Shaving Hacks

I, and I presume one or two others, like a cozy warm lather. Hence shaving scuttles. I have noticed that the brush likes the bottom, dead centre of the scuttles for maximum heat.
However, many brushes particularly the bushier ones and the synthetic ones struggle against having their legs splayed. So do I.
Enough of the preamble.
I needed a tubular device that is relatively easy to work and that has enough weight to keep the bristles splayed. Wood, Plastic, Ceramic, Metal are no good.
Enter a glass jam jar or marmalade for those with good taste.
A jig to hold it in place steadily as it was revolved while turning was made of a piece of scrap plywood and a few pieces of short 2"x2" bits of lumber. It was cut and assembled in 15 minutes.
Picture a box with no top and only one end.
Placing the jar with the open end against the closed end of the box and revolving it with my left palm worked perfectly.
I held a Dremel Revolving tool with a ceramic/glass cutting disc in my right hand.
Cutting off the closed end and smoothing the  edge of the now bottomless jar took about 20 minutes.

That is it. Make my lather as usual. Splay the ends on the bottom of the scuttle or bowl and place the "Heat Retainer" into the jar to rest on the splayed bristles and you have your warm lather.
This first attempt was my prototype. The next and final one will be a little heavier glass. Perhaps a pickle jar. I will use this for a few weeks to see if there are any improvements that might be added.

[Image: IMGP8060_1.jpg]


[Image: IMGP8065.jpg]

Mickey

I, and I presume one or two others, like a cozy warm lather. Hence shaving scuttles. I have noticed that the brush likes the bottom, dead centre of the scuttles for maximum heat.
However, many brushes particularly the bushier ones and the synthetic ones struggle against having their legs splayed. So do I.
Enough of the preamble.
I needed a tubular device that is relatively easy to work and that has enough weight to keep the bristles splayed. Wood, Plastic, Ceramic, Metal are no good.
Enter a glass jam jar or marmalade for those with good taste.
A jig to hold it in place steadily as it was revolved while turning was made of a piece of scrap plywood and a few pieces of short 2"x2" bits of lumber. It was cut and assembled in 15 minutes.
Picture a box with no top and only one end.
Placing the jar with the open end against the closed end of the box and revolving it with my left palm worked perfectly.
I held a Dremel Revolving tool with a ceramic/glass cutting disc in my right hand.
Cutting off the closed end and smoothing the  edge of the now bottomless jar took about 20 minutes.

That is it. Make my lather as usual. Splay the ends on the bottom of the scuttle or bowl and place the "Heat Retainer" into the jar to rest on the splayed bristles and you have your warm lather.
This first attempt was my prototype. The next and final one will be a little heavier glass. Perhaps a pickle jar. I will use this for a few weeks to see if there are any improvements that might be added.

[Image: IMGP8060_1.jpg]


[Image: IMGP8065.jpg]

Mickey

I knew I could count on you Mickey Oberman but I wasn't ready for this! Your lather warmer was already quite something and now you've improved it - I tip my hat to you and your ingenuity. Maybe you could do a series of jars of different sizes to accommodate brushes with different sized knots.

Thanks for your contribution to comfortable shaving,

Most of us have been doing whats called traditional wet shaving for a while, some for longer than others and I'm sure we've all figured out some little shortcuts or procedures that make things better or easier in some way - nowadays these things are called "hacks".  I thought it would be a good idea if DFS members were to post their own personal hacks here so that the rest of us can benefit from the collective wisdom and insight of the membership.  They don't have to be profound - sometimes the best things are just so simple that they plum evade us   I'll start.

