Thread: Correct use of a apothecary mug

Hi everyone, my first newby post!

I use use a safety razor with the aim of stepping up to a straight razor soon.
Recently I aquired a badger hair brush which I enjoy and an apothecary mug.
I was wondering with this style of mug if you put the soap in the bottom and lather on top?
After investigating on YouTube about lathering techniques
it seems to be the appropriate way to lather with a bowl is without the shaving soap in it.
is this the same for a mug?
i would like to develop the correct technique from the get go.

Good question! I'm new too but I "think" you're not supposed to put soap directly in the mug. I apply the soap to the brush then work up the lather in the mug. When using cream from a tube, I squirt it into the mug to make the lather.

I'll be watching for more responses.

Any way you wish to use it is the right way. I believe apothecary mugs were originally designed so that one can put the shaving soap on the bottom and build the lather on top of it. Have fun!

Jeff

I have an apothecary mug, found that the lather that I got out of it was not very thick. Do you get a thick lather?

Originally Posted by aglose

I have an apothecary mug, found that the lather that I got out of it was not very thick. Do you get a thick lather?

I am am fairly new to it and found I wasn't getting a thick cream like lather.
im trying it with the bar of soap in the bottom and what I last night was let a little water sit on the soap for a few minutes to soften it.
Started to build a little lather but it lacked volume so I got more lather working it on my hand then transferred that to the mug and it kept building up better after that.
Bext shave I'll see if it now continues to build nicely from there or if I'll have to do that again.
i am new to this so it could be my technique.

I would not build lather in the same container your soap puck is in because you will be continually adding soap to the mix while you are building the lather. Then you need more water, then you get more soap, then you need more water and you go round in circles. Load the brush with enough soap then go to a separate container to build your lather and add water as needed.

Whatever container you have your puck of soap in, that is where you load the soap onto the brush. Then you build your lather either in another bowl or directly on your face.

To get a thick rich lather you need enough soap on the brush with the right amount of water added. It takes a bit of practice to get the right ratio to give you the lather you want.

With a cream, as opposed to a soap puck, you can build the lather in a container by dropping a bit of cream in the container and having at her with the brush. You add just a bit of water at a time till you get the lather you want. The other way is to put a dollop of cream on your damp brush and brush it onto your face building the lather as you go and adding a bit of water at a time to get the lather you want.

Bob

For many years, I used to "make lather" on the soap puck in it's original container. I use quotations because what I got was either thin and watery or thick and pastey. I didn't know any better and you CAN shave like that but whipping up a thick whipped cream lather is much nicer.

What I do now is use a separate mug to make the lather. I wet the soap and leave for a few minutes to soften then swirl the brush on it to load it up. I have a very thin stream of hot water running from the tap and pass the brush under it without stopping and start whipping in the mug. I repeat the pass under the water and whipping process until I get the lather I like. Too much water? Add a little more soap off the puck. I find you really don't need a lot of soap to start, for a while I'd always end up washing a large pile of unused lather down the drain because I over loaded the brush.

I agree with the others. I keep my soap in the mug, and build my lather in a bowl or on my face. It was common back in the day for barbers to build a lather on top of the soap puck, but it's harder to learn that way. Lather is a combination of soap, water, and air. In the mug, every move the brush makes to whip air and water into the mix also adds more soap. It's far easier to learn in a separate bowl, where you have complete control of the soap and water in the mix. You could keep the soap in a coffee mug and build the lather in the apothecary mug, but the "corner" around the base of the apothecary mug make it less than ideal, and the small diameter of the coffee mug means you're banging your brush around in it while loading the soap on the brush. I do have a couple of favorite coffee mugs I use for this, but I have to be careful not to use a "pretty" handled brush, or one with a decal on the handle in them.

For a cheap soap like williams or vdh, I leave it in the mug and build a lather on top. I have done both. Your soap will last much longer if you lather in a seperate mug. A puck of d.r. harris lasts me almost a year. Granted i do not shave daily due to slow haor growth. Every other day with a two pass shave.

Thankyou for your help everyone.
Great information and the reasoning behind it.
I will be using a seperate bowl next time.