Thread: Bowl, scuttle or mug?

I was wondering what you guys use to make lather.
At the moment I use a plastic bowlish item that used to contain hairgel.
I just didn't want to but too much at the same time.
Untill today, I was planning on buying a scuttle from SRD.
But I've build up a lather a few times and I have got the feeling the containder I use now is not wide enough.
So at the moment I'm leaning towards a bowl.

Is that a reasonable way of thinking or not?
What should I look for when buying a bowl?

Yves

I use a €1.50 round-bottomed bowl from Ikea. It works well, but has a low heat capacity and cools down while whipping up lather. I may look into a scuttle one day, as it keeps the lather hot with the hot water container underneath. Until such time, I don't mind luke-warm or cold lather, it's nice on my face

Just use 2 bowls.... pour cold water into 1 to the lip and then sit the other on top and let the water flow out (do this in the sink). Then remove the top bowl and mark the water line on the lower bowl with a sharpie..... on your next shave, fill the bowl to the mark with hot/boiling water, put the other bowl on top and lather away ..... hot lather is amazing

Originally Posted by ecormier

Just use 2 bowls.... pour cold water into 1 to the lip and then sit the other on top and let the water flow out (do this in the sink). Then remove the top bowl and mark the water line on the lower bowl with a sharpie..... on your next shave, fill the bowl to the mark with hot/boiling water, put the other bowl on top and lather away ..... hot lather is amazing

Clever and simple!

I mostly face lather now but I had better luck with bowl than a mug. go to a second handstore and look at something that is cereal bowl size. I like the opening to be around 5" across and a few inches deep. Best part is the bowls at a second hand shop should cheap, get a few and try them all

PS: While I do face lather, I have been thinking of getting a smaller scuttle to keep my brush warm between passes.

I recently tried face lathering for the first time and got great results. The only problem is, I made such a mess, with the lather flinging all over the place. I'm going to return to my Wall-Mart candy bowl goblet, price 2 bucks and some change.

Originally Posted by ecormier

Just use 2 bowls.... pour cold water into 1 to the lip and then sit the other on top and let the water flow out (do this in the sink). Then remove the top bowl and mark the water line on the lower bowl with a sharpie..... on your next shave, fill the bowl to the mark with hot/boiling water, put the other bowl on top and lather away ..... hot lather is amazing

That's pretty much what I used to do.
I bought a noodle bowl (deep) and a soup bowl (shallow) both had very similar lip diameters so the shallow bowl sat nicely in the deep bowl with only a few mm protruding, filled deep bowl with water, put shallow bowl inside and made lather, you can put your brush into the lower bowl to soak, the upper bowl acts like a lid.

Originally Posted by Yves81

I was wondering what you guys use to make lather.
At the moment I use a plastic bowlish item that used to contain hairgel.
I just didn't want to but too much at the same time.
Untill today, I was planning on buying a scuttle from SRD.
But I've build up a lather a few times and I have got the feeling the containder I use now is not wide enough.
So at the moment I'm leaning towards a bowl.

Is that a reasonable way of thinking or not?
What should I look for when buying a bowl?

Yves

Yves:

If you think your current bowl is too small to build lather, you may feel the same way about an SRD scuttle which is a bit small. Dirty Bird scuttles and the Georgetown Pottery G20 are nice but more expensive options for lathering scuttles. About the least expensive option out there (other than a home made job) is Robert Becker scuttles. He also has some bowls to choose from as well.

Robert's Feats of Clay - Ceramic Shaving Items

Originally Posted by str8tlkr

Yves:

If you think your current bowl is too small to build lather, you may feel the same way about an SRD scuttle which is a bit small. Dirty Bird scuttles and the Georgetown Pottery G20 are nice but more expensive options for lathering scuttles. About the least expensive option out there (other than a home made job) is Robert Becker scuttles. He also has some bowls to choose from as well.

Robert's Feats of Clay - Ceramic Shaving Items

Thanks for the info and link.
Indeed, those scuttles are a bit wider at the top, seems to be more my cup of tea, erm scuttle of lather

I'd go with SRD lather bowl. It has those grooves in the bottom to help build lather, and although they aren't necessary, they do help. If you want warm lather, soak your lather bowl in hot water and use hot water to make your lather etc. I've heard some guys say that their lather breaks down when they use a scuttle with too much heat.

I look at it this way...a lather bowl is a tool, a scuttle is a luxury.

The rest is up to you.