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Best "non-shaving" items / finds for shaving?

Here’s 2 of mine. Toothbrush holder for straights and olive oil or vinegar or something bottle for homemade aftershave.

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1) Altoid smalls. Taste great, and the containers are perfect for used blades.

2) plastic toothbrush holders made for travel and sold at the dollar store are perfect for storing or shipping straight razors.
 
This pottery piece I picked up at the thrift store for $.50. I like the high walls to keep the lather from spilling over. The swirls at the bottom, and the tiny dimples on the inside allow me to whip up a wicked lather in no time.
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My ‘scuttle’. That’s a Vollrath 4 oz prep bowl on top and a pewter trinket ‘Jefferson Cup’ from Monticello on the bottom. (And a high quality rubber band off a bunch of asparagus.) I mainly face lather, but it keeps my brush warm between passes and makes/holds a little lather when needed.
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Plano / tackle boxes in different sizes. One for razors, one for blades, one for brushes, one for soaps, creams, etc.
one for cleaning / maintenance supplies, one for spare parts.
Q-tips are good for scrubbing and applying chemicals, and those little plastic flossers can reach into tight areas without scratching.
 
Feeling bored, but had a thought.....

What are the best items or finds that you have stumbled in to for use in your shave den? These can be anything that you use in your den, or during your shave.

I found these little 1 oz plastic bottles on ebay/amazon that came with a flip spout.
Combined with plastic pipettes that I also got on ebay.

I like the bottles because they will stand upright in my bathroom drawer, and the flip spout makes it super quick and easy to open, shake a bit out, and close back up.
The pipettes are a great way to accurately measure and create aftershave blends that I want to try.

So, what have you found?
A to-go Ramen bowl from the noodle shop down the street.

it’s huge and has some micro texture which makes it a great lather bowl.
 
Small Ikea stainless steel kitchen bowl. I've used it as my lather bowl for 5 years and it works great for me.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
A ramekin sized Nando's dip/salsa pot.

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I use this for "serving up" portions of soaps. Since doing this, I haven't had any soaps spoil, as it's not the entire soap that getting hydrated with each shave.

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Simply spoon in enough soap for a month or so, and mould it to the shape of the pot. Hard soaps need grating first. I also use the pot the same way with soap samples.

I used to use this mug in the same way

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Now however, I fill this up and put it on the back of the sink for rinsing my razor in. This keeps the water in the sink stubble free, so I'm not collecting that when I rinse my face, or pick up a little extra water on the tip of the brush. That only works with DE, so the sink/mug roles get reversed for straight or shavette. Having clean water and dirty water separate, works really well for me.

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This little screw top sample jar works great for a slice of shave stick for travel. If I'm just stopping overnight somewhere, I sometimes just take this, a 4-piece "vest pocket" travel DE, folding toothbrush, mini toothpaste and a packet of pocket tissues in a coat pocket. No brush, just wet fingertips. Saves packing a bag and taking the full washkit. Even if I am taking the full washkit, it will still have this. The soap is fine for hand/face use too should you find yourself somewhere without.
 
Now however, I fill this up and put it on the back of the sink for rinsing my razor in. This keeps the water in the sink stubble free, so I'm not collecting that when I rinse my face, or pick up a little extra water on the tip of the brush. That only works with DE, so the sink/mug roles get reversed for straight or shavette. Having clean water and dirty water separate, works really well for me.
I do something similar, but use a 1 litre polythene food container for rinsing the razor. It keeps the stubble out of the sink water, which I want for face-rinsing, and I can flush the resulting mess.

Also, if you knock the razor against the side, the soft plastic won't damage the blade like a sink would.
 
Little drawer containers almost perfectly sized to store blades. Found at the Dollar Tree. Each set can hold almost 300 blades if you really pack them in.
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I don't know if re-purposing random products counts, but I like using pre-shave oils.

Holland and Barrett Vitamin E Oil is meant to be a way of ingesting Vitamin E, but I found it to be an excellent pre-shave oil.

Whether the antioxidant vitamin E can be absorbed into your skin is questionable (and they don't sell the stuff as doing that), but the viscosity and the mild lemon scent are winners.

After using a selection of 4 different shave oils over the last 6 months, my skin condition is about as good as it's ever been (and it has been bad).
 
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