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Do I need a scuttle?

Creams go into the scuttle (which really is not that big an improvement over my $1.50 Wal Mart salsa bowl). Soaps get lathered on the face or in the scuttle. Sticks mandate a face lather.
 
I usually face lather, but when I do bowl lather, I use a large latte mug I got from Sur la Table for a few bucks. I recommend a mug or bowl on the bigger side so you can really whip your brush around.


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shavefan

I’m not a fan
I usually face lather, but when I do bowl lather, I use a large latte mug I got from Sur la Table for a few bucks. I recommend a mug or bowl on the bigger side so you can really whip your brush around.

Your post reminded me, I saw these a while back in store and thought they would make a great lather bowl, around $4...

Latte Bowl | Sur La Table
 
My bowl, however, is tiny (about 3in wide) and does not allow that much room for working the lather.
I imagine a scuttle making things easier, but they look pricey, fragile and rather large (for my bathroom sink at least).
Are there any other options out there?
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That is IMHO, not a simple question with a simple answer.


A lot depends on your answer to the question: -
Is your beard hair thick & strong or thin & bendy?

A) If thick & strong, then face lather is your best option. The thick hair provides a rough surface for the brush to build a good lather. You may also find that the brush works the hair to coat it a bit better. Bowls & scuttles are then superfluous. Even if you start out bowl lathering, after a few months you'll probably naturally gravitate to face lather. This is not exclusive: - I have thick hair, & once in a while I do bowl lather, although this is mostly because I was presented with an amazing bowl...hand thrown ceramic with a semi-glazed high friction surface even when wet.

B ) If thin & scanty/bendy- It will take time & effort to build a good lather on your face. Bowl lather is probably best. If you really really like warm lather you can heat up your bowl & water. (Use very hot water to heat up your bowl & pour almost all of it out before bowl lathering. OR microwave your bowl with a teaspoon of water in it.) If after a few months of using warmed lather, you like the feel of warm lather so much that you find yourself using warmed lather daily, THEN you can consider a scuttle.

You might want to take into consideration that you are in an area with a warm climate, so warm lather is not the attraction it might be if ice was forming on your windows.
 
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That is IMHO, not a simple question with a simple answer.


A lot depends on your answer to the question: -
Is your beard hair thick & strong or thin & bendy?

A) If thick & strong, then face lather is your best option. The thick hair provides a rough surface for the brush to build a good lather. You may also find that the brush works the hair to coat it a bit better. Bowls & scuttles are then superfluous. Even if you start out bowl lathering, after a few months you'll probably naturally gravitate to face lather. This is not exclusive: - I have thick hair, & once in a while I do bowl lather, although this is mostly because I was presented with an amazing bowl...hand thrown ceramic with a semi-glazed high friction surface even when wet.

B ) If thin & scanty/bendy- It will take time & effort to build a good lather on your face. Bowl lather is probably best. If you really really like warm lather you can heat up your bowl & water. (Use very hot water to heat up your bowl & pour almost all of it out before bowl lathering. OR microwave your bowl with a teaspoon of water in it.) If after a few months of using warmed lather, you like the feel of warm lather so much that you cant do without it, THEN you can consider a scuttle.

You might want to take into consideration that you are in a warm country, so warm lather is not the attraction it might be if ice was forming on your windows.

Thank You for this!
 
I understand it's all part of routine to whip up some lather with a really cool brush and a bowl or scuttle. Many people really get into that and I get it.

But I face lather exclusively and the best soaps to face lather with are Proraso using a nice boar brush such as an Omega 10083. Just my .02 and humble opinion.

Boy those Omegas keep creeping up into the conversation... Must...resist...BAD!!!
 
Most scuttles aren't going to give you much more room for building lather, easier and cheaper to just find a larger bowl if that's what you want. Personally, I didn't find a scuttle worth the extra effort. Sure the lather might be briefly warm, but it still goes to room temperature awfully fast.
 
You don't need a scuttle at all. With that being said my girl friend got me a scuttle at a pretty good price due to some small imperfections that don't affect the functionality in any way. In the summer I just use it to soak my brush since I face lather, but in the winter I switch to bowl lathering in the scuttle for a nice warm lather on a cold morning.
 
Totally up to you! For me the answer is definitely, "No." I stick to face lathering. Others prefer different options.
 
I thought I needed a scuttle and bought one, but less than a year later I switched to face lathering. The scuttle, I thought I needed, has been in a box in the basement for 6 years or more. It's still one of my top 5 wasted purchases.
 
I would also opine that they are not a necessity. I find myself face lathering about 90% of the time.

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I say yes and you do need a scuttle only IF you get too tired to face lather, because the scuttle will help you create the lather easy for you if you get too tired to face lather because you needed a shave.

I face lather 98% throughout my whole shave all the time, sometime I get too tired and I needed a shave so bad and I couldn't be bothered to face lather so I used a scuttle.
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
Here's a bowl.

Do you like this?

bowl a b.jpg
 
Why yes, yes I do! That there bowl would make a great lather bowl. ...and, if it's last of a nested set, could be a great inner bowl to have floating in warm water in yer new fangled scuttle. (Outer bowl)
 
It's all about preference do we really "need" anything besides food, shoes, clothes and a roof over our heads? No. If you wanna try a scuttle, try one. I personally love mine and use it almost every day. It's not something that just sits in a box or a drawer in my home.
 
I use a SWK scuttle my son gifted me and it's the only thing I use, I like a warm brush and lather. Its not a hassle once you work out the details of the shave, i can usually shave in 10-15 mins using a straight and scuttle and thats from start to completely finished with all put away.
 
I have a scuttle but it's an oval one and hard to use but it does keep the lather warm which is very nice.


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Yes! And no. I have 2 of them and I love them. My PAA one is great warmed up in the winter. I also have a antique style, new production one. I love having them both, I probably won't get rid of either of them. But I don't use them very often. I've learned to face lather a lot better then when I started and because of the odd hours of my job I find that when I do shave I'm usually squeezing it into my schedule so no time for ceremony. On the weekends however I do break out a straight or scuttle. But that's only one shave a week. So the short TLDR version is if you have some extra scratch they are a nice addition to the shave gear, but totally unnecessary.
 
I recently managed to duplicate the results from a YouTube video with my Proraso (white). There's truly nothing like being able to work up a good lather!

My bowl, however, is tiny (about 3in wide) and does not allow that much room for working the lather.

I imagine a scuttle making things easier, but they look pricey, fragile and rather large (for my bathroom sink at least).

Are there any other options out there?


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They are definitely not necessary. I use a Captain's Choice bowl most times as it is wide enough and fits my needs well. I do have a Dirty Bird Scuttle that I use when I have time as I enjoy to have a warm lather/luxury shave when I have the time. So necessary? NO. Nice to own for the occasion of a warm shave? YES. You know though YMMV!
 
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