Shaving Mug

I came across this ceramic mug and wondered if it would work as a shaving mug? What makes a good mug?


Cheers
Montie

That should make a decent lathering bowl. I look for a wide mouth and some texture on the bottom is good, but not too much - sometimes the grooves that some potters put into the bottom of bowls are a little too abrasive and can damage your badger brushes although they will break in your boar brushes much faster. I don't want the sides of the bowl to be too high because I don't want to rattle the brush handle off the sides of the bowl - can damage the brush and/or the bowl and I don't like the sound either. I like the diameter of the bowl to fit into my hand comfortably, not too big and not too small and I like it to have some outer texture so it doesn't become slick. I hope it works for you.

That should make a decent lathering bowl. I look for a wide mouth and some texture on the bottom is good, but not too much - sometimes the groves that some potters put into the bottom of bowls are a little too abrasive and can damage your badger brushes although they will break in your boar brushes much faster. I don't want the sides of the bowl to be too high because I don't want to rattle the brush handle off the sides of the bowl - can damage the brush and/or the bowl and I don't like the sound either. I like the diameter of the bowl to fit into my hand comfortably, not too big and not too small and I like it to have some outer texture so it doesn't become slick. I hope it works for you.

Thanks. That's exactly the information I was looking for and it's under $10.


Cheers
Montie

Always nice to find and repurpose a bowl for shaving.

My Karve Shaving Bowl

Blue Mediterranean Shaving Bowl from
Israel made by Micheal Minkof

I came across this ceramic mug and wondered if it would work as a shaving mug? What makes a good mug?


Cheers
Montie

It depends on how you plan to use it. there are at least 7 ways to use a lather bowl.

1. Charge the brush from the tub/puck and add water gradually to the bowl and build the lather in it. Rinse it out completely after every shave.
   
2. Mash an entire soap puck into the bottom, add a bit of water, and build the lather in the bowl. After use, pry the remains of the puck out of the bowl and return it to original storage container. The depression in the bottom of that bowl looks like it would keep the puck from sliding and spinning around the bottom of the bowl, so that's a good feature.
   
3. Mash an entire soap puck into the bottom and leave it there forever until it's all used up. Just add enough water to make lather. Leave any unused lather in there or give it a light rinse after each use, but the puck stays. Again, that depression in the bottom is a good feature for anchoring the puck.
   
4. Squeeze a bit of cream into the bowl (or scrape some hard soap into it) and add just enough water to whip up lather with the brush. Use up all the soap/cream, and rinse it all out after each use.
   
5. If using a stick form or puck of soap, you can grind some of it into the bottom and/or sides to build up a thin layer, then work it with a wet brush into lather. Smooth shiny glazes or metals don't work as well for this, unless there are dimples.
   
6. My method is to have my bowl float in the sink full of hot water. The thin-walled stainless steel bowl allows the heat to pass in to the lather and keeps it warm. I can't use large brushes (because it capsizes) but I do get nice warm lather for longer than a modern scuttle would give me. I'm limited to bowls that can float with a brush in them.
   
7. If you face-lather and the brush won't stand up due to a rounded handle, just park the brush in the bowl while you're doing passes with the razor.
   

A thick-walled bowl would have more mass to hold heat and release it slowly, assuming you had pre-heated it.
If the bottom is not glazed (they often are not) you might want some kind of silicone rubber pad to proitect the sink or countertop from abrasion.
I would find the 5.5" diameter a bit too wide for my tastes, but if I used large or long-handled brushes (like a Rubberset 400), it might be okay.
I'm not so crazy about how the side curves in then flares out again.
The 3" height seems okay for that diameter, because I like them hemispherical, or nearly so. 

My SS bowl is 123 mm (4.84") wide, 60 mm (2.36") deep, and the flat bottom is about 50 mm wide. If I fill it to overflowing, it holds 560 ml.
(I have a spare, seen in this photo.)

Yes that’s what I got from Karve shaving very nice 
SS shaving bowl from India love it one of my favourites..

Yes I took time to polish it even more mine bring that disco bowl shave 

Alan H

Yes that’s what I got from Karve shaving very nice 
SS shaving bowl from India love it one of my favourites..

Yes I took time to polish it even more mine bring that disco bowl shave 

Alan H

Mine is the same as the ones from Karve (made in India) but I got mine (four of them, two to give away) from Atlantic SuperStore (a Loblaw chain) for something like $4 each.
I kept a spare to see if I could deepen the dents (more like facets, really) with a ball-peen hammer or a blunt punch from the outside. I have yet get around to that.
I may just ignore the existing dents and use a Fibonacci spiral pattern or some such.