As a way of assuaging my disorders cheaply, I had gone to the Goodwill store a couple of weeks ago and bought four different cups/mugs/bowls to use for shaving. I believe I spent a grand total of $2.24. I've now settled on a huge (24 oz?) dark blue cappuccino mug as the nearly ideal lather bowl. It's wide mouthed, deep, and thick handled. The ceramic Chinese bowl was runner up but I like having a handle, and it seemed to be a bit too shallow as lather would slop out easily. I quickly learned that normal cups/mugs or smallish bowls didn't work for me What's the best (function, not necessarily looks or uniqueness) cheap bowl you've found for lathering?
I normally use a weighted pet bowl. it's stainless steel. I like the height. I'm not happy with my brushes clanking on the sides. sometimes a little slops up on the edge, but it doesn't clank much
Im always on the look out for potential lather bowls. I primarily use a soup bowl with a handle that I found in an antique store. If I want to take a little more time, I break out the georgetown pottery scuttle. I prefer to bowl lather versus face lather.
$5 from a thrift store….Ceramic 'French Onion' soup bowl with lid. Easy to hold, has a convenient lip to scrape the brush, large and deep enough to hold many different sized pucks comfortably.
I've seen a couple of good ones at Goodwill, both around 5 bucks, one silver on a pedestal and one some sort of stone (looked like a mortar without a pestle). I held back because I asked my wife to have my daughter pick one out and paint it for me at As You Wish for Father's Day. I'll stick with my VDH bowl a while longer.
Hey Hollyrollah, I saw a soup bowl like that and considered it. But they wanted 4 bux and I thought, Maybe later.
I find the fat handles on them to be very useful. They tend to not get as slippery as holding the bowl by the base and not as restricting as some bowl handles can be on the fingers.
That's the best way to do it cournot...try a variety and see what's working best for you. And the second-hand shops are definitely the way to go IMO - there may be some point to a $50 lather bowl, but I'm thankful I don't see it honestly! My most frequent choice is a 5 inch suribachi, but I've a couple of 5 inch wooden bowls that I'll use once in a while as well. Thrift shop finds the lot and the 5 inch size works best for me - big enough with out being too big and they fit perfectly in hand.
As you've discovered cournot Goodwill, flea markets and yard sales are excellent places to get stuff like bowls and mugs to use in shaving, you can also find glass bottles you can use to decant AS into. I use wooden cigar boxes for storing razors and blades in. One box can hold hundreds of blades. The best storage containers I've used for hard soaps are the small Ziploc containers. They are easy to find, inexpensive, will hold at least two pucks, simple to label, seal well and stack securely and easily.
Kevin, I seen bowls many times with such a handle, and I've considered trying one each time. But I just can't get over the idea that I'll break the handle off somehow. It certainly does look well suited to make lather in though.....
I use a SS bowl I got off ebay. It is unbreakable and the same dimensions as the VDH ceramic bowl that comes in the VDH shave kit. The size works well for me(fits in my palm perfectly) and the bowl(although smooth inside) makes a great lather in both amount and quality.
Mike, now you got me wondering how vigorously you're whipping up your shaving lather…. Most of the good quality ceramic FOS bowls are pretty darn sturdy—microwave & dishwasher-safe. Find one with a thicker, hefty handle that feels good in the palm & easy to get a good grip, —you should then be good-to-go. Not like this… But like THIS:
