Can a metal bowl affect lather quality?

[DamnFineBob]

About a month ago I tried Dr. Hunter's Barber Shop SC by Caswell Massey, but could not get it to lather in my usual small stanless steel bowl. Just for grins I decided to try it again im my large melamine bowl.

Holy smokes! The lather just wouldn't stop this time! It took more water than I would have ever thought possible, and produced a very wet, thick lather, the consistency of vanilla pudding.

Now I'm left wondering, "Why did this happen?"

Could it be that
A. The content of nickel or other metals in my usual bowl reacts with certain creams to destroy lather before it has a chance to build?
B. The increased size of the melamine bowl was needed to build lather with this particular cream, even though the stainless bowl is plenty large enough for Vi-John, Godrej, and My Time?
C. The Barber Shop SC settled during shipment in hot weather, leaving the sudsing compounds at the bottom of the bowl of this very liquid cream, only to emerge after a sufficient quantity had been used from the top?

 

[jakespoppy]

Interesting question. I'll offer another possible answer. Perhaps the surface of the melamine provides enough greater friction with the swirling brush than the metal bowl does to make the cream respond better in generating lather. Even though melamine is slick, it may not take much change to have this effect?

 

[DavyRay]

I switched bowls recently. I use VDH shaving soap. I had been using a small cereal bowl for lather. I switched to a larger, fluted Japanese ceramic bowl, about 8" across. It really worked better. I make more lather faster. This is not a result I expected.

 

[Rivguy]

I think that both of the above posts have merit. Let me add another possibility and that is the variant of temperature differential between the metal bowl vs melamine. I have noticed that some soap/creams are more temperature sensitive than others.

Enjoy your shaves,

Doug

 

[Xezmer]

The stainless steel, is as mentioned before, probably more subject to less friction. I get way better lather out of my handmade bowl that I made back in art class than my target cereal bowl.

And my new scuttle with ridges kills the other two
Face lathering is good with the right brush, too!