Shaving mug aha moment

[Warpiper]

So, to appease my SSAD I was looking on line for shaving mugs to hold my soaps when I had an aha moment. It occurred to me that just about anything resembling a mug, coffee cup, soup bowl/mug, or apothecary bowl is/can be called a shaving mug if you put shaving soap into it. It can be used to hold the puck while you load your brush or you can used it as a shaving bowl/scuttle to make lather in. The various "shaving mugs" I've bought on line or the coffee mugs I've used, with the exception of the Old Spice mugs (which are shorter) do not work for what I want. Either the mug is to narrow for a puck to fit in them, and all of them are too tall for my preference. I've noticed that because they are tall I wind up banging the brush against the side and make a lot of noise. Now, on the other hand, I like loading my brush in the prorasa container and because the bristles on my brush are longer than the container, I'll never get the clanking noise. Same with the Old Spice mugs, because the are shorter than any of my coffee mugs I won't get any clanking out of them either. So, I'm now on the search for containers that are short and will hold a puck of shaving soap nicely. I wonder if I would get some stares if I brought a puck of soap with me to the stores to see it it fits.

 

[ajmanouk]

I dare you to try a thermos.

LOL

 

[Jarick]

I went from tall mug to shorter mug to Old Spice mug to apothecary mug and now am looking for just a dish that I can set the soap in. I HATE the clanging noise and constricted movement of a mug.

 

[Jim]

Mugs are possibly the cause of more poor lather than anything else. A horrible choice to load your brush.
As the OP stated,a shallow dish is the way to go.

 

[PWS1]

I HATE the clanging noise and constricted movement of a mug.

And here I thought I was the only one!!

 

[Warpiper]

I dare you to try a thermos.

LOL

Oooh, that would keep the soap nice an warm for a nice long time. Unfortunately, the 2 good metal thermoses I had when I was in the army walked.

 

[Warpiper]

I went from tall mug to shorter mug to Old Spice mug to apothecary mug and now am looking for just a dish that I can set the soap in. I HATE the clanging noise and constricted movement of a mug.

I'll have to try that too. Might be hard to hold the puck still though.

 

[Warpiper]

Mugs are possibly the cause of more poor lather than anything else. A horrible choice to load your brush.
As the OP stated,a shallow dish is the way to go.

Something like a saucer?

 

[Jarick]

Like a Pyrex container, or get a puck of soap that comes in a bowl or dish.

I use short brushes so they will clang against even an Old Spice container. With a tall brush it's not an issue.

Of course I've been getting into face lathering with sticks and just seem to keep going that direction. I may end up with all sticks with the odd cream smeared on my face. No product is wasted and less stuff in my tiny bathroom.

 

[jrp316]

I like the Old Spice style mug for soap pucks, but more often than not, I end up using whatever plastic container that the puck comes in. Empty Col. Conk style plastic soap containers with a lid flap are ideal. I've been using them to press my soap sticks into lately (don't care much for the stick format).

 

[Nadir M]

I wonder if I would get some stares if I brought a puck of soap with me to the stores to see it it fits.

I wouldn't stare.

 

[VerbaVolant]

...I've noticed that because they are tall I wind up banging the brush against the side and make a lot of noise...

Mugs have two qualities:
1. Using a shaving mug helps you mar the paint or finish on a wood handle. Long term, might wreck the acrylic ones.
2. Shaving mug make a lovely sound when used in the wee hours of the morning so one can gently wake up family.

...and all of them are too tall for my preference...

If you find a mug that you like but is too tall you can always melt or press unscented glycerine soap to fill the bottom half. Then you can put the soap of your choice on top. Adjust the hight by adding glycerine soap so your shaving soap seats 1" below the rim.

 

[martym]

I have two bowls, a scuttle, and an Old Spice mug.
They take care of my creams, croaps, and pucks.

 

[Jarick]

Wouldn't be perfect, but a hockey puck is 3" wide by 1" tall, that could help shopping for a mug or dish.

 

[Warpiper]

If you find a mug that you like but is too tall you can always melt or press unscented glycerine soap to fill the bottom half. Then you can put the soap of your choice on top. Adjust the hight by adding glycerine soap so your shaving soap seats 1" below the rim.

Oddly enough I have several lbs (24 lbs actually [don't ask]) of melt and pour glycerin soap at home. I'll have to give that a try and see how it works.

 

[PugslyCat]

The Anchor Hocking and Pyrex custard cups should work pretty well. Some of those even have lids if that matters to you. There are also some small French onion soup crocks that may work for you.

Kitchen graters can make your puck of soap fit into any mug. Just go get a cheap one rather than borrowing the one from the kitchen. I won't explain why you should get your own other than to say the LOTH won't be amused. I'm lazy so I don't grate the entire puck, but just enough to get the puck through the mouth of the container. Put the shavings in the mug first and give the remainder of the puck a good push to compress everything when you put it in.

As mentioned earlier, if the container is too deep just add more soap. If you grate the the pucks it doesn't matter if the shavings all came from one puck or not. The bottom layer of soap is really just a spacer so it doesn't even have to be good soap. You could put some cheap soap like VDH or Williams to raise the bottom of the mug and then put something else on top of that. That way your lather doesn't go completely bad when the good soap is a ring around the edge stage and you are down to the cheap stuff in the middle of the mug. It might also be a good idea to select an unscented or mildly scented soap as the filler material so that you don't get some awful fragrance mash up. Using a filler soap that is a different color than the good soap on top will ensusre that you know when you are working into that layer of soap and need to put another puck on top.

Some soaps such as Mama Bear, Colonel Conk and VDH can be melted and poured into the container of your choice. I've done this a few times, but the heating can cook off some of the fragrance. Overheating the soap can cause a real mess and possibly fires. If you grate the puck you can melt it with less heat or microwave time. You might want to try grating the entire puck and then melting just enough of the shavings that you can stir the unmelted soap into the melted portion to bond everything together again.

 

[PWS1]

I'm thinking about trying a ramikin from Walmart; you can get a set of four for about $10. They are basically a shallow bowl with flat bottom and sides. Dimensions are usually about 4" across and 2 - 3" deep. They are in the kitchen section..

 

[JazzyJ]

What about a ramekin? Nice and short, and you can get them in varying widths.

Oops! Someone beat me to it! ^^

 

[Jim]

 

[VerbaVolant]

Ramekins work well no doubt. There is only one issue with them: they are terribly, terribly boring due to absolute lack of personality/character.
Strictly utilitarian use? Absolutely. I have one identical to Jim's. With a red lid.