Thread: Bowl O' Soap?

REALLY ignorant question: where shaving soap comes in its own bowl (as in those sold by Trumper -- http://www.trumpers.com/product_detail.cfm?ProductID=111547320), does one simply need to add water or a wet brush, mix and apply?

In other words, does the soap need to be extracted from the bowl or any other preparation before mixing a lather?

Also, after use, does the bowl or soap need to be cleaned to some extent or can you just replace the lid until the next time?

Sincerest thanks for any help.

It is often a good idea to load the brush in the storage bowl and then use a separate bowl to lather, unless you lather directly on your face. The bowl where the soap come is is not intended for lathering in it (the dimensions are not optimal anyway). With soaps like Trumpers or similar (known as milled), it helps to add a bit of warm water on top to soften it before you actually load the brush. I normally remove the excess of water on the wood and allow the bowl to dry. Overtime, depending on exposure to water, etc. these bowls can discolor or degrade a little bit. And yes, I keep the soap in the storage bowl at "all" times.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by DerekW

REALLY ignorant question: where shaving soap comes in its own bowl (as in those sold by Trumper -- http://www.trumpers.com/product_detail.cfm?ProductID=111547320), does one simply need to add water or a wet brush, mix and apply?

In other words, does the soap need to be extracted from the bowl or any other preparation before mixing a lather?

Also, after use, does the bowl or soap need to be cleaned to some extent or can you just replace the lid until the next time?

Sincerest thanks for any help.

+1 to what Al raz said and I usually wait for the soap to dry before I put the lid back on. Personally I feel I get a superior lather using a bowl rather than face lathering but try it both ways and see what you prefer.

Hello, DerekW:

These gentlemen do it right: the soap stays in the bowl.

I used to make lather directly onto my face, but I have switched to making lather in a pewter bowl I keep strictly for lathering, whether using creams or soaps.

On the way to the shower, I fill the lather bowl with hot water (not boiling) and put my brush in it to soak up the warm water. Also, I pour a little hot water in my soap mug (I use a dozen different ones, each containing a different soap), just to cover the soap. (This need not be done when using creams. I put a small dollop of cream into the shave mug and begin lathering.)

Out of the shower and ready to shave, I dump the water from the soap mug, give my brush three gentle shakes, swirl the brush in the soap mug to load it and then lather in the lather mug. If I feel the lather needs a little additional water, I feed it several drops of water.

Regards,
Obie

Save yourself alot of money and buy the soap refill for the wooden bowl. If you notice, the refill is much cheaper without buying the wooden bowl. Find you a ceramic shaving mug that you like, and plop the refill in the bottom of it. I always lather in the bowl and then just make sure I drain off any excess water from the bowl when I'm done. Soap stays in the bowl.

So, if you use two mugs/bowls, you load some soap from the soap bowl onto the brush, then work it into a lather in the mug with just warm water? Does the soap come as a solid unit?

Thanks for clarifying!

Originally Posted by DerekW

So, if you use two mugs/bowls, you load some soap from the soap bowl onto the brush, then work it into a lather in the mug with just warm water? Does the soap come as a solid unit?

Thanks for clarifying!

Hello again, Derek:

Please take a look at my post again for the lathering process, as I am not sure about your question.

Soap refills come in individual pucks. Just put the soap in a shave mug (use a latte mug, if you like) and keep it there. When you shake the water from your brush, swirl the brush in mug holding the soap and then begin lathering in an empty bowl. As you keep swirling the brush in the lather bowl to make lather, add a few drops of water if you fee it needs it.

You can obtain more information on lather in the Wiki. If you need more help, please drop me a personal message. Many thanks.

Regards,
Obie

Regards,
Obie

With all due respect, it is advised that new users refrain from lathering in the same bowl that contains the soap, whether it is the container bowl or other. This is often leads to generating dry lather as you would continue to load soap onto your brush. Dry lather is not good for wet shaving. This does not mean that it is not possible to form good lather this way but it is certainly harder. Unless you have a very good feel for your system (brush, soap, etc) it is better to simplify the process and just change one variable,at the time in this case, the amount of water that is added to the soap already loaded on your brush, known as the ratio.

Originally Posted by Lumberjack

Save yourself alot of money and buy the soap refill for the wooden bowl. If you notice, the refill is much cheaper without buying the wooden bowl. Find you a ceramic shaving mug that you like, and plop the refill in the bottom of it. I always lather in the bowl and then just make sure I drain off any excess water from the bowl when I'm done. Soap stays in the bowl.

Yes, that is essentially correct and as lumberjack correctly points out, the refill is a lot less expensive than the bowl. Some people use a variety of containers and often go through a lot trying to fit their pucks by grating them and pressing them into them. However, as I said before, the lathering part becomes a lot easier when it takes place in a separate bowl (or the face ;-) ). Yes, the puck is like a soap bar, but round most of the times. Yes, you make the lather in 3 steps:

1) load the brush; typically for 3 to 5 seconds, gently swirling the brush on top of the puck

2) build the lather: swirling the brush and adding water 3 to 5 drops at the time until no more lather can be produced (known as finding the peak of the soap). Addition of water should be little bi little because it is much easier to add water than to remove it (especially when you are new at this).

3) hydrate the lather adding an additional small amount of water, around 5 drops after the peak of the soap has been found.

There is a pretty good section about this in the wiki: Making basic soap lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

I think this video may be useful: YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather