Thread: Wooden shaving bowls

Hey all got another question. Need to pick you brains again.

I received the soap pucks I ordered in the mail today. They are shaped like they were made in a muffin tin.

I have noticed that a lot of the higher end soaps come in a wooden bowl. So I am thinking about making myself a few wooden bowls for my new soaps. My question is how does that work out using a wooden bowl? I know that you are just wetting it long enough to pick soap up on the brush but I still wonder about how even that little bit of water affects the wooden bowl.

I would like to get some input from some of you who have used soap from a wooden bowl before I go to the trouble of making them just find it was a bad idea.

Thanks in advance for the info.

Ray

I had one of the Caswell Massey sandlewood soap in a teak bowl. I must of refilled it 100 times in the last 20 years and only last month was a small crack discovered.

I've only used the wood bowls supplied by the commercial soap makers (TOBS, Trumpers etc), and they are coated or shellaced. Waterproofed, in other words. I still dry them out in any event.

If you are making your own wood soap dish I would highly recommend applying some form of waterproofing agent, otherwise it won't last too long.

Try rubbing Tung Oil into them, over a period of about three weeks; or until they won't absorb any more.

Tung oil is fine for wood surfaces that may see occasional moisture, but you may want to consider something heavier for a bowl that will be subjected to water and lather on a constant basis.

If you use a wood such as teak or lignum you shouldn't have to do a whole lot of waterproofing.

In general wood and moisture don't mix. yea I know the old sailing ships were wood however they required constant maint. Some of the older vintage bowls made of teak especially stand up pretty good but the newer ones I would be careful with. I have an MDC soap bowl and it's doing OK. I have a couple Harris bowls and they aren't.

What about just using clear epoxy? That'd seal it up and I wouldn't think you'd ever have to worry about it. That or marine fiberglass.

I think I am just going to turn a couple out of some Eastern Red Cedar and see what happens.

I actually had a secondary thought. A lot of the craft stores around here have glass jars etc for flower arrangements and candles etc. I may just see if I can find a few glass bottoms to hold the soap and turn lids for them out of wood.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Tung oil is fine for wood surfaces that may see occasional moisture, but you may want to consider something heavier for a bowl that will be subjected to water and lather on a constant basis.

Makes sense; never thought of that.