Is my shaving bowl too small? What would you recommend?

I agree with those who say that a bigger bowl is better for building a nice volume of luxurious lather. If you want fluffy, big lather, think about getting a big bowl, or an over-sized cappucino mug and a badger brush. The mug/bowl can be found very cheap. A really nice brush can be found new for under $50.

The brush you have is perfectly suited to load up in that bowl and build a nice lather on your face.

boctok said:

It's probably fine. I found that to hasten the lather building, it is good to squeeze the brush into the bowl to release whatever water and soap is hiding in the brush. Mix it up and do it again and you will quickly have a plethora of white creamy goodness for your whiskers. Try it sometime.

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Good idea. I haven't thought of that before, but it does make sense....I find I end up rinsing a lot of unused soap out of the brush, when I'm rinsing everything off.

Thank you.

Les

oriental groceries have nice rice bowls of various sizes so you can find a nice lathering bowl that looks nice too, in another thread someone found some Korean clay bowls that fit each other and effectively made a nice scuttle.

I picked up a white porcelain bowl made in Sheffield England for 50 cents at a garage sale. great bowls and mugs are not hard to find on the cheap and are fun to hunt for.

I have the exact same VDH set and I think the manufacturer meant for the bowl to hold the soap to load the brush and face lather or transfer the loaded brush to a bowl of adequate size for lathering. That lil' green bowl is just too small.

The brush sold with the VDH kits different than the VDH brush in the single box. However, VDH is now selling their "deluxe" brush in the single boxes now. Just make sure he brush says "deluxe" on the brush box.

mftoms59 said:

+1 for plunger motion, I add a small twist like a Washing Machine

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+2...I mix the lather regularly, and add a plunger motion every now again, when the lather starts to creep towards the edge of the bowl. Not only does this stop the lather from over flowing, or climbing up the handle of the brush, but it helps put lather into the brush...resulting in a more pass per lather situation. Using this technique, I can usually get at least 3 passes (with, across, against) and enough for two touch up passes (J Hook, and Buff).

I've got the same CVS/VdH kit. I find the bowl to be quite a good size, although I do wish it were *slightly* bigger so the lather wouldn't climb out quite so easily - but otherwise it's great.

I've also used an old doggie feeding dish (ceramic) which is about the size of a human cereal bowl, but with flat sides and a flat bottom. This is just about ideal in size and shape, however it didn't seem to hold heat as well as the one from the CVS kit. They're both ceramic so I am not sure why.

Unfortunately I just dropped my CVS bowl in the sink tonight and smashed it. Glad I bought a second kit when it was half price....

Now I'm thinking of looking for some other bowls/mugs as well which are either unbreakable (steel) or cheap and mass-produced (ceramic store-bought) so I can keep a consistent routine even if I smash my second bowl. How does everyone feel about the steel ones? I think it would be great for getting warmed up quickly, and obviously they wouldn't break -- but I'm wondering if they also LOSE heat too quickly when they're pulled out of the water?

I found this for 3 dollars at an antique fair and it works great and looks great

Thrift stores are great sources for old bowls ideal for lathering at really good prices the rooster bowl is a nice size to fit your hand and cost $1.49 just use your imagination and forget what they were originally made for, it's more how they look & feel

I tried a few mugs I had around the house but they were either too small, too deep or too narrow. I tried a small cereal bowl but it was too wide and shallow and allowed lather to run over the sides. They all worked but were inconvienient.

I wound up ordering one of those Marvy rubber green mugs. I really works good.
Because it's rubber, it holds heat well (I pre-heat it by filling it with hot water before I shave). It doesnt get slippery and if it is dropped, it won't crack. You can also tap it on the counter to settle the foam. If you use soap instead of cream (I'm using Proraso), there's an inside ring that holds the puck in place.
I wish the rubber mug came in other colors besides green. They do make one in a tan color but it's plastic.