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Just wondering what peoples' preference was. I'm currently using a covered wooden bowl to hold my soap and doing mostly face lathering. However, I've had my eye on the SRD scuttle in midnight black. (Hot lather, yay) I was just curious what everybody else was using.
I use all three. The mug is quick and easy, but not best for whipping up a lather or making up mixtures such as soap and cream, or glycerine, soap, and cream.
Bowls give you more space for brush action. I dribble lather from my mugs into my bowl then mix with or without additions to the soap lather or dollop of cream.
A scuttle is a bowel having a chamber holding hot water to keep the lather warm. It can be used like a bowl, if no hot water is added. Scuttles are usually larger and heavier than bowls. They are usually left on the sink top. They work best if the water volume is large to hold heat. The hot lather may need the addition of more water from time to time. with rewhipping to keep it sufficiently moist. The hotter the lather, the faster it dries. The Chimensch 30th anniversary shave video shows him using a scuttle and rehydrating lather. A bowl is handier and less expensive, if you do not value keeping the lather warm, or do not want to deal with lather drying. The mug is very handy and may be all that you need, if you do not want to mix in additions.
A Moss scuttle is large enough to build lather yet keep it warm. A SRD scuttle to keep the loaded brush warm. Perfection.
I have the large scuttle from Roberts Feats of Clay. I have read people on hear saying that it is very thin and loses the heat too quickly. On the contrary, I think it holds the heat fantastically! For something like $30 you get a large scuttle with a lid. I was a mug user, but not anymore!
I use a scuttle made by Robert Becker.
SRD makes excellent scuttles. My first one was bought there. I now use a Dirty Bird double, It holds 4 cups of water, is 6 inches wide, and is quite heavy. IMHO, bigger is better when it comes to scuttles, especially if you have the room. I like something I can really move around in. I've tried 4 or 5 different scuttles, including R.Becker's feats of clay. They're cheap, so for the money, it's worth it. However, I did find them to be on the thin side. Mine feels like piece of fine china, very thin, when compared to every other scuttle. If the walls are too thin on the outside especially, your going to rapidly loose heat.
There's really no way around that.
My R.Becker is poorly made imo. The lid doesn't fit at all, and has paint from another scuttle on it from a Kiln accident, but R.Becker did give the lid to me for free. I actually put little rubber feat on the bottom of the scuttle to help stop heat loss, but it didn't help. Now it sits in m closet as a backup. Maybe I got a bad one. Everyone seems to love there's, so that's why I bought one. We used to have reviews for every scuttle, but no more. Like we say here, YMMV.
To me, scuttles are about keeping the suds warm for multiple passes when shaving. As a result, I use mine daily. I like the bowls for whipping up suds and uberlathers once the brush is loaded and I like the bulldog mug for keeping pucks of soap and whipping up suds in that with a given puck. All about personal preference. Pick one or pick 'em all.
Have fun
I use a mug.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...dger-brush.jpg
My Granddad got the shaving mug for his confirmation about 1910 or so. He used it for shaving all his life. I still remember him using it when I was a young boy.
When he died in the 1970ies, I inherited it from him. It is made in Norway by Porsgrund porselen.
Gentlemen:
I predominantly face lather and keep my brush warm in a small Moss scuttle. Occasionally I bowl lather, using the matching lather bowl and then transferring the lather into the scuttle to keep warm along with my brush.
Had I a story like that I would be using the mug as well. Unfortunately, I distinctly remember my grandfather's & great grandfather's strop (which hung on the wall as a behavioral "motivator" through most of my childhood) and other shaving paraphernalia being sold at a yard sale during my early teenage years before I even started shaving.Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto
I would say I would like to use a multitude on bowls, mugs, and scuttles but SWMBO has taken the thought in her head that she must do everything possible to prevent various acquisition disorders from happening now that I have switched to a straight razor. I'll have to see if I can't get myself a pre-paid debit card, and alternate address to have things sent to.
I use a noodle bowl to hold hot water, and put a soup bowl in it to mix my lather, the soup bowl is exactly the right size for its rim to sit on the rim of the noodle bowl, got the two on salefor about $9, they are both just plain white crockery, but I quite like the aesthetic. I am only a week in, so am fairly slow with the razor but the lather stays good and warm.
I am cold water shaver, so scuttles aren't of great interest to me.
About 75% of the time I face lather. Then I remember what a great lather I can build in a bowl and spend the next untild number of shaves using either a large cereal bowl I got at an overstock store for $2, or a Dirty Bird Bill Bowl. Both are large enough to whip up a lather without clanking the brush against the sides.. I know, some folks love that sound, but not me. The Bill Bowl has a lip at the top that is turned inward to keep the lather from climbing up and out of the bowl.
I read somewhere that scuttles were popular when hot water wasn't on tap so that you could have a nice warm lather for the whole shave. If your boiler is a long way from your point of shave (like mine) resulting in hot water delay that might be the way to go...
I just ordered a 009 scuttle from Robert. It has a brush soaker and a lid. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I looked here, there, and everywhere and finally settled on this scuttle as being the best bang for my buck. That didn't stop me from buying a Large Slate Moss Shaving Scuttle by Sara Bonnyman Pottery on EBay this morning. It has a small chip in the spout that is purely cosmetic. For $41 with free shipping, it seemed like a worthwhile piece.
