Scuttle process changes

[Mink]

There isn't a forum for scuttles, so I'll post my results here.

I have been frustrated with some new soaps that I recently purchased that were not making very good lather. In all cases, the lather was the very small bubbles, airy - foamy stuff that lasts about 1 minute in a hot scuttle. The soaps I was having trouble with were Mitchell's Wool Fat, Cella, and DR Harris Marlborough (stick). I had no trouble with La Toja and Velobra sticks. All are tallow type soaps, which was odd because Tabac and Speick never had a problem either whether my scuttle was hot or room temperature.

Well, in each case, I was able to solve the problem by whipping up a great lather in a room temperature scuttle and then add the hot water to it. So, while I couldn't make a usable lather in a scuttle that had soaked in hot water - and had hot water in the chamber, I could make great lather in the scuttle and then just warm them up together. The lather didn't break down as the scuttle got warmer. After stropping my razor and prepping my face, I pour out the water and add new hot water. This is easy with the DB scuttle because of the big mouth.

This is the season for hot/warm lather and this change was needed to use these soaps. The MWF is amazing, especially if I take the time to keep working the lather. Maybe the best lather I've used. The Cella and Marlborough are now the very nice soaps they should be.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this experience with any of you that have inconsistent results with your scuttle.

 

[bob.e]

Overly hot water kills the suds so I can see the sense in what your doing.

 

[Sfbagger]

Thank you!
I've had the same problem with Cella, and what you're saying makes perfect sense.
Although I do enjoy face lathering with Cella, I'll give that a try tomorrow with my DB.

Jeff

 

[Bestarrkin]

+1 for water temperature issue. MWF performs better with cold to warm water and for Valobra stick, she likes hot water and wants to melt like her soft soap siblings.

 

[Chimensch]

I use Cella in a scuttle. It isn't the temperature of the water so much as the fact that Cella likes a lot of water. You can get good lather even with hot water so long as you add a lot of water when making the lather. I also add more water before I lather for each pass.

 

[Mink]

I've found that once I get the foamy consistency that it's almost impossible to recover the lather. I always whip up the lather before applying the next pass. This also gets the lather to a consistent temperature (gets the cooler lather on top warmer). I usually add water too because the lather near the top and close to the bowl is already getting foamy and thin. The re-whipping brings it all back if there's still dense lather in the bowl. I'm at high altitude in a dry climate and I sometimes wonder if the foaming/dryout may be because of the environment too, but I don't know for sure. I've also added glycerin to the hard soaps (DRH Marlborough especially) and this helps, but I still get the dryout at the top occurring and I need to re-whip it before it gets too thin.

 

[kbuzbee]

There isn't a forum for scuttles, so I'll post my results here.

True and it would be a nice addition. It seems most of the scuttle discussions take place in the General forum, but as you are mostly discussing lathering techniques (rather than the scuttle itself) I think you choose wisely, good Sir!

Ken