Warm soap lather?

[RouxBlade]

For those of you that might prefer warm lather, how do you achieve it?

I came across this marbel shaving bowl on Amazon. It's $35 and I've made myself promise not to buy it or any more shaving products for a while. (The new shaving soap and aftershave balm arriving tomorrow don't count.)

https://a.co/d/7oRSD6r

Among other things it claims that the "Bowl will naturally retain the heat and warm up your shaving lather for a more comfortable shave."

It got me to thinking that my soap is always cold when it gets to my face. And for all I know, that might be the way I prefer it. It's refreshing at times. I also wonder if the cool soap might close my pores. And so help me I can't get warm lather. And so help me it sounds nice.

I definitely prefer soap to cream and lathering in a bowl. I've tried warm and hot water but it doesn't make a difference.

Right now I'm loading to brush and transferring the soap to a bowl about 3 times to get enough lather for multiple passes. No way would the small amount of water I'm using keep the soap warm for that long.

Maybe I should use more water? Or are you suggesting I buy the bowl and try it? If so thats hard to argue.

 

[silverlifter]

You want a scuttle:

Scuttle

...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[CCS]

Those marble bowls look nice. All I do is soak my brush (all but one are pure, higher quality badger hair while the other is a badger/boar mix) in hot water in my mixing bowl while I shower. The bowl is actually a large latte cup made out of some sort of ceramic. My lather is warm for a first pass but subsequent passes cool down. For me, I no longer worry about that sort of thing. I suppose a well designed scuttle would keep you going for multi passes.

 

[RouxBlade]

You want a scuttle:

Scuttle

...

www.badgerandblade.com

Ah. Perfect. Thank you so much!

(Also, curse you for bringing this to my attention. Is there no end to the rabbit holes?)

 

[Tomo]

I fill my sink with an inch of hot water and rest my lather bowl in the sink. Works great.

 

[razorboi]

I'd advise you to get a Schick Hot Lather Machine...

...if this was 1971!

ps. Actually the device and its cartridges can still be found from time to time.

 

[Black Adder]

A scuttle would be your best bet.

I use a scuttle daily, and have for years. Lather itself is a very poor heat retainer, and while the lather may go on warm, or in my case, hot, it rapidly cools to the ambient room temperature and your face. The temperature of my scuttle water is around 170 degrees. Water that hot can cause lather to break down as it sits, but I've found that a quick swirl/whip up with the brush brings it back to life. Honestly, for me the scuttle is just part of my ritual. It's not necessary, and I honestly don't think hot or warm lather improves my shave. Plenty of folks around here shave with cold water. Pores opening and closing, hairs standing on end, these points are unimportant.

As for the rabbit hole.... you only need one scuttle. Rabbit holes are dug by the person falling in.....

 

[HazMat Shaver]

I have a bunch of Scuttles and bowls of all kinds. It's nice to use something different or not now and then. What I've found to be my best choice for warm lather is a Copper bowl. Make your lather with hot water and put hot water in your sink. The bowl will float in the hot water keeping it warm.
Now as what was stated above, Lather does break down in higher temps so you have to take it out of the water and whip it back up. Maybe even add a drop or 3 of hot water. Just don't forget it there when you go to rinse your razor. LOL.

A full-size scuttle holds warmth too but not quite as well IMO as a metal bowl floating in hot water. BTW, I rarely use warm or hot lather anymore. Warn or cool is more to my liking. But as they say, YMMV. And spending money on Shaving goods is the way of B&B.

 

[Possum092]

You could go really crazy with a double boiler pot paired with an immersion heater to keep your lather properly heated between passes. Bonus you can make fondu, melt chocolate, or prep butter sauces between shaves.

 

[P-51G t]

I hold my brush under hot water a few second, shake it a little then lather. It’s not going to be hot, more like lukewarm. I get almost the same result doing that as using a scuttle but without all the hassle . Ymmv

 

[02flhtci]

A scuttle, as others have said are the way to go. I enjoy warm lather, even in the summertime. Captain’s Choice offers an excellent option, and is my go to. As a bonus, Scott (Captain Pre-Capsize), is amazing to deal with.
If not using a scuttle, I’ll generally soak my shaving bowl and razor in a sink of hot water while I shower. While not scuttle hot, the lather remains somewhat warm.

 

[Kyle89]

I'm a cold water shaver now but my bowl made of stainless steel retains heat very well. Floats in a sink of hot water to keep it warm.

 

[DEgeezer]

Here is my ceramic shaving bowl. I fill it with hot water and let it set while I get everything else ready. I then pour the hot water from the bowl into the plugged sink. Whip up my lather, and the hot sink water helps to keep the lather warm.
It's deep enough to keep me from getting lather everywhere, and the large handle makes it easy to hang onto with my arthritic thumbs.

.

 

[SparkyLB]

So many suggestions along the way I ignored, but when I started following this one, it happily got me what you're after. As you lather, run the hot water and drop just a few drips of the water on the brush. It's not enough to dilute the lather, but it's ample to keep it warm. The repeated additions of warmer lather in this fashion gives me a thicker layer of WARM lather. The more it's done, the more insulative it becomes and holds the warmth longer. It even re-warms lather that has cooled off a bit. Scuttles would be my go to if I weren't a face-latherer; but alas, the only lather I "mix" is done on my face.

 

[BigJ]

You want a scuttle:

Scuttle

...

www.badgerandblade.com

+1! Yes indeed!!

 

[gpjoe]

If I want warm lather, I make a thick lather in my bowl, apply to face, then dip the brush tips into hot water in the sink and scrub a bit. Go back to the water once more and do a final paint. The hot water is enough to give a pleasant warmth.

For me it's easier than trying to keep the entire bowl warm, though I haven't ruled out a scuttle for winter.

 

[sm29]

I face lather and use the Dirty Bird brush scuttle on the left. It is similar to a ceramic double boiler with the brush resting in the top bowl. It keeps the brush warm between lathering passes.

 

[JaggardJ]

I got a few bowls when I first started. In the end I still use the $2 bamboo resin bowl I got from a home store.
It fits nicely inside an apothecary mug, making a reasonable diy scuttle:

 

[Ron R]

I like warm lather in the winter months and all I do is just press some soap into my modified ceramic bowl(onion soup bowl with long handle) and then turn upside down under the running hot water for 20-30 seconds at most.
Then I take my brush and put it under the hot water and squeeze out excess water and commence to make lather, when lather is made I flip it one more time upside down to give the ceramic a little more heat from running water and start shaving, nice warm lather for about 4-5 minutes is all I need and have done this for years. I tried just making cold lather and heating it up and it does not work, you have to make the lather while bowl is warm for best optimum results.
A good designed scuttle would be the best device to use IMO if a person needs warm lather all the time.
(some old archive photos on how I make warm lather in winter months, press soap or cream in bottom and then turn it upside down to warm soap and bowl together and then take warm brush and make lather, I take photos of my SOTD so I will just give it another blast of hot water if bowl has cooled down a little and then lather as I would normally and works ok.)

Have some great shaves!

 

[ylekot]

Would a bowl on a candle warmer work?