I lather in a mug. I keep the soap in one and fill another mug with water for rehydrating purposes during the shave.
Since I cold water shave (ambient temperature, not really cold or hot) now I don't have to worry about keeping things a certain temperature. It has also lowered my shaving time and now it's a piece of cake to straight shave every day.
When I hot water shaved I gave myself luxurious warm lather in a scuttle, and then moved over to the two mugs. First of all I'd microwave water in a Pyrex-type container to about 160-170 degrees (forgot how long it took) before pouring it in a scuttle, because you risk cracking your scuttle if you used boiled water. Then I got an electric kettle and boiled it to speed things up a little bit, which is why I switched from scuttles to mugs. I live in a semitropical climate and have my hot water heater on a low setting, which is why I couldn't get the tap water warm enough. They were all great.
The mug I recommend is the rubber Marvy mug because you can't ruin it! I got a vintage Hazel Atlas milk color glass mug when I was still using hot water and the moment I put water in the mug the bottom popped out like a cannon backfiring a projectile! That's what got me started on rubber mugs, it is John proof!
If they make rubber Marvy wine glasses you would have the undying gratitude of SWMBO I swear those things jump off the shelf whenever I look at them committing suicide. I can keep mugs around forever and a day, but my wife cannot keep wine glasses. I don't try to break them but they just seem to disintegrate around me.Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun
Have a dirty bird scuttle just love it...
I loooooove the idea of a good scuttle, but the truth is my short shaves on my sparse whiskers just doesn't rate one. I use a rice bowl.
At this point I'm making a pseudo-wishlist over at SRD with a few items I would love to have. Perhaps, when my next raise at my job rolls around I can treat myself.
I use in summer a nice glassbowl and in wintertime a swk scutle.
Winters i prefer the hot lather more than in summer when i use more menthol soaps.
So yes i say imo you need a bowl and scuttle to have te perfect setup.
I like my Georgetown Scuttle...IMO it incorporates all the desired aspects, it's large enough to build lather in and it's a choice as to whether or not to fill the bowl for warm lather. I use it every shave :)
I have the large G20 Georgetown Pottery scuttle. I bought one as a gift for me son and he raved about the quality and the hot lather. I use mine every day I shave. Now part of the habit.
I tried a coffee mug couldn't get away with one, found it too small to get a decent lather in so face lathered for a while. Now all I use to build my lather is a cereal bowl straight from the kitchen I find it to be a decent size to fill and sit my brush in to soak before my shave. It's not too big that my arm's running a marathon, or too small that I'm hitting the brush off the edge. Then it's to the dishwasher and back in the kitchen. I'm a cold water shaver so keeping my lather warm isn't a concern for my daily routine, and hence don't see a use for a scuttle.
I have a Dirty Bird scuttle and I love it. The only way I can get a great lather with MWF is with my scuttle. I whip up the lather in the scuttle, and it looks kinda thin and airy. I apply the lather to my face, and as it cools, it becomes dense and slick.
In summer i use a bowl whit menthol soap, when its cold outside i use my swk scutle. In winter time i love the warm lather more than in the summer.
where did you get that brush? It is very cool!Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto
Cold (or temperate - depending on the season) water straight out of the tap.
Mostly build my lather in an old soup mug. Occasionally face lather.
Definitely the mug if I'm going to do a couple of passes on my head too.
I got it custom made. Unfortunately, the guy that made it is AFAIK not in business anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zorro
I usually just facelather but if I don't, it is in a large mug. I own a scuttle and like it but imo it doesn't keep my lather as hot as I thought it would. Maybe I need to put boiling water in it.
I love this discussion. I have found that scuttles are great with some soaps, ones that lather very easily like floris london. I think bowls are great for many soaps and creams or combinations of both. However, the mug holds its own for one soap in particular that I can think of, there might be more this is just the one comes to mind, Williams. In fact, Williams is actually called Williams mug soap and its just that for a reason. I cant build Williams in a bowl, and I think that is why many people who try the soap in a bowl cant get a good lather with it. This is where you need a mug.
Another one for Cold Water shaving, so keeping stuff warm/hot is not on the radar.
Most of the time it's face lather, but I do use a Wally World - Mis-Match Bin - under $3 Latte Mug when I need to add water.
With something that I pre-soak (MWF for instance) I reserve that soak water and use it in the mug as my lather building water (no reason to waste that goodness...)
With the Italian Style soft soaps (P160, Cella) I press a scant snurdle in to the bottom of the aforementioned mug and give it the full 60 second spin with a pre-soaked and very wet brush.
Traveling? It's a stick; Tabac, EU Palmolive or a chunk of Klar Kabinet and you really are face lathering...
It's all part of the YMMV joy - turning what was a boring and uncomfortable chore in to an engaging, challenging and rewarding part of the day...
Smooth shaving Brothers!
I bowl lather. Never used a scuttle but I have filled my bowl with boiling water to warm up before my shave for a similar effect. I haven't in a while so maybe I will tomorrow!
