When the canned goo was the hot new stuff, people realised that unlike brush and soap – which you could use with a scuttle – the hot new stuff soon got cold… and cold lather can make for a miserable shave.

However Mr Henry Allen Wilson came up with a cunning solution, built into the very can of goo that the multinationals were pushing, without the clumsy contraptions that previous patents had relied on

To overcome all such methods and means as set forth above or other means of adding moisture and heat to the lather as it is dispensed from a container for use, I propose by the means herein disclosed and described to produce in a confined area properly heated and moistened lather from the ordinary and usual aerosol can or bottle, adequate moisture laden lather without adding to the expense or complexity of the ordinary aerosol dispensing container or to the lather-producing liquid within the dispensing container.

Or, as I see it, he floated the cap in the sink one day and realised that if he could keep it from capsizing, any goo added to the cap would indeed be heated up. Since plastic is less dense than water, stability can be achieved by adding water ballast to the cup without sacrificing floatation. Squirt some goo on top and it will indeed be heated (and dampened, which may or may not be a good thing). Or as Mr Wilson states it:

By reference to the sectional view in FIG. 2 it will also be seen that the body of lather L rests on the surface of the hot water within the cup by which it is constantly moistened and heated during use. It will be obvious that the quantity of moisture may be varied as desired by merely adding the hot water from the cup as the shaver successively dips into the lather and water as he applies same to his beard in normal preshave fashion.

I suspect the downfall of the patent lays in the last cited sentence – most “modern” shavers will simply squirt goo in their hand or face and rub it around, not “dip into” the lather. And thus they’ll have to deal with cold lather year round… poor fellows.

Canned goo can be messy… as can brushless creams. But fear not, Mr P Solaini’s patented shaving cream applicator was invented to solve that problem – if a problem it is.

It is well known that when the spreading of lotions to the face or body requires the use of the hand the operation is both wasteful and extremely messy. Brushes have been used for this purpose, however they are not satisfactory in applying an even coating of the lotion or shaving cream to the face or body and, additionally, such brushes are extremely expensive.

So far Mr Solaini… my experience is that brushes are just the thing for applying an even layer, and there are a large number of great-but-inexpensive brushes available 50 years after the patent.

[B]rushes … do not readily adapt themselves to the wide variety of lotions and shaving creams now available to the consumer. … The gaseous bomb dispensed lotions, creams or shaving soaps are soft and require gentle application to the skin while the creams dispensed in jars or tubes are much thicker…

Okay, you got us there – a shaving brush is often not that great for the canned goo. So what is the solution?

…the present invention comprises various forms of a rubber or plastic material applicator which is fiat in conguration and either an integral handle member or an adjustable handle member cooperating with slot and gripping means on the applicator to provide different forces and angles of applying a spreading force from the hand to the spreading end of the applicator.

 Uhm… that is a spatula. I got several in my kitchen drawer but while it might be just the thing for not making a mess from the canned goo, I really don’t see how I can use it to whip up a good lather from a tube of shaving cream.

Are you too tired in the morning to remember to use both your razor and your toothbrush? Is travelling with two things too much, not to mention having to remember to bring both shaving cream and tooth paste? Worry not, even the terminally lazy can shave (and brush their teeth) with this wonderful 1987 invention by Mr Kyu H. Kwak!

A razor and toothbrush assembly comprises a body member having chambers disposed therein and handles slidably disposed thereon, the chambers containing shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers disposed therein whereby shaving cream and toothpaste disposed in the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers are dispensed from the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers by pressing the handles against the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers, respectively.

If that legalese from the patent was a little hard to understand, let me put it in simpler words:

A handle, with a razor head on one end and a tooth brush on the other. In said handle, room for two tubes of shave cream and tooth paste respectively. Internal passages that let you squeeze tooth paste into the tooth brush, and shave cream out of the razor head. And that’s about it.

To me it seems more like a novelty item, or possible something the airline gives you when they loose your luggage, but it might have a niche as a travel product for people who love to travel light. Not sure how good of a shave you would get by applying shave cream directly to the razor though.

Just make sure you don’t mix up the tubes… tooth paste probably gives lousy shaves, and shave cream is not tasty. Speaking of mixing things up, you better make sure you’re awake when using it as well; while I joke about taking the fur of my teeth from time to time, I’m fairly sure I don’t want to jab a razor in my mouth.

Following up on last weeks invention, today I found a similar concept utilizing an “aerosol actuated push button shaving cream dispenser” – better known as canned goo.

Or to quote the abstract:

A disposable combination razor and shaving cream dispenser having an aerosol actuated push button shaving cream dispenser and a non-removable cap having a razor blade at the upper end and a pushbutton adapted to engage the push button of the dispenser. In this manner, the dispenser body may be used as a handle when shaving and the cream may be dispensed without removing the cap from the dispenser as needed to be applied by the hand into which the cream is dispensed.