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Shaving Bowl Ideas?

Aside from spending the $$ for a bowl from Dirty Bird & the others--which I'm sure are great but can't afford right now--what do you all use for a shaving bowl? I'm looking for like a wide-mouth latte cup or something with a little base to whip up my cream. So, I was curious what you gents all used (maybe I can get some ideas).
 
Face lathering is a money saver, but the latte mug is a good idea. You could probably pick one up at a garage sale or second hand shop for less than $1.

-Andy
 
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I use a mug I bought from HEB. It's a little too small for one of my bigger brushes, but for my new 21mm shavemac it's fine. I had trouble about 4 weeks worth of trouble) finding a mug that was the right size, so I just settled for the one I had.
 
Aside from spending the $$ for a bowl from Dirty Bird & the others--which I'm sure are great but can't afford right now--what do you all use for a shaving bowl? I'm looking for like a wide-mouth latte cup or something with a little base to whip up my cream. So, I was curious what you gents all used (maybe I can get some ideas).

Mine's probably a bit too small (at 10.5cm diameter 5cm deep) to be a proper shaving bowl. It's a stainless steel bowl that started life as a pet's bowl. Sits perfectly inside the lid from a wide-mouthed Thermos flask (filled with hot water). Keeps my lather and brush nice and warm between passes :thumbup:
 
I found a small wood bowl for $5 at home goods or some other store like that. I don't like mugs because they are hard to lather in due to the small area (IMO of course).
 
I found a small wood bowl for $5 at home goods or some other store like that. I don't like mugs because they are hard to lather in due to the small area (IMO of course).

Agreed! Unless it's a relatively large soup/latte mug (where it's almost as wide as it is high) I can't get the diameter on my swirl to build up lots of lather.
 
I use a stonewear dessert bowl from the kitchen. I dropped one the other day and shattered it in the sink and I thought the wife would be mad! Turns out the bowls were free from a friend and she doesn't use them anyway. I also have one of those soup mugs that works great. Oh and a giant coffee mug that a large cake of soap will fit in.
 
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I got a cheap miso soup bowl for a few bucks at target. Have it for over two years and still have not found one better.
 
I've got a "large" latte style coffee mug as well as a couple scuttles from e-bay. The scuttles I got were both pretty cheap and made by some pottery dude in Texas. They are hand made (and it shows) but they both (bought a large & small one) work great.
 
I use a rather large, and deep cereal bowl. It has gently slopping sides, which reduces "brush clank" to nothing. It's red plastic, and cost me like $2 at Target.

I also have a Georgetown G5 Scuttle, but it's slightly too small for my lathering needs.
 
For a lather bowl, I recommend a bowl 4.5in to 5.5in diameter, 1.5 to 2.5in tall inside, with a non-white glazed interior so you can see the lather develop, crockery or stoneware to retain heat, and cheap --$2-$5 at Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, etc.

Most 'purpose made' soap bowls offered by shaving vendors (C&E, EJ, and the like) are too small and overpriced, IMO. Many of them are quite attractive and can be quite high quality but they are 'soap holders' and don't have the size for the task of lathering.

The soap bowl/containers offered by some brands of triple-milled shave soaps are sized and specifically made for their product. These also are best used to hold a cake of soap and are not used as a 'lather bowl'. In use, the user loads the brush on the soap held in the bowl, then builds the lather directly on the face. The bowl is too small for any other usage.

There are some exceptional offerings by potter-artisans who make scuttles and bowls for the on-line wet shaving community, but aren't cheap. Good value, yes; cheap, no.

I've been quite satisfied with an inexpensive stoneware bowl and find most mugs to be somewhat confining.

-- John Gehman
 
Order that Norpro bowl from Amazon at your own risk. I ordered one, and the main outer bowl had a crack from the rim almost to the bottom. The box and packaging was in perfect shape. I returned it, and they sent out another one. I opened it, and again, a crack from the rim almost to the bottom. The packaging on this one was also in perfect shape. After two more tries, I finally kept the fourth one. It is, however, cracked from the rim almost to the bottom. I don't know if they had a bad batch, or if I'm just that unlucky. It is usable, and has lasted for several months, but I'm afraid a bad bump the wrong way will cause it to shatter completely. It is a very nice "scuttle" though, especially for $12...
 
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