Thread: Bowl Lathering & Scuttle Confusion

I have face lathered, primarily with creams, but some soap pucks as well. Until I spent some time on this board and other straight/DE sites, I had never been aware of bowl lathering or the need or use of a scuttle. I did whip up some bowl lather with some Bigelow cream. Seemed,ok, but no major improvement. I also discovered a what I guess is a Trumper scuttle. Place on top with drainholes for a small puck, and a reservoir for water below, and an opening/lip for perhaps the brush.

This is a teaching moment. Am I missing something? Am I hopelessly confused? I have abandoned all pretense of knowledge. Any clarification will be appreciated.

A scuttle is a bowl inside a bowl and it is used to keep said lather warm during the shave.Lathering in a plain bowl will not keep your lather warm. hope this helps

The way I learned to use the type of scuttle you described is to put hot water in it. Stick the bristles down in there. Pull the brush out and load it on the puck ...... the puck is not on the drain holes ...... now either face lather or bowl lather ..... lay your brush with the bristles on the drain holes. That is the way I believe the thing was meant to be used.

I get better lather with a bowl than face lathering , but that is just me. Plenty of guys do it the other way. Whatever works best for you, long as you give different things a try, you can't go wrong.

I pulled up the Trumper page, and the mug is an Officers and Gentleman"s shave mug designed to hold a 50 g puck on top,where the holes are to allow soap to drip through the holes in the top. Think it is destined to be on a shelf. See little value, unless I am enlightened.

There's more than one way to make lather. You have all kinds of bowls, mugs and scuttles. I prefer using a scuttle myself. I like the feel of warm lather. It reminds me of a barber shop shave. As mentioned, A scuttle is a bowl inside a bowl with resovoir. The larger ones hold about 4 cups of hot water, and keeps the bowl where you create lather nice and warm. Some soaps fail miseraly in a scuttle.

There are two types of scuttles from what I can see. Those old style like the OP's and the modern ones people are more familiar with that are designed to keep the lather warm. I am guessing that the shape of the older style mugs/scuttles resembled the shape of a coal scuttle so the name was used to describe the old style shaving mugs so shaped. Anyway if you want your lather kept warm while shaving get a modern scuttle the old style will not keep it warm.

Bob

I only have a brush scuttle from dirty bird. This is because I do nothing but face lather. It gives me a place to soak the brush and then keeps the brush warm for multiple passes... and is a convenient location to toss my brush during shaves in the first place.

Yea, I face lather also but gave up the scuttle/mug and hot water altogether. Just swirl the brush in the cold sink water, shake out, load soap on brush and build lather on face. The brush sits upright on it's base on the counter top between passes. The initial soap loading is enough for all 3 passes. Many different ways to do it and some don't include the use of a mug/scuttle. Hey what ever works.

Bob

I don't really understand the functional use of the old style scuttles either. I get my best lather by lathering in my hand, but it's just inconviently messier. Face lathering dries my face out too much even when using mosturizing soaps like MWF. I started by using a cappuccino cup...soaked that in my sink with hot water in it and in the sink while I took a shower, then lathered in it. Didn't really keep the lather warm at all and the sides were too slick to really facilitate beating a great lather...worked well but not the best. I just got a Dirty Bird scuttle and couldn't be happier. Thick clay means thermal mass and the swirls on the inside seam to help whip a great lather. Like Zib said, heat plays a factor in lathering some soaps though, so a modern hot scuttle isn't for them all, but they still make heafty bowls with luke warm water.

I just face lather and works fine for me. I never tried using a scuttle or a bowl, so I don't have a comparison. Maybe ignorance is bliss for me?