Thread: Lather cold by the second shave

I've used both antique scuttles and make shift ones. I've found that you need to be careful with the dimensions of the older scuttles. The ones that I have aren't deep enough for the way that I work my soaps or creams. You also have to be careful with the paints that they used if you're going to microwave the water to warm it.
I've found that small microwave safe cookware fit together nicely and have a clean modern appearance and prove to be very functional.

I have the oskar scuttle and at first would boil water in the microwave and fill the scuttle but I found the thing got too hot and destroyed the lather. Now I use plain hot tap water so you do have to mind how hot your vessel becomes no matter what you are using.

I bought a dirty bird 1.5 scuttle, and it's one of the best investments I've made in straight shaving... I'm very happy with it.

Dirty Bird Pottery - Wheel thrown and hand crafted home goods, kitchenware, gardenware, shaving pieces and more...

Buy it and don't look back!!

I am a newby to straight razor shaving but not to working up a good lather. I have allways used a brush since my father bought me one to wash with when I was a boy. he was sure it would help with my acne which it did thanks dad . I started to use a shaving mug soon after and still do. I fill my mug with boiling water then go for a shower. When i get out I refill the mug and soak my brush then start to work up my lather normally quite thick. as I start to apply the soap to my face I thin out to the desired cosistancy with the water from the mug witch by now has a small ammount of soap in it anyway. this gives me a real hot lather once i complete the first pass. I again refill the water in the mug from the kettle and repeat the process. I find no need to work up more lather using what I have left in the top bowl. But the addition of more hot water to thin whilst applying yet again gives me a good hot lather for the second pass. I use a mug with a perforated top bowl to stop my lather becoming too wet and sloppy. try one allways available on good old Ebay I can recomend the Wade pottery type witch fits most standard shave soap refills. I also have a large earthenware double skined bowl with a large round spout for my brush, this has no drain holes. I find the rough inner surface helps to make a good fine lather. and stays hot throughout the shave. The only reason I don,t use this more regularly is the weight once full of water almost a pint plus bowl its self and soap gets abit heavy ! hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Nix

I preheat my lather bowl, but the lather is cool by the time I get around to a second pass.

A scuttle sounds like a worthwhile investment....oh no...my wife just caught me looking at scuttles, she's already astounded by the cash I've laid out for soaps, razors, and brushes. Looks like cold lather for another month....

LOL I understand bro I understand!

I've tried all kind of contraptions. I did little flower pots from Home Depot, one for hot water, one for lather. (Double boiler)
I have the small potpourri crock pot I use with an insert, It's an old SRD one piece scuttle that sort of looks like a flower pot. I even had Julie at Dirty Bird make me a custom insert for it. Both work well. The crock and flower pots work as a double boiler. With the mini crock, the trick is knowing when to turn it off, otherwise it'll just about cook your lather.

I finally broke down and bought scuttles, I started with Georgetown Pottery's GP5 I believe, it has the little rubber cork, and held about 2 cups of water. It didn't really hold the heat very well. After that I bought the Dirty Bird 1.5
It worked a bit better, but again, it lacked heat retention.

Finally, I bought a Dirty Bird Double scuttle, This thing is a monster. Here's a link:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...scuttle-2.html
Scroll to the the bottom.

The Double holds 4 cups of water and has excellent heat retention. It's also about 6 inches wide. The extra size seems to aid in lather building. I'm finally content, and don't plan on buying any more scuttles.

You guys just gave me an idea! My wife has these candle warmers all over the house, may just have to "relocate" one to the bathroom. Hmmm......

I recently acquired one of the GP scuttles and it makes a world of difference. A good scuttle is a worthwhile investment. I'm thinking about trying out one of the big Dirty Bird Scuttles. The GP scuttles works really well but I'm pretty sure I have some kind of scuttle acquisition disorder.

I use something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Piece-S.../dp/B0006IW040

I got the idea from my wife. I told her I wanted to keep my lather warm and she immediately went into the kitchen and gave me a dip cooler set up and said, just use hot water instead of ice inside it. She's a smart cookie.

Looks like a pretty awesome idea, joebehar