Do you use a scuttle?

lepto · Mar 10, 2012

Do you use a scuttle when shaving? If so, what brand and how well do you like it? I received a new extra-large shaving scuttle from Ansgar Tolksdor at Schwarzweisskeramik a couple of weeks ago and all I can say is "Wow!" I just thought my old flower pot scuttle did a good job until I used the real thing. I can easily get three passes of hot lather with my straight which was an impossibility with my old flower pot. The bowl is large enough to whip up a good lather and the mouth is designed so that you can easily wet your brush as you're making your lather. Ansgar was very responsive when I contacted him about the scuttle and the shipping was fast. I received my scuttle here in Arkansas 7 days after placing my order. The scuttle is a little on the expensive side, however, provided I can keep cats and kids from breaking it I should be able to use it for the rest of my days. If you don't have something like this you owe it to yourself!

This morning's shave:

Will Power · Mar 10, 2012

Er, I've often wondered just how you go about using a scuttle.....

THG · Mar 10, 2012

willgoy said:
Er, I've often wondered just how you go about using a scuttle.....

I don't understand how it's used, either.

Magnaminous_G · Mar 10, 2012

You bet I use a scuttle. Mine is the "1.5 scuttle" by Julie Moore at Dirty Bird Pottery in Virginia. It is absolutely wonderful, solid, and made by someone who has a genuine passion for her craft. The pics are below. The way it works is you fill the reservoir with warm or hot water, depending on your preference (personally, I use warm water), then you put your shaving brush in the bowl and fill it with water to let your brush soak for a few minutes. After your brush is soaked, you shake your brush out, dump the water from the bowl and the reservoir, and then refill the reservoir with warm water again. Then you lather away!

A scuttle keeps your brush and lather warm throughout your shave. I personally use a modified 2-pass shave, and my gear is a Merkur Futur with Astra green blades (Russian made), Vulfix 2234 brush, and TOBS cream (Lavender and now Avocado, too).

lepto · Mar 10, 2012

willgoy said:
Er, I've often wondered just how you go about using a scuttle.....

THG said:
I don't understand how it's used, either.

I couldn't explain their use any better than Magnaminous_G. I can say I wish I hadn't waited so long to spring for one. If you enjoy wet shaving a good scuttle will really improve your experience--at least it has for me.

lepto · Mar 10, 2012

Magnaminous_G said:
You bet I use a scuttle. Mine is the "1.5 scuttle" by Julie Moore at Dirty Bird Pottery in Virginia. It is absolutely wonderful, solid, and made by someone who has a genuine passion for her craft. The pics are below. The way it works is you fill the reservoir with warm or hot water, depending on your preference (personally, I use warm water), then you put your shaving brush in the bowl and fill it with water to let your brush soak for a few minutes. After your brush is soaked, you shake your brush out, dump the water from the bowl and the reservoir, and then refill the reservoir with warm water again. Then you lather away!

A scuttle keeps your brush and lather warm throughout your shave. I personally use a modified 2-pass shave, and my gear is a Merkur Futur with Astra green blades (Russian made), Vulfix 2234 brush, and TOBS cream (Lavender and now Avocado, too).

That's a beauty! This morning I used my Dovo 6/8, Omega 6559, Proraso Pre-shave, Tabac shaving soap and I topped it off with Pinaud Bay Rum. Can't beat the burn with the old Pinaud standby!

Magnaminous_G · Mar 11, 2012

lepto said:
That's a beauty! This morning I used my Dovo 6/8, Omega 6559, Proraso Pre-shave, Tabac shaving soap and I topped it off with Pinaud Bay Rum. Can't beat the burn with the old Pinaud standby!

I was thinking of trying one of the traditional after shaves, but I've never used after shave before, so I might just stick with my current routine: Thayer's original witch hazel, followed by Nivea for Men balm

lepto · Mar 11, 2012

Magnaminous_G said:
I was thinking of trying one of the traditional after shaves, but I've never used after shave before, so I might just stick with my current routine: Thayer's original witch hazel, followed by Nivea for Men balm

I quite understand. I use Thayer's myself on occasion although I've not yet tried the Nivea. I'm an aftershave/balm/cologne/cream/soap hound, however, and I'm compelled to try new stuff all of the time--especially cheap new stuff! Hell, I've even concocted my own bay rum which is pretty durned good in it's own right (according to me) and I've tried my hand at mixing an aftershave/cologne or two. Doing that has given me a whole new perspective on how difficult it must be to make any commercial fragrance--even the cheap smelling ones. I'm scheming on making my own shaving soap/cream as I have a recipe for both but I haven't pulled all of the ingredients together. If I'm as successful as I've been with my aftershaves, in the future, I suppose I'll be using lots of....Tabac and Proraso!