Lathering Bowl

[BrandonP]

For those of you who use a bowl to lather, whether it be a soap or a cream, do you prefer a flat bottom or a ridged bottom on the inside of the bowl? I ask this because we are looking at having some custom, hand carved, wood lathering bowls made. I say I prefer a ridge but I have heard others prefer a flat bottom? I understand this can be a YMMV situation, but I was looking for a general consensus on the subject.

Thanks guys!

 

[Invicta]

Ridges make the lather develop quicker. Since I have been using a scuttle with throwing rings I have noticed the difference.

 

[Nick Danger]

+1 on the ridged bottom. I had been using a flat-bottom bowl until I got my ridged Bill Bowl from Julie at Dirty Bird Pottery. Making lather is definitely much easier with the ridges.

Nick

 

[Elder Scrolls]

+ 2, ridges = quicker to lather

 

[dpmtherrien]

I find that I can use either, but give me the ridges anytime. The ridges make a much better lather.

 

[BrandonP]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling that would be the case and people would prefer the ridged bottom. As I said, I preferred the ridges as well. New question, what woods would you guys like to see? Cedar, mahogany, oak? Any preferences?

 

[Mick]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling that would be the case and people would prefer the ridged bottom. As I said, I preferred the ridges as well. New question, what woods would you guys like to see? Cedar, mahogany, oak? Any preferences?

I would think Ebony, Teak, or any of the other dense woods would be the best. You don't want a wood that is going to absorb moisture/soap

If I were having something custom made I would go for Ebony with ridges just because I could choose to have it MY WAY

My scuttles have ridges but my lathering bowls do not. I have not found any different in the speed to develop or quality of the lather in either.

 

[kubotta4]

Hi, I'm quite new to wet shaving but from what I heard ridged bottom helps to build lather. By the way, can anyone of you propose a good lathering mug or bowl?

 

[Mick]

Hi, I'm quite new to wet shaving but from what I heard ridged bottom helps to build lather. By the way, can anyone of you propose a good lathering mug or bowl?

I use two old stainless steel Danish gravy servers that came out of the back of my kitchen cabinet to make lather in. After trying lots of other bowls/mugs these seem to be the best that I have found. They are both marked Leonard Denmark 18/8 (stainless)

The large one is 5 3/4" across by 2 3/4" deep and perfect for my larger brushes like the Polo 12 and Rooney 3xl

The smaller one is 5 1/4" across by 2 1/2" deep and perfect for my smaller brushes like the Kent BK8

I've had these two bowls for 20 years or so. Never realized how useful they were until I joined B&B and started looking for more things to make lather in Before joining B&B I had always face lathered (always as in for the past 45 years)

They have both worked so well that I have not even looked for another lathering bowl.

You can find these at a lot of thrift stores. Last one I saw was priced at 10¢ but you can regularly find them for $1 or less.

If these look interesting you can go to the gravy boat section of eBay and type in either Denmark or Danish (or stainless if you want to wade through a whole pile of them) you will come up with a lot of them. The rim on the bottom makes it easy to hold and it catches any lather that over flows the bowl which helps keep things a little less messy in the shave den.

 

[oldbluelight]

Turtle I'm not trying to be argumentative but I believe your stainless bowls each have half of a ridge - the transition between the flat bottom and the curve of the bowl's sides. I only mention this because my ceramic food bowl that's now serving as a lather bowl has the same configuration and I consciously use that transition point in building the lather. My impression (I've never tried timing my lather making) is that the lather builds more rapidly when the brush moves across the transition rather than simply circling inside it on the bowl's bottom.

BrandonP, It might be interesting to experiment with an "S" shaped ridge that bisects a flat bottom instead of grooves along the side of the bowl. In fact, thinking about it, it might be interesting to have an arragement of the curved ridge with two dimples like the Yin-Yang symbol. Wow! The Zen of Lathering Bowl has just been born. Do I get a royalty or at least a free bowl?

 

[Mick]

Turtle I'm not trying to be argumentative but I believe your stainless bowls each have half of a ridge - the transition between the flat bottom and the curve of the bowl's sides.

Both bowls are 2 piece (bowl and foot) there is a sloped "transition" between the bottom and the sides but no ridge. The transition between bottom and sides is as smooth as my face after a shave

The shadows make them appear to have more of a pronounced transition then they actually do have

 

[Mr. Bazinga]

Just bought a simple 80 cent bowl from ceramic. I will see how good it works.

 

[dougmac]

I use a bowl that a friend made for me, though not for shaving; its a small bowl for eating out of. I find it works beautifully for me. It has ridges, but it also has a somewhat rough surface instead of a smooth "porcelain" like surface I often see. I think the surface helps to build lather in addition to the ridges.

 

[oldbluelight]

Both bowls are 2 piece (bowl and foot) there is a sloped "transition" between the bottom and the sides but no ridge. The transition between bottom and sides is as smooth as my face after a shave

The shadows make them appear to have more of a pronounced transition then they actually do have

Okay, I stand corrected which is a very uncomfortable posture as I am currently seated at the computer. Is there a chiropractor in the house?
The photos did give the impression of a shoulder transitioning into the bottom which would be identical to my bowl.

 

[JHP]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling that would be the case and people would prefer the ridged bottom. As I said, I preferred the ridges as well. New question, what woods would you guys like to see? Cedar, mahogany, oak? Any preferences?

I'm picturing this being a bare wood like a salad bowl, not a finished wood with polyurethane or something else. There are others who are better wood workers on this forum than I am, but cedar doesn't sound very good as it's a soft wood that would absorb alot of water. Mahogany would be good. My kitchen counters are made of mahogany and I can attest to the fact that mahogany can take a lot of wet conditions. Someone else mentioned teak. That might be more expensive but it would seam an excellent wood for this application.

Please post a link to this thread once you have a product for sale! It sounds intriguing!

 

[Speedwell68]

I just use curved cereal bowl I bought from Sainsburys. I'd never even thought about how the contour or ridging in a bowl might effect lathering. I'm going to have an experiment.

 

[Cheapogit]

My bowls/mugs were cheap, standard, multipurpose tea/coffee/soup vessels, and work just fine for shaving, both approx (but the mug was slightly less than) £2/ea. The white bowl from a charity shop and the black mug from a branch of Wilkinsons(or Wilko's) (a chain of department stores). I added a tweezerman for scale, but for further info, the black one can get a MWF soap in it, but not any larger soaps (C&Es soaps sit in the top where it flares out), but the white one can manage larger soaps too:

 

[shep12]

Ridges make for quicker lather.

 

[ngai]

What I really want is a stainless steel bowl with ridges. I'm considering taking a hammer to a dog bowl if I can't find one.

 

[JHCC]

I'm using a stoneware bowl that I made almost 30 years ago, rather like a Japanese tea bow. Straight flared sides, flattish bottom, bit of a dimple in the center; very rough surface (I used a lot of grog in the clay). Works great.

If you're going to use wood, you have to be careful about moisture. What makes wood warp and crack is not dryness or wetness; it's cycling rapidly between the two. If your bowl is unfinished, it's going to absorb moisture every time you use it, and then dry out again. If you really want unfinished, go with something with a proven track record of enduring those kind of conditions: mahogany, purpleheart, teak, or iroko, for example, all of which are used in boatbuilding and outdoor furniture. Cedar and cypress are also pretty weather resistant, which is why they get used for siding and shingles.

If you plan on sealing the wood (with polyurethane, for example), any wood will do, and you'll have more options aesthetically. You'd just be limited by your budget and your tools & skill.

Addendum: another factor to consider is the durability of the wood itself. Softer woods like cedar will dent and chip more easily, whereas a harder wood like teak will take longer to show the ill effects of being banged around on the counter in the bathroom.