We read a lot on B&B about different lathering techniques involving modern shaving bowls and scuttles. This got me wondering who still uses a classic shaving mug where the lather is build directly on the puck and then transferred to the face? Something like in the photo (not mine)?
The classic shaving mug
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That was my usual method until very recently. I have been experimenting with using about a nickel-sized bit of soap in a bowl and also direct face-lathering.
The mug is a tried and true method, especially if you are trying to use up various soap scraps.
The mug is a tried and true method, especially if you are trying to use up various soap scraps.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I often use a mug containing a hard puck but I only load the brush from the mug, and then build the lather by face lathering. I do not build the lather on the puck itself, and suggest that to do so would be wasteful of soap. It would make it difficult to control the water to soap ratio as you would be constantly adding more soap with every swirl of the brush. To my mind the purpose of the mug is purely to contain the puck while loading the brush with soap. Following that one would either face lather or transfer to a separate lathering bowl. Opinions may differ of course 
That's what I was taught in the early 70s too.I often use a mug containing a hard puck but I only load the brush from the mug, and then build the lather by face lathering. I do not build the lather on the puck itself, and suggest that to do so would be wasteful of soap. It would make it difficult to control the water to soap ratio as you would be constantly adding more soap with every swirl of the brush. To my mind the purpose of the mug is purely to contain the puck while loading the brush with soap. Following that one would either face lather or transfer to a separate lathering bowl. Opinions may differ of course
For years an Old Large Coffee Mug was my go too.
Now I have cheapie Lather Bowl with uneven bottom, works better then Coffee Mug.
Now I have cheapie Lather Bowl with uneven bottom, works better then Coffee Mug.
I still do, for both soft and hard soaps.
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Although my first choice is a shave stick, once in a while I like to use a mug. Her is one of my set-ups.
When at home I use soap in a mug or cup. A couple soap came in a reclosable tub that is use same as a mug. When on the road I use a stick, occasionally a cream such as Barbasol. Some times if in a hurry just liquid handsoap.
Still have a couple mugs with the original soap in them. One Old SPICE and the other the same Avon as OP has pictured. The others get used in rotation with new pucks.
Still have a couple mugs with the original soap in them. One Old SPICE and the other the same Avon as OP has pictured. The others get used in rotation with new pucks.
My technique from the early 1970s until the early 1990s:
Williams puck in a thrift store coffee mug, cheap boar resting on top, sitting near bathroom sink
Add a little water, usually warm, make some lather in the mug
Paint it on my face, toss brush back into mug without rinsing
Shave it off, no re-lathering for more passes (Gillette Old Type or Merkur 36 slant)
Wash and dry face
Rinse razor and leave on counter, in cabinet, or wherever (no kids around)
Done
The boar knot gradually took on the look of an artist's brush, oversize and bent to one side. It still made lather and I never even thought about replacing it.
Now, in addition to my favored shave sticks, I have several soaps in Old Spice mugs lined up in the den. Once in a while I'll do a shave the old way, except now I carefully rinse whichever brush I used. It works just fine, but I will paint on more lather for extra passes if I want a B&B level close shave. And I might use alum or AS. Fancy.
Williams puck in a thrift store coffee mug, cheap boar resting on top, sitting near bathroom sink
Add a little water, usually warm, make some lather in the mug
Paint it on my face, toss brush back into mug without rinsing
Shave it off, no re-lathering for more passes (Gillette Old Type or Merkur 36 slant)
Wash and dry face
Rinse razor and leave on counter, in cabinet, or wherever (no kids around)
Done
The boar knot gradually took on the look of an artist's brush, oversize and bent to one side. It still made lather and I never even thought about replacing it.
Now, in addition to my favored shave sticks, I have several soaps in Old Spice mugs lined up in the den. Once in a while I'll do a shave the old way, except now I carefully rinse whichever brush I used. It works just fine, but I will paint on more lather for extra passes if I want a B&B level close shave. And I might use alum or AS. Fancy.
I use an Old Spice mug similar to this one. A puck of Arko fits great into it.
I have a few apothecary style mugs that I keep hard soaps in.
The ones with the knob on the side.
Strangely enough, when you google “apothecary mug” you get a fair share of mugs with a coffee mug style of handle. To me, an apothecary mug needs to have that knob or it isn’t an apothecary mug.
I also have a classic barber style mug, but in all honesty, besides the thumb hole, I don’t find the mug that practical because the smallish soap support (on the left side of the image) does not adapt that well to the shape of my pucks.
Image courtesy Manufactum
No matter what kind of mug, I usually just use them to charge the brush and whip up the lather on my face.
B.
The ones with the knob on the side.
Strangely enough, when you google “apothecary mug” you get a fair share of mugs with a coffee mug style of handle. To me, an apothecary mug needs to have that knob or it isn’t an apothecary mug.
I also have a classic barber style mug, but in all honesty, besides the thumb hole, I don’t find the mug that practical because the smallish soap support (on the left side of the image) does not adapt that well to the shape of my pucks.
Image courtesy Manufactum
No matter what kind of mug, I usually just use them to charge the brush and whip up the lather on my face.
B.
I have a collection of shaving scuttles
These are the Nelson collection
These are the Nelson collection
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
Once upon a time I used an OS mug, then I moved to face-lathering.
(And still wish I had kept that mug!!
)
(And still wish I had kept that mug!!
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Sort of like the 3 NOS all stainless Feather Portable razors I once sold for next to nothing...(And still wish I had kept that mug!!
I recently started doing this myself and I really like the results.
I have an Avon milkglass shave mug, into which a puck of Haslinger (or Williams) fits perfectly. Three other soaps are in coffee mugs, the rest are kept in tubs.
I used a vintage shaving mug* for the longest time then briefly switched to using a bowl before moving on to face lathering. The initial two methods were based on necessity as I used a soap that came as a puck without a container, I then moved on to more artisan soaps (Stirling in my case) so I used a garage sale home-made stoneware bowl to develop lather. Then it dawned on me (a duh moment if ever there was one), that I was missing out on perhaps the best shave prep by not face lathering. So face lathering it is and I've never looked back. The mug sits in a drawer and the bowl is on the counter holding my brush. Well, everything sits unused these days as I've been playing around with a beard since mid December.
* It a pretty non-descript enameled stoneware mug. I'm not so sure what makes it a vintage shaving mug other than that's what it was labeled and I paid waaay to much for at an antique shop. Oh to be young and have such disposable money again...
* It a pretty non-descript enameled stoneware mug. I'm not so sure what makes it a vintage shaving mug other than that's what it was labeled and I paid waaay to much for at an antique shop. Oh to be young and have such disposable money again...
That would be me, either an Old Spice mug or Tabac (same size but no handle).
Load brush, move lather (or proto-lather) to the face.
If it worked for my dad this ought to be good enough for me.
I lather on a “puck” of various hand soap scraps then paint it on my face. I use a plastic yogurt container about 3.5 by 3 inches rather than a mug.
