Thread: Machines that heat up shaving cream

I would like to know if any of the machines that heat up shaving cream are actually any good? Can I use my own creams in these machines? Any feedback would be helpful..

I used to have a pro barber 'Lather King' electric hot lather dispenser back in the 1980s. It was cool at first as a novelty, but my own brush generated lather was better, and the machine was kind of a nuisance to take care of. YMMV.

I'm not aware of any modern, or vintage machines that use the type of lather we get off a puck of soap. A scuttle is probably your best bet. My favorite of those is the Moss.

I am glad this got asked, I have considered this question several times. I am anxious to hear others knowledge on these.

The Campbell Lather King and like machines dispense hot lather using a made for the machine bottled lather fluid which I believe is mixed with water. Several gents who use these machines for themselves dabble in making up their own mix of shaving soap or cream and water. As I understand it, it's a tricky business to get the mix right and still leaves lots to be desired in the scent dept.

The machines are meant to be used all day... Starting them up for a single shave and then shutting down is not exactly the best way to use them... Fouling of the dispenser and failure of various gaskets/rubber seals, valves and the like, in the dispensing mechanism, are apparently common, in particular in the models of the past 15 to 20 years. These are mostly plastic, unlike the old mid 1950s all metal machines.

The biggest minus to these machines is that the hot lather they produce cools off very quickly on your face (actually... all lathers do this). In contrast, a nice big badger brush holds enough heat to keep your face nice and warm as you face lather... one of the main luxuries of wet shaving in my book.

So, if you like diddling around with mechanical contraptions that plug into a wall socket, the Lather King might just be for you... Me.... I'll stick with an old fashioned brush, an old fashioned strop and an old fashioned straight razor.

Regards

Kaptain "I guess I'm old fashioned, eh?" Zero

The closest thing I've seen was a homemade unit. The base was a ceramic teapot with built in heating element. The teapot had been cut so that about bottom third was left as a bowl. This bowl was filled with water and turned on, a lather bowl filled with lather and a brush was placed on top of the "teapot" bowl. The steam coming up from the teapot bowl would heat up the lather bowl, lather, and brush. The guy using it said it took about 15 minutes to get hot lather.

Personally, I don't like the idea of having electricity near the sink and a scuttle seems like a safer solution to me, at least until I spill boiling water on myself at waist level.

I think your right Kaptian zero. traditional wet shave protocol is best. to hell with the machine on second thought

Much as I suspected. Thanks for the info.