Thread: Scuttle vs bowl for creating a lather and keeping it warm

You want to watch the temp of the water you use. Many soaps don't take kindly to moderate heat and the lather breaks down to nothing. It's kind of a fine line to heat the scuttle and keep it warm long enough for your shave yet not have too high a temperature.

A scuttle is on my list and will buy one eventually.
In the meantime I fill the sink with hot water and my noodle bowl with lather and brush inside just float in the water between passes.
Works fine. Downside to this method is risk of everything sinking and making a mess, though this has only happened only twice in 5 years.

Joe

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You want to watch the temp of the water you use. Many soaps don't take kindly to moderate heat and the lather breaks down to nothing. It's kind of a fine line to heat the scuttle and keep it warm long enough for your shave yet not have too high a temperature.

Very good point, I noticed on the back of the Synergy Shaving Soap ( HowToGrowAMoustache.com ) there is a little thermometer graphic and text below it which says: Performs best at 95 - 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

When I saw this I was curious, is this a characteristic of all glycerin based soaps? In other words is this a typical range of temperature? I bet we have some chemists and soap makers on the forum somewhere who can explain.

I have a nice instant read thermometer on order for another purpose, but it did cross my mind I'd like to measure the temperature of the lather in my scuttle (it is an engineering disease). Now that I'm no longer scrapping the dermis off my face routinely, I'm looking at optimizing the rest of the shave. My intuition says the lather going on my face is well below 140 degrees Fahrenheit because I think it would scald or at least be uncomfortable? I don't know what the temperature is at the bottom of the cup. I don't know what temperature in the scuttle cup makes the best lather. So many parts of this adventure are subjective, those things I can reduce to data and trend are useful at least while learning. The shave log might be sprouting a new column (temp) soon :-).

Best Regards,

Ed

Lots of good answers there I'll throw my two cents in. I've tried all sorts of bowls from the thrift stores ,wall mart as well as a Georgetown Pottery scuttle. I use different things for different occasions. The GP20 is a very nice piece of equipment, you will be happy with it except for the price. It is heavy and not that suitable to holding in the hand. I often use a wooden bowl or a Wall mart plastic one for holding in the hand while whipping up some uberlather. Size and shape are the key and you need to find what works for you, for instance I like rounded,sloping sides best and something bigger than your average coffee cup. I like no handle as well. Thrift stores will have some excellent lather bowls if you do some experimenting and they are dirt cheap. I recently tried a Wall Mart bowl that came in three or four different colors and cost a couple bucks. Probably my favorite is a teak bowl that has that totally organic thing going and is super light. Have fun experimenting! Rob

Can anyone give me a comparison between the scuttle on SRD (model 627) and the G12 scuttle on Georgetown Pottery? Or is the G20 much better than the G12? I do like the scuttle on SRD and it is a bit less expensive. While I don't want a scuttle I won't be happy with and would rather spend a little extra for something I really like, I do like to spend less.

One big thing I'll need in a scuttle is it needs to be able to be put in a microwave with the water in it. Or can you pour boiling water in them? I doubt if I'll ever want to pour boiling water in a scuttle but if I want to I'll need to know it won't crack. Has anyone done either?

Jack

Originally Posted by jackknifeh

One big thing I'll need in a scuttle is it needs to be able to be put in a microwave with the water in it. Or can you pour boiling water in them? I doubt if I'll ever want to pour boiling water in a scuttle but if I want to I'll need to know it won't crack. Has anyone done either?

Jack

Jack,

I can help you with part of that. I use a G20 scuttle. I both fill it with very hot water from a Bunn Coffee maker (195 degrees or so), and I also microwave very hot tap water (130 degrees) to the boil in the scuttle. You need to leave the metal capped stopper off for the microwave. Both methods work just fine, when I heat it to a boil in the microwave you can only hold the scuttle by the handle.

I mostly use the Bunn (just below boiling) to fill it. Some of the creams don't like a very high temperature. So far no issues with soaps, and the Bunn still gives me extremely hot lather. I can get several passes of hot lather. The G20 is the only scuttle I have used. It works very well. I have been using it almost four months now.

Best,

Ed

Originally Posted by EdHutton

Jack,

I can help you with part of that. I use a G20 scuttle. I both fill it with very hot water from a Bunn Coffee maker (195 degrees or so), and I also microwave very hot tap water (130 degrees) to the boil in the scuttle. You need to leave the metal capped stopper off for the microwave. Both methods work just fine, when I heat it to a boil in the microwave you can only hold the scuttle by the handle.

I mostly use the Bunn (just below boiling) to fill it. Some of the creams don't like a very high temperature. So far no issues with soaps, and the Bunn still gives me extremely hot lather. I can get several passes of hot lather. The G20 is the only scuttle I have used. It works very well. I have been using it almost four months now.

Best,

Ed

Thanks Ed. That's really really good to know. I emailed Georgetown Pottery asking about putting the scuttle in the microwave or pouring boiling water into it. They said I could do either one. I also emailed SRD about doing the same thing with the scuttles on their site. They replied that I SHOULD NOT do that because the scuttle might crack. Before I read that I had almost decided to get the SRD scuttle instead of the G12 or G20. Mainly because it is cheaper and I believe it would work great. From reading this forum the products on SRD seem to be regarded to be of high quality. Not that cracking when boiling water is poured in it is poor quality. Lots of materials will crack if you do that because of a FAST change in temp. But if it warms up gradually it won't crack most of those same materials. I also would like to keep the scuttle on the small side because where I shave the sink is in a cabinet in the corner of the bathroom as is the entire counter top. The space is very small compared to most bathroom sinks. The SRD scuttle is smaller than the G12 or G20 scuttles. The G12 and G20 are the same size except the G20 is taller allowing it to hold 8 more oz. of water. More water is supposed to keep everything warmer longer. The G12 may keep the lather warm plenty long enough for me but I won't know till I try it. I am doing 1.5 passes when I shave. I shave my chin and neck under my chin first. I have a tendency to leave stubble remaining on my neck on both sides under my chin. After I shave there I re-lather my face and shave my cheeks, chin and neck. The second pass on the neck under my chin gets the job done. Having said that I guess I'm going to get the G20 so I'm sure I'll have one that I know I'll be happy with. Most work fine I assume but I haven't seen any that hold 20 oz. of water.

