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Just wanted to ask the forum members opinions and experiences with mugs/bowls made of different materials (ceramic,aluminum,porcelain,etc) and how they compare in areas of heat retention, ease of heating and the like. Also are there any features of a bowl/mug like smoothness or ruffness that aid in lather production.
Thanks
I use a bowl that is 5 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep. It is made out of a ceramic material. Regular bowl from a dish set that I picked up for about $3. I fill it with hot tap water and let the ceramic absorb the heat. When I use it, I isolate the bowl from my tile counter. I'll generally set it on a plastic soap dish.
Any metal bowl will heat faster with hot water but it will also radiate the heat faster. Ceramics hold the heat longer.
Rick
Rick is on the money there.
I use 2 x 5-6" ceramic bowls, with one sitting inside the other.
I fill the lower bowl with enough boiling water so that when I place the top bowl on, the water squeezes up the sides without overflowing.
This way the heat is trapped in a "ceramo-sandwich", which seems to lock in the air and keep the warmth in place.
I can keep my lather hot through warm for about 30 minutes or so, if I want a longer shave, then I just empty the lower bowl out, refill with boiling water and have another 30 minutes of nice warm lather.
The system isn't perfect but it works fairly well I think and exceeds the sum of its parts in performance.
I've been using stainless steel and am getting a bit perturbed with it. It sure heats up fast, but it also cools down fast too, sometimes before I can get the lather to my face. Even the hollow SS bowl (interior and exterior meet at the rim only) cools some so that when i get to the second pass it's not as warm as it was 5 minutes earlier. To add to my disappointment, it is a very smooth surface which lathers alright, but just feels wrong to me somehow. I'll be looking into ceramic vs. clay myself for my next bowl/mug.
X
X, check out my SOTD post for today and then hit Zellers ($7) or Crappy Tire ($5) :D