I've been using the small bowl that came with the VDH starter kit and the lather just overflows, any suggestions on an upgrade?
Suggestions for a Bowl for lathering
- Thread starter anks106
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Look in your kitchen. I'm sure you'll find something useful. A coffee cup, a cereal bowl, a candy dish. A 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup works pretty well, it has a handle so you can hold on to it, and its clear, so you can watch your brush at work from the inside out.
And if you haven't done it yet, give face lathering a try.
That VdH bowl? I use mine to soak my dentures in.
And if you haven't done it yet, give face lathering a try.
That VdH bowl? I use mine to soak my dentures in.
I use a cheap sugar bowl that works great. I got it at the Christmas Tree Shop if you have one in your area.
I bought a medium sized rice bowl at the $1.00 section of my local asian market. Works great and the price is unbeatable!
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)
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.
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)
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.
+1 to the rice bowl, I use one too. Mine's fancy with some goldfish painted on it. Pop by the local kitchen store, lots to choose from for a few dollars.
Scott
Scott
+1
I was the same way, running all over the place trying to find the perfect bowl. Then I tried face lathering. I haven't once made lather in a bowl since. On the contrary, it started SBAD!
The wife kindly "donated" her cappuccino mug to my shaving cause, its perfect for bowl lathering and whilst breaking in my Simpson Commodore X3 I realised that the grip groove in the X3 sits perfectly on the mug rim... have a look around your own house Anks and you'd be surprised what you might find!
WCS has a great one.
1) heavy stoneware holds heat
2) wide bowl makes it easy to wip the lather
3) sides designed to keep the lather in the bowl
1) heavy stoneware holds heat
2) wide bowl makes it easy to wip the lather
3) sides designed to keep the lather in the bowl
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I just use a miso bowl, tried a couple of others options out of the kitchen cupboards but this is my favorite.
There are many bowls that will work, some better than others. Then there is that aloof "perfect bowl" that creates the perfect warm lather, isn't too big, is big enough, is original and beautiful, is affordable, holds heat in your lather, looks great by the sink, has texture or is smooth depending on your likes, is the right weight and material, is the heirloom you want to give to your son someday, and doesn't have shaving cream spill out. I've tried dozens of bowls and I have stopped by 11 thrift shops, 8 antique shops, 2 Asian markets, and 2 pottery stores and every major department store. Having not found a bowl specifically designed as a shaving bowl/cup, except online, I did find an awesome one that I really love now that seems to fit the bill nearly all of my desires on my wish list. It's one that I hope to hand down to one of my boys. It has some lather spillage, but manageable. It is 4.75 in. diameter and shy of 2 inches deep. It has internal grooves to help lather forming, holds heat, is beautiful in a manly way, is original, is porcelain, hand made and has a nice weight to it. 
P.S. This is my first post on B&B
P.S. This is my first post on B&BI like this one too. It has a bit of lather overflow, but travels nicely in my toiletry bag. I shared my experience of making my own lather and why I wanted this bowl to the gallery owner. He was so impressed, that he gave me this expensive, one of a kind, heirloom, porcelain piece of art and then made an order to Lee's Razors the next day.
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I went to a discount store and bought three bowls for $6. I use one to lather in and the others have sticks pucked into them. hint: get dark coloured bowls.
This is an OUTSTANDING lathering bowl...well-made and inexpensive. !!
It's nice to have stoneware to hold the heat and some "tooth" to grip the brush a bit and speed up the process, but neither one is necessary. I think size is very important. I started with a very small bowl (which was ridiculous) and then went to a fairly large coffee cup. The cup wasn't bad, but I kept banging the handle of the brush on the sides - which was mildly irritating. I use a scuttle, but I suggest you try a few different sizes from the kitchen. It won't take long to find one you like.
I know there are a couple of other members that use the cheap, black salsa bowl you can find at Walmart. I had one lying around and tried it on some MWF and it did a fine job. Plus, if you drop it, there's no chance of it breaking.
Hit up our local Goodwill or Salvation Army, thy always have a good selection of pottery, soup, craft type owls for a buck or two.
I've picked up a few there over the past couple years....some even have the lather ridges as decoration, which make lathering easier.
I've picked up a few there over the past couple years....some even have the lather ridges as decoration, which make lathering easier.
Some of us like the $1.00 salsa bowls at Wally World.
I got a cereal bowl from Target for like $3. It's a little deep, but since I have to store my gear away from the bathroom it doubles as something to help carry it all back and forth. And it's plastic, so it won't break if I drop it on the tile...which was a must.
I got a bowl that I actually found out about on this site. It's a hammered aluminum salsa bowl from West Elm, costing about 5$. I love it, especially for the hammered texture interior 
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