Wow, maybe it’s the type you bought. Mine is over seven years old and I wish it would break. I need an excuse to try a smaller one, which I suspect might hold heat closer to the soap‘s center of mass.
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Do you lather in a scuttle?
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Wow, maybe it’s the type you bought. Mine is over seven years old and I wish it would break. I need an excuse to try a smaller one, which I suspect might hold heat closer to the soap‘s center of mass.
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I bought the Crown King Travel Scuttle. It's plastic so it won't break. I use it only in the winter months. I use it to work up the lather just like I would if I was using a regular bowl. And the brush goes into the lather in the scuttle in between passes to keep it warm. If you are seeing a thin lather or one that dissipates quickly you may be using water that is too hot. Really not water will do that to lather. The idea is to make a nice warm lather, not a hot lather. Scuttles are nice but I often use ceramic bowls during the winter as well as they tend to keep the lather warm as well, although not quite as warm.
I actually dusted my scuttle off this morning to use after reading this post earlier. It's rainy and cool this morning and I thoroughly enjoyed the shave. I was planning on getting rid of it since I primarily face lather but I may keep it around now. It may have saved my badger from going to my son as well as it worked up a excellent lather with the scuttle this morning. I haven't been liking it lately because it's just too soft for building the kind of lather I like.
My G12 works great with a smaller knot and longer handle. Here are some examples of triple-milled Pre de Provence No. 63, ToOBS Platinum Soap, and ToOBS Platinum Cream.
Brush: Vie Long Blanco American Barber 04513
Brush: Unknown Smooth Silver w/16mm TGN Finest
Brush: Bone handle Star w/16mm Finest TGN
Lather: ToOBS Platinum Shaving Soap
Brush: 1905 Horn & Bone 16mm Finest TGN
Lather: ToOBS Platinum Shaving Cream
When I have used a shorter handle, my hand ends up in the lather too:
Semogue 830
I tend to soak the brush in the scuttle while in the shower.
Brush: Vie Long Blanco American Barber 04513
Brush: Unknown Smooth Silver w/16mm TGN Finest
Brush: Bone handle Star w/16mm Finest TGN
Lather: ToOBS Platinum Shaving Soap
Brush: 1905 Horn & Bone 16mm Finest TGN
Lather: ToOBS Platinum Shaving Cream
When I have used a shorter handle, my hand ends up in the lather too:
Semogue 830
I tend to soak the brush in the scuttle while in the shower.
I just have an inexpensive Savannah Scuttle:
To begin, I put hot water in the chamber and the bowl and my brush in the bowl to warm the brush, the scuttle and the bowl while the soap is blooming. When ready to whip up a nice warm lather, I squeeze out the excess water from my brush, I empty the scuttle completely, fresh hot water goes in the scuttle chamber, I empty the 'blooming water' into the scuttle bowl, load my brush and whip up a nice, warm, excellent lather.
The Timeless BLUE also produces an excellent lather with a lot fewer steps, just not as warm.
YMMV.
To begin, I put hot water in the chamber and the bowl and my brush in the bowl to warm the brush, the scuttle and the bowl while the soap is blooming. When ready to whip up a nice warm lather, I squeeze out the excess water from my brush, I empty the scuttle completely, fresh hot water goes in the scuttle chamber, I empty the 'blooming water' into the scuttle bowl, load my brush and whip up a nice, warm, excellent lather.
The Timeless BLUE also produces an excellent lather with a lot fewer steps, just not as warm.
YMMV.
That looks identical to my QShave scuttle. It works quite well and when I used it regularly, my routine was much the same as yours.
that looks a lot like a clean version of the one I have!
I think the Savannah and the QShave are identical.
I would not use hot lather on my skin. Not a good idea.
I've never used a scuttle, it seems too much like a premodern affectation when people did not have running hot water. The few times it got really cold in Florida I would have a heater in the bathroom (on a circuit interrupt, of course). It's also a good excuse for me to use an electric shaver a while, if it's so cold I can't bother with that (that's why Shick invented the electric shaver in the first place).
I shave with lukewarm water, and my skin actually feels better after a shave doing so. The only time I use anything remotely hot is occasionally I will heat up a towel in the microwave to use on my face if I don't feel like taking a shower.
Well I cast a "yes" vote, but was looking for a third option.
I usually start to build the lather in my scuttle, but find I get the best results from ending up face-lathering.
I usually start to build the lather in my scuttle, but find I get the best results from ending up face-lathering.
I came here thinking you were talking about lathering in a scuttle, but...
None of these lathering bowls that you're showing or talking about are scuttles in any traditional sense of the word.
What you have here is a design of relatively recent origin, commonly (but erroneously) referred to as a shaving-cream scuttle.
They are fundamentally different in design and function to a traditional scuttle.
They are sometimes referred to as "Moss" scuttles, after their inventor, Dr Chris Moss.
I understand they were introduced by Sara Bonnyman Pottery and later made by Georgetown Pottery as well as others.
Actually, they are a variation on a lathering bowl, and not a true scuttle at all.
They cannot be a scuttle, because they don't "scuttle" shaving water.
A scuttle is a device for transporting a substance for use elsewhere, sometimes with hatch or lid on it.
A common coal scuttle was a metal bin with a handle and angled lid attached for carrying coal from a depository (usu. cellar), to a room with a fire to be fed. The lid was opened and a measure of coal scooped out for use.
Shallow baskets for grain or produce were referred to as scuttles.
A barrel-like container for drinking water on a ship was called a scuttle-butt.
The traditional shaving scuttle had a bowl with a "hatch" for transporting hot shaving water from the kettle to the lavatory, which in those days didn't have running water.
The scuttle was simply for wetting/soaking the shaving brush for use. Early scuttles didn't even accommodate the soap.
Later, a soap lathering-bowl was placed on top to be self-contained and convenient, but the "scuttle" was the shaving-water part.
What you have is simply a new type of lathering bowl with an interior jacket for holding hot water, the purpose of which is to keep warm the lather that is produced in it. Reminds me of the partitioned baby-bowls of my childhood that could be filled with warm water.
I understand it is being called a scuttle and will continue to be called that, but to my reasoning it is poorly named because it isn't actually any kind of scuttle at all.
None of these lathering bowls that you're showing or talking about are scuttles in any traditional sense of the word.
What you have here is a design of relatively recent origin, commonly (but erroneously) referred to as a shaving-cream scuttle.
They are fundamentally different in design and function to a traditional scuttle.
They are sometimes referred to as "Moss" scuttles, after their inventor, Dr Chris Moss.
I understand they were introduced by Sara Bonnyman Pottery and later made by Georgetown Pottery as well as others.
Actually, they are a variation on a lathering bowl, and not a true scuttle at all.
They cannot be a scuttle, because they don't "scuttle" shaving water.
A scuttle is a device for transporting a substance for use elsewhere, sometimes with hatch or lid on it.
A common coal scuttle was a metal bin with a handle and angled lid attached for carrying coal from a depository (usu. cellar), to a room with a fire to be fed. The lid was opened and a measure of coal scooped out for use.
Shallow baskets for grain or produce were referred to as scuttles.
A barrel-like container for drinking water on a ship was called a scuttle-butt.
The traditional shaving scuttle had a bowl with a "hatch" for transporting hot shaving water from the kettle to the lavatory, which in those days didn't have running water.
The scuttle was simply for wetting/soaking the shaving brush for use. Early scuttles didn't even accommodate the soap.
Later, a soap lathering-bowl was placed on top to be self-contained and convenient, but the "scuttle" was the shaving-water part.
What you have is simply a new type of lathering bowl with an interior jacket for holding hot water, the purpose of which is to keep warm the lather that is produced in it. Reminds me of the partitioned baby-bowls of my childhood that could be filled with warm water.
I understand it is being called a scuttle and will continue to be called that, but to my reasoning it is poorly named because it isn't actually any kind of scuttle at all.
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Heat expands air and breaks down lather. Too hot scuttle doesn't do well with some high structured soaps.
I agree with that. The lexicon does change though.
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No. Not hot. Warm. Warm lather is devine. You don't need it in Florida. But up North it's so nice to have warm lather on a cold morning. But that is the extent of "warm" that I use in my shave. All of my rinses are cold. Ice cold if possible. I don't need to heat up towels in the microwave because I always shave after a hot shower.
I did use a Robert Becker Scuttle for a few years. But now I usually face lather. The only time I use a scuttle is when I make uberlather.
Interesting stuff. My only comment is that the "scuttle" of the olden days were borne from necessity. Back in the day where there was no such thing as running hot water, the water would be boiled and poured into the "scuttle" to be brought to the bathroom or wherever shaving was done. By the time the water was actually used it had cooled down a fair amount and was no longer hot. With this strange invention called a hot water heater, we no longer need a device of the design of the original "scuttle". Hence the new design where hot water from the tap is poured into the "shell" of the "bowl" to keep the lather warm. It may not be the same design as the original device but it certainly performs the same function, that of keeping the lather warm. Therefore, and heretofore, I contend that these newfangled "bowls" which contain space for hot water are today's scuttles. By issuance of the Scuttle Proclamation, I hereby proclaim the newly designed devices as Scuttles. Let it be so.
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I found that if the water in the scuttle is too hot it effects the quality of the lather.
It does. It causes the lather to dissipate quickly. The lather needs to be warm, not hot.
I second the motion. So be it.
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