Bowl lathering on the Road

[Chadao]

I travel a lot. I prefer bowl lathering although I am learning face lathering but I still prefer bowl lather. Since beginning with a DE razor several years ago, I have tried all sorts of bowl lathering. About a year ago I even bowl lathered in the decorative dish used by one hotel chain to display their packaged soaps and shampoos.
Shortly after that time I bought a beautiful travel scuttle from Dirty Bird. It was never even adequate. It kept the lather warm but it was too small to smoothly create that lather. But I persisted. Not long ago the scuttle was broken in my suitcase. That was the trip where I began learning face lathering.
Since, I have tried several other possibilities. On my latest trip I brought along the hand-thrown bowl from West Coast Shaving. The size fits nicely in my palm. The pottery is heavy enough to be durable and thick enough to retain some heat. I believe it is as good as it will get. I admit, I like WCS as a vendor and they are nice people so I am pleased to recommend a product that is exclusive to them.
So, besides face lathering, does anyone else have some tried and true road lather recommendations?

 

[Okla1911]

I saw a you tube video where a guy hand lathered and it seemed to work fine. Just cupped his non-dominate hand with some water in the palm and went to work.

 

[Snargle]

If I was a confirmed bowl-latherer (I'm primarily a face-latherer), I'd probably raid my kitchen cabinets and grab an appropriate-sized plastic bowl for travel. I don't trust packing anything made from glass or ceramic.

 

[Skyrider55]

Collapsible bowl

I don't bother while traveling. I just take sample packs of cream or a shave stick and face lather.

 

[chilliman64]

I use in-room cereal/soup bowls when travelling. if the room doesn't have any then a saucer or wide mouth coffee mug. if none of them either then facelather is the go.

 

[Heron]

I don't know why, but I've never been able to make decent lather away from home, even when using the exact same setup that I use at home.

 

[AABCDS]

I've tried using the cups and mugs in hotel rooms but they were all too small and I didn't want to travel with my Muhle porcelain bowl and break another one while traveling. I just kept working at face lathering while on the road. It wasn't pretty at first but now I quite enjoy face-lathering; it's a nice break from bowl-lathering at home.

 

[Big Jim]

I travel a lot. I made my own primary travel brush using a Whipped Dog 16 mm Silvertip Knot (no longer available) and a handle turned from a turning blank from Exotic blanks.

I had been using a Col Conk travel soap container loaded with his Bay Rum soap. I felt the need for a taller container and started looking for one. I found one filled with "Crayola Color Bath Drops" for about $4.00, emptied out the bath drops, and dropped in a 2.5 oz Col Conk Bay Rum puck, and use the Col Conk lid.

This gives my "mini brush" a "mini mug", and the two work extremely well together.







It works for me.

Although Whipped dog no longer supplies the 16mm knot, you should be able to come out about the same with an 18mm knot from TGN. If you try hard, you may even find an 18mm handle somewhere.

 

[Chaloney]

I have the collapsible bowl linked above. It's a bit light weight but works great and collapses to about 1/2 inch thick.

 

[Chaloney]

Here it is with some williams lather that I was using to wash it. That's a standard vdh deluxe bowl next to it for size comparison.

 

[ChiefBroom]

I face lather almost exclusively now, but I bowl lathered for quite a while. When I travel, I usually stay in hotels. When I checked in, I'd just go to the restaurant or the bar and ask if I could borrow a bowl to use in my room during my stay. I was never denied.

 

[gus1942]

The only true answer to your question is to face lather.

 

[Atalk]

As I checked in, I would request a bowl or a preferably a wide-mouth cappuccino mug. If all else fails, I would use the water glass that is typically near/next to the the little ice container.

 

[Chadao]

Wow, so many great answers. Thanks everyone. And for you face latherers, I have two Mike's shave sticks on order, and put an Arko stick in a stick holder from WCS. I'm on the road enough, I have plenty of time to try lots of options.

 

[KindestCutofAll]

I went to a thrift store. They had several shelves with different bowls. I came home with (4 for shaving) 2 wooden, 1 Stainless, and 1 clay, 1 plactic bowl with lid. The wooden bowls are perfect for trvelling.

Now my travel kit includes the plastic bowl with lid, 1 shave soap, 1 shave cream, and a shave stick.

I can choose to face or bowl lather with any of the three as the mood strikes me.

 

[takeshi]

I don't know why, but I've never been able to make decent lather away from home, even when using the exact same setup that I use at home.

Could be the difference in the water -- particularly if you're traveling in areas with hard water and you have soft water at home.

And for you face latherers, I have two Mike's shave sticks on order, and put an Arko stick in a stick holder from WCS.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]I face lather and don't use sticks.[/FONT]