Saponificio Varesino scuttle issue

[musicman1951]

I received a tin of SV Opuntia 4.3 for Christmas (yes, I'm the one who put it on my wish list). I believe every soap has my interpretation of a perfect lather if I simply find the right combination of soap/water. I always expect it will take a few days to a week to (almost) consistently find that ratio.

I usually use a scuttle, although this past summer I did face lather quite a bit. First lather I gave it a good load (pure guess) and face lathered. Way too much soap, but a lovely shave. A little to thick, but still pretty darn good.

Next few shaves in the scuttle were considerably less good. Tried more product, then more water. Not great. I finally figured out that I was cooking the lather with the scuttle. I was very surprised, MdC and WK have no problems with this heat. I use hot tap water (probably hotter than it should be, but it's one of these new 110% efficient, need an engineering degree to adjust, water heater) and preheat the scuttle while the brush soaks.

I did have a successful scuttle shave with the SV using water of a lower temperature, but that kind of defeats my ideal using the scuttle - each pass with warmer lather. So I decided I will save the SV for face lathering days. Who woulda thunk it?

 

[ChunkyOwl]

I haven’t had this issue with SV, but I have with some other soap makers though. One solution that can sometimes work for me is to use a synthetic brush instead of a high density Badger brush. If you are able to try a synthetic (assuming that isn’t what you are currently using), that may help.

 

[oscar11]

I remember reading about a few other soaps that don't work in a scuttle and it predates SV showing up around here.

 

[Robert Anderson]

I use SV in a scuttle with no problem. I use the hottest available from my tap, which is no where near uncomfortablely hot. Maybe lower the water temp a bit?

 

[Tomo]

It’s true that some lathers don’t like the heat. They tend to fall apart. I use SV all the time. Beta 4.3 is heads and shoulders above the older formulas. I sit my lather bowl in an inch of hot water in the sink for the scuttle effect. I’ve never had an issue with this soap. My lather is warm but not hot. I do find that I need to add a little more water to the lather for the final pass as it starts to loose moisture.