That is so funny because I think I just bought your bowl at Goodwill the other day. It's ceramic and looks like it's homemade and the bottom is kind of rough. So far it is working ok; I wish it was a little deeper though. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect bowl.
I got a set of onion soup bowls at Pier 1, they work well. Then I splurged and got one of Miri Hardy's hand thrown shave mugs which I learned about here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/shave-mugs.24618/
Oh, man. I knew coming clean on my lather bowl was a bad idea. I keep seeing everyone's first class scuttles and all I get is <woof>.
Its scary how something cheap and simple such as a cereal bowl works as well as it does; my scuttle really never gets used.
After I tried that plastic bowl, I had no desire to purchase a scuttle. Sure warm later would be fantastic, but that extra money could be used for more soaps, creams and blades.....perhaps a new razor. GOD I HAVE HORRIBLE AD.
On seeing Aaron's original post regarding his cereal bowl, I went into our cabinet and got down a bowl what I thought before to be too small and just wouldn't work. I took to it with my brush and soap and lo and behold I had lather. It really worked well and I love the size of it. Thanks Ikea and thank you Aaron, for the post.
Aaron I thank you for your post and your great idea of using a cereal bowl. The lather whipped up in a cereal bowl is incredible. I award you the Posting of Week Idea.
I think it's more the depth than the diameter that matters. I have a few 'old' scuttles that have fairly wide diameters but are shallow. They don't work well at all. I currently use a bowl that 2-3 in. deep but having a small diameter. it works very well.
i would reccomend a bowl with a depth of about 2 or 3 inches and about 4 inches across...seems to work amazing for any soap or cream i have ever used...hope it helps
I use a standard soup mug out of our kitchen (we happened to have one that was chipped when I started experimenting with wet shaving). It works quite well, and being ceramic with the brush in it it sits in the hot water in my sink quite nicely and keeps my lather nice and warm.
I use a 50 cent cooking prep bowl from Ikea. It's a little bigger than palm size, stainless steel, and makes a real nice lather.
I loved my Goodwill bowl. It was actually a sugar bowl so it had two handles on the side. Unfortunately it broke, but fortunately it was 49cents.
