hey guys,
am currently using some cheap and cheerful wilkinson sword soap (e.g. http://www.blademail.co.uk/acatalog/wssoap.html). at the moment i make circles with my wet brush directly on the soap. i find this produces a reasonable result, but the lather does get a little messy.

a lot of guys seem to use mugs, bowls and scuttles. i have a few related questions:
  1. trumpers sell soaps in a wooden bowl (eg. http://www.trumpers.com/product_deta...ctID=111547251) - if i buy the wooden bowl and use my current approach, i.e. create the lather within the bowl, will it deteriorate given that it's made of wood? or is it treated?
  2. i am also considering buying the following shave mug (http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acata..._Mug.html#a167) how do you use these? for example, is it just a case of rub the top of the soap a little and then move to the mug where you use big circles to build a lather? or is it the case that you place the soap inside the mug and do all your work within the mug itself?
  3. how do you use a scuttle? (eg. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WADE-SHAVING-M...QQcmdZViewItem
thanks,
dave