Does anyone know the outside diameter of the SRD model 627 scuttle?

Jack

Originally Posted by jackknifeh

Thanks Ed. That's really really good to know. I emailed Georgetown Pottery asking about putting the scuttle in the microwave or pouring boiling water into it. They said I could do either one. ...

I also would like to keep the scuttle on the small side because where I shave the sink is in a cabinet in the corner of the bathroom as is the entire counter top. The space is very small compared to most bathroom sinks. The SRD scuttle is smaller than the G12 or G20 scuttles. The G12 and G20 are the same size except the G20 is taller allowing it to hold 8 more oz. of water. More water is supposed to keep everything warmer longer. The G12 may keep the lather warm plenty long enough for me but I won't know till I try it. I am doing 1.5 passes when I shave.

Jack

Jack,

That is what hooked me, the fact I could use boiling water or the microwave. Which is funny because I most often use my Bunn Coffee maker. The Bunn makes more than 20 oz. of water in seconds because it has a pre-heated boiler. I most often use the microwave for a hot towel. So I can have some parallel processing .

Microwave and Bunn are only a couple of steps from my shave den. I have a small vanity with a sink top. I took a picture with several items to give you a relative size idea. The soap mug is a large size. The scuttle fits next to the sink without problem. I store it under the sink. The G20 is about 4.5 inches tall, the spout plus bowl outside diameter is about 6.5 inches, if you measure the longest dimension and include the handle jutting out call it about 8.5 inches. Measured orthogonal to those lines the top of the scuttle outside diameter is about 5.5 inches across. The base the scuttle sits on is 3.5 inches in diameter. So it doesn't need a big space to sit on.

Most often I use the Bunn coffee maker to fill and three minute heat soak the scuttle. I have a friend looking at scuttles now, he asked what the lather temperatures were like. I've collected a little data with an instant read digital thermometer:

Bunn Carafe temperature: 190 degrees Fahrenheit
Scuttle reservoir after 3 minute heat soak: 164 degrees Fahrenheit
Soap cup after 3 minute heat soak: 165 degrees Fahrenheit
Lather on face of brush (beard prep): 146 degrees Fahrenheit
Lather on face of brush (pass three): 121 degrees Fahrenheit

I soak the brush in the soap cup full of water as part of the heat soak.
I apply the first hot lather and then cover with a hot towel warmed in the microwave. The towel comes out of the microwave at 141 degrees, but the temperature drops quickly. After about 1.5 minutes of application the towel is back to room temperature, but my whiskers are soft. The lather in the scuttle is still hot when I re-lather for shaving with the blade. The temperature drops a bit with each pass. The soap cup is still hot enough you need to add a couple of teaspoons water to each pass to keep the lather moist in the soap cup.

I normally do three passes and a little clean up here and there. I am a new SR shaver so I am slow! Still the scuttle keeps the lather warm the whole time. I am rather addicted to the hot lather. For me it is about the barbershop experience at home. The G20 is whole lot less expensive than a lather king machine, you can use different soaps easily, and it is very easy to clean. It is glazed and cleans up with a simple rinse.




Best,

Ed

Thanks Ed. I'm going to get the G20. Then all my concerns will be covered. I want to make sure about one thing. I want to get soap on my brush then create the lather in the bowl on the scuttle. I have a small bowl I use just for soaking my brush in hot water. It's only about 2" in diameter so it's not for lather. since I started looking at scuttles I always figured the lather is created in the bowl on the scuttle. I've seen a couple of videos recently where they face lather and only use the scuttle bowl for sitting the brush in while shaving. So in your post when you say soap cup you are referring to the bowl on top of the scuttle aren't you? Not the cup beside your scuttle.

You mentioned different temperatures. I don't know if we have a cooking thermometer. Will ask wife. At what temp. does it become too hot for your face? So far I have used a big big coffee cup for lather and I sit it in a larger glass bowl with water in it. I sit that on a wet towel in the microwave and heat it all for 2.5 minutes. When I get a scuttle I'll need to play with the microwave time some to get an idea of how long to heat it. I've also thought about bowling a small pan of water to take into the bathroom for extra water (if I need it). I might look at small coffee makers for heating the water. Then I could start it and it will keep water hot for and hour or two.

I've always considered shaving a pain, a necessary evil. I normally overthink things but this straight razor shaving has become a task that requires more thought than I ever thought I'd need to shave. Once I get a set of tools and a routine it'll be much simpler I suppose. I am getting very close shaves now that I've figured out a few things. One thing is I lather my face then shave my chin and middle of my neck. Re-lather then shave my whole face. That gives me two passes on the middle areas which with only one pass remain a little stubbly. Haven't shaved my mustache off yet. I might one day. Thanks for your help.

Jack

If the lather even approaches too hot for your face you won't have much lather because the heat will cause it to break down.

To my knowledge the scuttle with the highest capacity would be the ones made by Oskar in Germany. I have one and it holds just about 20 Oz and it's the medium sized one. the large holds even more.