Thread: quality bowl / mug

hey everyone,

i've been using my vdh 'premium' bowl for making my lathers. when using creams it works fine, however i run into trouble when using a puck soap. i typically leave the puck soap in the bottom of the bowl when i lather it up. while lathering in this bowl, i tend to lose a lot of the original, liquidy lather that builds quickly causing my final lather to be too dry. i know i can just add water, but i also hate to lose the extra lather.
i'm looking to buy a bowl or mug that has a wider mouth and is pretty deep so the initial lather can all be pushed back down with out losing it. also, it would be good if there was a handle on it.
i was look at cheap Colonel Conk mugs, but reviews were saying the opening on top is too small and your knuckles take a beating.
i'll keep looking around for me, but if anyone could point me in the direction of a quality bowl or mug to look out for, that would be terrific!

Not to sound like too much of a bum, but put the soap puck in another bowl/container. I've been using the VDH bowl for 5 months now and have yet to have any issues with it (although if it had ridges it would be perfect). I keep my hard soaps in separate containers and simply put a few drops of warm water on the soap to let it soften, then swirl/pump for 30 seconds or so and go to the bowl with it. Granted, my Mama Bear's is in it's own container. For the VDH soap I have (don't use it much except on the wife's legs or for uber) I put the puck in a glass "Arrow" brand sugar bowl then floated that on hot water till it melted, then cooled it down. I just put the top on it when I'm done and it's good to go. For my other puck of soap I bought one of those hardwood bowls that a lot of online shaving vendors sell for like 7 bucks. I grated it up and pressed it in. Works great. I got the complete shave set from OD soap (Shave Shop) and I love the Omega brush. The soap produces a very thin lather but it works for a quick shave or I frequently drop some glyecerin in my bowl to thicken it up. It's a good deal and she ships fast.

Although everyone seems to rave about the dirty bird stuff... I plan on picking up their 1.5 scuttle here in the next few months but I just bought a Premium II strop from SRD so I have to wait a little while or the wife will strop me (not that that's a bad thing but she better not use my SRD strop for it ).

I've got two different SRD mugs that are great. The bulldog is very deep and I use it for creams. The regular bowl with the lip keeping the lather from overflowing is the one I use most of the time. Check them out here ;

Bowls, Scuttles & Mugs : Straight Razor Designs, The Finest In Gentlemens Shaving And Grooming Needs

Dirty Bird Pottery makes great shaving mugs, bowls and scuttles. I have one of each!

Originally Posted by bharner

Not to sound like too much of a bum, but put the soap puck in another bowl/container. I've been using the VDH bowl for 5 months now and have yet to have any issues with it (although if it had ridges it would be perfect). I keep my hard soaps in separate containers and simply put a few drops of warm water on the soap to let it soften, then swirl/pump for 30 seconds or so and go to the bowl with it. Granted, my Mama Bear's is in it's own container. For the VDH soap I have (don't use it much except on the wife's legs or for uber) I put the puck in a glass "Arrow" brand sugar bowl then floated that on hot water till it melted, then cooled it down. I just put the top on it when I'm done and it's good to go. For my other puck of soap I bought one of those hardwood bowls that a lot of online shaving vendors sell for like 7 bucks. I grated it up and pressed it in. Works great. I got the complete shave set from OD soap (Shave Shop) and I love the Omega brush. The soap produces a very thin lather but it works for a quick shave or I frequently drop some glyecerin in my bowl to thicken it up. It's a good deal and she ships fast.

Although everyone seems to rave about the dirty bird stuff... I plan on picking up their 1.5 scuttle here in the next few months but I just bought a Premium II strop from SRD so I have to wait a little while or the wife will strop me (not that that's a bad thing but she better not use my SRD strop for it ).

thank you very much for the quick and detailed response! good idea to melt the soap into and extra bowl laying around.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've got two different SRD mugs that are great. The bulldog is very deep and I use it for creams. The regular bowl with the lip keeping the lather from overflowing is the one I use most of the time. Check them out here ;

Bowls, Scuttles & Mugs : Straight Razor Designs, The Finest In Gentlemens Shaving And Grooming Needs

thanks for the suggestions! i'll look into them.

Originally Posted by litework

Dirty Bird Pottery makes great shaving mugs, bowls and scuttles. I have one of each!

thanks, again, for the suggestions! i'll definitely be looking into those.

Originally Posted by litework

Dirty Bird Pottery makes great shaving mugs, bowls and scuttles. I have one of each!

sorry to reply again, but i started to look into the company. i was wondering how well the scuttle works. is the bowl big enough to whip up a good amount of lather?

Originally Posted by hcintineo

sorry to reply again, but i started to look into the company. i was wondering how well the scuttle works. is the bowl big enough to whip up a good amount of lather?

Hello, hcintineo:

I am not familiar with the standard-size Dirty Bird. I have had the 1.5, however, and it offers ample room for whipping up great lather, even with a big brush.

Regards,

Obie

I also have the 1.5 scuttle and it's the perfect size for me. I've seen some of the standard sized scuttles in Julie's studio, and I don't think anyone would have any trouble whipping up lather in them. One other thing...Julie will make changes to her design. If, for example, you prefer a turned in rim to capture the lather that creeps up the sides of the bowl, she'll make it. She will also, at your request, intall a little "dribble port" in the scuttle to allow small amounts of water from the resevoir to travel into bowl, when angled, to build your lather. She's really great to work with.

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, hcintineo:

I am not familiar with the standard-size Dirty Bird. I have had the 1.5, however, and it offers ample room for whipping up great lather, even with a big brush.

Regards,

Obie

Originally Posted by litework

I also have the 1.5 scuttle and it's the perfect size for me. I've seen some of the standard sized scuttles in Julie's studio, and I don't think anyone would have any trouble whipping up lather in them. One other thing...Julie will make changes to her design. If, for example, you prefer a turned in rim to capture the lather that creeps up the sides of the bowl, she'll make it. She will also, at your request, intall a little "dribble port" in the scuttle to allow small amounts of water from the resevoir to travel into bowl, when angled, to build your lather. She's really great to work with.

thank you both for the responses. that's great that you can basically 'design you own' scuttle. i'll definitely be looking into these some more. although i might just save up and get one in the winter since during the summer i'm not going to want my lather extremely hot.