Unlike the shaving demonstrators and soap reviewers on Youtube, I do not shave fully dressed.  I generally am just out of the shower and wear a towel wrapped around my waist.  For most of my life I'd keep the towel in place with a tuck of the end under the edge of the towel.  This necessitated constant readjustment to prevent the towel from falling off.  I thought that one of these commercial towel wraps would be the solution to the problem so I asked my family for one for Christmas a few years back.  The thing had a velcro closure and was made of micro-fibre.  I hated it, first the velcro tape has sharp corners that dig into the skin and second, if you work with your hands they get rough and I just hate the feeling of rough skin on micro-fiber - snags.  Hate it.  So I decided this route was not the solution.  Here's the hack, I picked up a couple of reasonably priced 100% cotton bath towels (not too big) and one of those bag clips (pictured below) and I wrap the towel and clip it on, rotate the clip to the side so that it doesn't dig in when I bend forward.  Problem solved.  I can use any towel I want and it stays in place and a package of 2 or 3 of those clips costs a couple of dollars.  

Or you could just buy this....and check out the sample monogram! No joke!

The jar I have used will accommodate any brush I have from the tiny Satin TipThe Purest to the very fat RazoRock Monster as well as the extra long brushes I made for my arthritis.

You know you must remove the jam or pickles before inserting your brush.
ummmm............. unless you have missed a meal.

Mickey

P.S.
Size is no problem.
If the brush handle sticks out of the open top of the jar that is good.
If it is shorter than the jar just lift up the jar to get the brush or to cover it.
M.O.

The jar I have used will accommodate any brush I have from the tiny Satin TipThe Purest to the very fat RazoRock Monster as well as the extra long brushes I made for my arthritis.

You know you must remove the jam  or pickles before inserting your brush.
ummmm............. unless you have missed a meal.

Mickey

Hey, a snack while shaving will allow you to spend more time in there, well, shaving!

Most of us have been doing whats called traditional wet shaving for a while, some for longer than others and I'm sure we've all figured out some little shortcuts or procedures that make things better or easier in some way - nowadays these things are called "hacks".  I thought it would be a good idea if DFS members were to post their own personal hacks here so that the rest of us can benefit from the collective wisdom and insight of the membership.  They don't have to be profound - sometimes the best things are just so simple that they plum evade us   I'll start.

Unlike the shaving demonstrators and soap reviewers on Youtube, I do not shave fully dressed.  I generally am just out of the shower and wear a towel wrapped around my waist.  For most of my life I'd keep the towel in place with a tuck of the end under the edge of the towel.  This necessitated constant readjustment to prevent the towel from falling off.  I thought that one of these commercial towel wraps would be the solution to the problem so I asked my family for one for Christmas a few years back.  The thing had a velcro closure and was made of micro-fibre.  I hated it, first the velcro tape has sharp corners that dig into the skin and second, if you work with your hands they get rough and I just hate the feeling of rough skin on micro-fiber - snags.  Hate it.  So I decided this route was not the solution.  Here's the hack, I picked up a couple of reasonably priced 100% cotton bath towels (not too big) and one of those bag clips (pictured below) and I wrap the towel and clip it on, rotate the clip to the side so that it doesn't dig in when I bend forward.  Problem solved.  I can use any towel I want and it stays in place and a package of 2 or 3 of those clips costs a couple of dollars.  

Or you could just buy this....and check out the sample monogram! No joke!

Jeff, thats awesome! What are the odds? I think we have to contact them and ask for a royalty!!

Has nobody ever heard of that clever Hawaiian invention called a sarong?

I am lucky.
Since I live alone now I need not bother with such stuffy formalities.

Mickey

Has nobody ever heard of that clever Hawaiian invention called a sarong?

I am lucky.
Since I live alone now I need not bother with such stuffy formalities.

Mickey

With the help of a chip clip, my lowly towel is an honorary sarong! Mahalo

Marko,

The stripping of that poor duck could have gone much faster if you had used one of the products
mentioned frequently in these pages.

A GEM FEATHERWEIGHT Razor.

As for polish. I have never used but have heard frequent mention of SPITNPOLISH.
Ir must be good. I hear the military uses gobs of it.

Mickey

Marko, Mickey Oberman, and wyze0ne, I have to thank you for this second page of a great thread.  Wonderful ideas with a lot of humor.  And, yes, Mickey, as you point out, there are advantages to living alone.