Scuttle alternative...

I got an early Christmas present over the weekend: A mug warmer. They sell them at Bed Bath & Beyond for about $10.

It's a little electric plate designed to keep a cup of coffee warm.

To use it I heat my mug up with some hot water, then empty it and set it on the warmer. I lather on my face and set the brush in the mug during passes. (The warmer isn't powerful enough to heat the mug by itself.)

The plate keeps the brush warm, actually a little hotter than it was from the tap water. I can enjoy nice warm lather for the whole shave.

There are plenty of other ways to accomplish the same thing, but I just thought I'd share this one.

Good luck,
Josh

Thanks for the tip Josh. Nothing like good, warm lather, especially in the winter.

Josh,

Keep an eye on the tips of your brush. It's possible that while it may not seem "hot", that low level heat may be enough to damage the tips of your brush. Seems like a few of the gents at the DE forums already went down this road.

RT

RT,

Thanks for the caution. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I'm not too worried about this brush, which is a Vulfix and seems to shed continuously. So far ClassicShaving.com hasn't responded to my request for a replacement...

What symptoms should I look for?

The warmer doesn't get my brush too hot to touch to my skin, while my tap water does burn me if I use straight hot water. So I'm thinking it probably isn't worse than my tap...

Josh

Josh,

Look for the tips to appear "singed" or "melted".

RT

but the heat from a pad than water would be slightly different, like if you hold a sheet of paper over a match and then another sheet in boiling water there would be a different effect?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yourmum90

but the heat from a pad than water would be slightly different, like if you hold a sheet of paper over a match and then another sheet in boiling water there would be a different effect?

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I'm not sure I understand this question. :shrug:

Are you saying that the heat from my tap water might not be as bad as the heat from the pad, even though the tap feels hotter? I guess that's possible.

Before I started using it, I tried dripping water directly on the hot pad, and it's not hot enough to cause the water to boil. It does evaporate somewhat quickly, but not alarmingly so. (Maybe in around 30 seconds.)

After three uses, the tips of my brush don't seem to be suffering any ill effects. I think I'll try it for a week and see if it's a problem. I'm also turning the warmer off about halfway through my shave, so it doesn't have a chance to build up a lot of heat.

I have seen photos on the DE forums of a hotplate that could boil water in less than 30 seconds, and those I have no doubt would damage a brush quickly.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Josh

Josh,

If you have a mug on the warmer, it is going to get hot and transfer heat, both to the water, and anything else in the mug. If your brush is in the mug, your bristle tips will be resting on the bottom, which is the main source of heat transfer.

RT

That makes sense. The plate doesn't seem like it gets hot enough to be of concern when I'm putting water directly on it, so I think it's OK by the time the heat gets through 1/4 inch of ceramic in the bottom of my mug.

I'm on day 4 and it hasn't done any damage that I can see. I'll let you know if I fry my brush...

Josh

Yeah sorry, i just read my post and i can understand why anyone would be confused with it. I was basically saying that heat has a few different types, Dry,ice and moist and these would have different effects on your brush, for instance if you held the brush over a lighter i imagine it would burn the hairs very quick but in water i guess it would just losen the knot. Either way i would much prefer using a mug standing in hot water than an electrical pad.

I used to use a Repti-pad for my Lizard and this used to get really hot that if left on over night it may burn my lizard through a 3/4 length sheet of MDF.

Gotcha. So you were saying that "dry heat"--going straight from the plate to the bottom of the mug to the tips of the brush--could damage the hairs, while "wet heat"--from hot tap water--wouldn't.

I think you're right. I've found there's a teaspoon or so of water that runs out of my brush and into the mug, and this is probably helping prevent any problems. I shut the plate off shortly after that water evaporates, hopefully before my brush starts to cook. :)

The mug in the sink technique works pretty well, too; I was using that for a while. But it still takes me a while to shave, so the water was getting cold. I also sometimes had water slop into my mug full of lather...

Josh

yeah something like that lol, yeah i did notice i seem to flood my mug every now and again and also the mug starts to wobble, who ever designed Plug holes is a pain in the back side.

>But it still takes me a while to shave, so the water was getting cold. I also sometimes had water slop into my mug full of lather...<

exactly. bowl in the sink is OK for the first pass or so, but to me not ideal.

i'm still searching for the best solution. nice warm lather is wonderful but the last thing i want is to ruin my expensive brush.