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The 4th "Annual" Williams Mug Soap 3017 Challenge!

Shave 2 last night. Rough Shave. Lather was drying on my face. Skin was super dry due to a lot of time out in the cold and wind, and a problem with the humidification at work.
 
Spider said:
That's the whole point in doing the 3017. It was made up so folks would spend the time necessary for them to experiment with technique, brushes, and water to be able to find the methods that allowed them to finally figure the soap out and get great lather and shaves.
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I get that was the original idea of doing it. Back on the other site watching the thread got me trying different things to get it to work since I could buy it down town for a dollar.

Now that I can't do that however, I was just going with the other part you had in there.

Spider said:
Or, maybe you've got a puck of vintage, A.K.A. the really good stuff, and you want to actually get it out and use it. Then here's your chance.
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I do like the old stuff and have a few. Just never gets used for whatever reason, so I just thought this was a good reason. (y)
 
Williams Mug Soap Challenge: Day 5

Five days in and the embossed logo is no longer visible atop the puck. The way the Williams puck is yielding to synth brushes is antithetical to everything I thought / assumed. Maybe it's because it's the older (good) soap.


IMG_6431.jpg​
 
MarkB said:
The way the Williams puck is yielding to synth brushes is antithetical to everything I thought / assumed. Maybe it's because it's the older (good) soap.
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This is a great lead-in to the next question I was going to pose to the group.

What type of brush are you using with Williams, and do you find one type better than others? Some find lathering Williams to be difficult. It seems that most of the advice to correct this involves water, loading, and lathering differences. But most people are using the same brush through all of their trials. I'm wondering if anyone has used one brush type with any level of success (or failure), then tried a different brush type and found that in changing nothing else, they got better results.
 
Spider said:
This is a great lead-in to the next question I was going to pose to the group.

What type of brush are you using with Williams, and do you find one type better than others? Some find lathering Williams to be difficult. It seems that most of the advice to correct this involves water, loading, and lathering differences. But most people are using the same brush through all of their trials. I'm wondering if anyone has used one brush type with any level of success (or failure), then tried a different brush type and found that in changing nothing else, they got better results.
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I’m getting really good results using a newer Paladin, it’s been while, but it feels like it’s lathering far easier and richer than my earlier trials, which would have been synthetic or gel tip Paladin. I’m liking it so much that I’ll probably just stick with using the two newer Paladins I have.
 
Spider said:
This is a great lead-in to the next question I was going to pose to the group.

What type of brush are you using with Williams, and do you find one type better than others? Some find lathering Williams to be difficult. It seems that most of the advice to correct this involves water, loading, and lathering differences. But most people are using the same brush through all of their trials. I'm wondering if anyone has used one brush type with any level of success (or failure), then tried a different brush type and found that in changing nothing else, they got better results.
Click to expand...
For me it seems synths and boar brushes have worked best.
 
I've always used a badger.......My current badger of choice.....a mid 50's EverReady.
 
heysi said:
I've always used a badger
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I used to be that way. Badger's always gave me good results with Williams. But lately I've been using synthetics more and more. The last couple of pucks of Williams I've used synths only, and I notice a fair amount of difference.

Now, I can produce the same great lather with both badger and synth, but I find that the lather comes together quicker with a synth. Badger's definitely attack the puck and are lather hogs, so I find that per shave, I'm using more soap with each shave when I'm using them. So If I'm ever doing a load it like you hate it and use up the puck as quick as possible type challenge, then I'm using a badger all the way.

I also notice another difference. My first pass lather is nearly the same. However my second pass lather is lacking when I use a badger, and it ends up being thinnner and starts to dissipate by the end of the pass. 1st to 2nd pass always seems to be more consistent to me with a synth. I think this is mainly because I'm not quite loading quite enough soap into my badger on the first go. This is because I tend to load the same way regardless of the brush (when I'm going back and forth), and even though I recognize I'm loading more with as badger, I'm still not loading enough to get two full passes of good, thick lather. If I'm using a badger solely, I'll adjust to this and load more. So in the end, I'll get better results suing less soap with a synth, making the soap last longer.


I say all this to say that if you are locked into one brush type, maybe try another and see if your results are different.
 
Williams Mug Soap Challenge: Day 7


The 26mm synth was a tad too large for the mug. Still got a great load with plenty of lather though. Need to stick with 24mm and under.


IMG_6441.jpg​
 
I’ve gone from a day late a puck short to now a week late and a puck short.

Maybe Monday the postman will deliver the goods?
 
Williams Mug Soap Challenge: Day 11

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Two things regarding the shave challenge, I'm thinking of sticking with this brush for the rest of the month. I like its performance with this soap. Also, there's no chance in Hell I'll be able to finish this soap in 20 shaves.
 
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