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what is the best shaving mug,bowl

an odd thing about the topic of shaving bowls on b&b is that it always sets of a "race to the bottom", with people who would not hesitate to spend a hundred bucks on a razor tripping over each other to brag about how cheap their bowl is. I've always been tempted to write "a street person gave me five bucks to take this bowl off his hands" as a way of short-circuiting the discussion and getting the most points. Anyway, my own view is that all of your equipment should be as fine as you can make it. Here is my bowl, which i am liking more and more each day:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=141459


lmao!
 
The walmart one is great, I bought 2 for $1.25 + tax a piece. one is yellow and the other is green.mantic 59 on youtube uses the same one I have, green.
 
This is what I use now: a 4" diameter x 1.75" tall (tempered?) glass cooking prep dish from Bed Bath & Beyond.
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http://i50.tinypic.com/35845jo.jpg

I like the size and that it fits nicely in my hand. I wish it had a small handle or stand to grab. I also wish it had more texture or grooves on the interior to create more agitation for quicker, thicker lather. And finally, 1/8" thick glass (or about) doesn't absorb, retain, or radiate enough heat to keep my lather warm for more than a minute. I typically fill my sink with very hot water and submerse my bowl, razor, and boar brush to hydrate and heat while I shower. I'm currently thinking that a bowl of thick metal or stone would absorb much more heat while I shower and then radiate more heat for longer while I generate my lather and shave. The most common bowls I can find with thick metal or stone are mortars (& pestle). So, here is my current wish list of stone and metal mortars and pestles to potentially explore as shaving bowls. My favorites, just based on the info below, are:

  1. The molcajete seems coolest, kind of prehistoric. Plus the rough volcanic stone finish suggests the most agitation, therefore quick, rich lathers.
  2. The Indian (second from right on top, dark blue background) which is described by some reviews on Amazon as having a rough interior. I like the rustic look.
  3. The pedestal brown soapstone (second from right on the bottom) seems tall enough that I could leave it standing in the sink, bathed in hot water, which would keep it hot as I generate my lather, and leave it there as I shave, while still having access to the water around it (theoretically). Kind of turns your whole sink into a big open scuttle.
  4. Stainless steel (lower left), ditto reasons directly above. (Then again, if you're going to stand a bowl in hot water for the sake of keeping the bowl warmed by the water, you'd want a nice tall, heavy foot to weight it down, but the walls of the bowl to be thin, to easily convey the water's heat. Hmmm, haven't found that yet.)
  5. The granite mortar, top left, is in a way the least practical of all at 7lbs. But, with such heft, it's very substantial, and like an altar to lather, almost cave-man, the beard sacrifice stone. Could be kind of cool.

$Shaving Bowls Mortar & Pestle.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/6sx3ll.jpg

See the original, with links and more detail here: http://pinterest.com/adamhadem/shaving-bowl-cup-alternatives/

If anyone uses a thick metal or stone bowl for any of these reasons, or tries, please share with us your experience. As soon as I get one, I'll be doing that.
 
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I am using a plastic Tupperware bowl that I put in the microwave to melt my homemade soap recipe, small bar of dove, small bar of olive oil soap, get them at wally world, melt those together and add six drops of glycerin, baby oil with lavender, three tablespoons, and lavender scent, three or four drops, Smells good and lathers up perfect. I am looking for a large bowl that holds a larger badger brush like the one used on you tube showing how to shave with a straight razor, his name I can't remember, but it is blue and white.
 
This is what I am currently using, good weight, easy to use and hold a puck or just for lathering.

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I wouldn't use a mug I'd go for a bowl. I tried a large mug first and there wasn't enough room to mix the shaving cream. I bought a ceramic 6" wide bowl with a slightly rough surface from a thrift store for $1.50 and it works great.
 
I use a stainless steel mixing bowl that I bought for $1.69 at Marshall's to replace the ceramic bowl I got for $1 at the Dollar Store. Both do the job perfectly well.

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Nothing fancy..I picked this up at an artsy estate sale for $1. That's a 620 Semogue boar in the bowl. Perfect bowl too.
 

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I bought a small ceramic bowl at Wal-Mart for $1...mainly because the red color of the bowl matched the handle of my brush. When I got home with it, my wife saw it, and sent me back to Wal-Mart to buy some more, to make a set of salsa bowls...she thought they were "cute." I am going back to Wal-Mart tonight to get one of the actual salsa bowls to use for my shaving bowl, since it won't break. I really want a Marvy green shaving mug, but I've spent so much lately I just can't bring myself to spend $15 on a mug, when I can get a functional mug/bowl for $1 or so at Wal-Mart.

I'll probably order the Marvy mug tomorrow... :blushing:
 
I once bought a case of 50 ceramic apothecary mugs on Flea-Bay. The case was $25.00; shipping was $50.00. I'm not sure why I did it, although my grandpa was a pharmacist and I'm partial to the apothecary style. I gave a few to friends interested in wetshaving as gifts, along with a brush or soap or some such. Mostly they just sat in my rented storage unit for several years, until I finally discarded them. Today I enjoy the salsa bowls from Dollar Tree, where "everything's a dollar".
 
I bought these two in the pics to try out for 99 cents each! I think they will both work good but I like the looks and size of the left one best! :)
 
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