fair bit of skill to lather the Williams puck anywhere close to a consistency that I’m used to. Eventually I realized that it didn’t need to be that way, and just because a soap doesn’t LOOK slick, that doesn’t mean it’s not. This soap was impressively slick and easy to shave with even when it looked like a substandard load. It didn’t matter. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, keep an open mind.
And this is where my place in this challenge comes to a close. My tiny little disk of soap in the bottom of the bowl has gotten small enough that it is no longer generating much of a lather even by its own standards. The last couple shaves were very difficult and time consuming to get a workable lather. The last couple shaves particularly have been more trouble than they’re worth. So this is where it ends. The final week or so of shaves included the RazoRock BBS with Gillette Silver Blue blades and some Mennen Skin Bracer. The brush was a 26mm Silvertip Badger from West Coast Shaving. I’m glad I joined this challenge, I learned a lot, and I hope we can do something like this again in the future. And I wouldn’t want a soap challenge with anyone else but you fine people here on The Shaving Cadre.
Folks, it’s been a pleasure.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Um...no.
I had to watch the video back after I was done to make sure I didn't say something dumb.....or at least dumber. At one point I was on the verge of rambling and I can see where I pull myself back. I don't need that kind of pressure. I'll leave the regular videos to the experts. I'll just continue as a random video dropper.
Exactly! @heysi you've seen my videos..... all I do is ramble.