Thread: Cold water shaving...

Is there a trick to cold shaving. I take hot water showers, even gave it about 15 minutes before shaving. Did the cold water lather, and had some of the worst razor burn.
Not sure if I did something wrong, I use a sensitive cream to shave with, and today I shaved hot water, razor is still fine as frog hairs, so I don't know what I did wrong. Not sure if I want to try it again lol.

Originally Posted by Sirtexan

Is there a trick to cold shaving. I take hot water showers, even gave it about 15 minutes before shaving. Did the cold water lather, and had some of the worst razor burn.
Not sure if I did something wrong, I use a sensitive cream to shave with, and today I shaved hot water, razor is still fine as frog hairs, so I don't know what I did wrong. Not sure if I want to try it again lol.

I don't think there is a trick, but I don't know that it suits everyone, maybe try some different products. I don't use any pre shave, or even double lather anymore, but I also only do one or maybe two passes.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I don't think there is a trick, but I don't know that it suits everyone, maybe try some different products. I don't use any pre shave, or even double lather anymore, but I also only do one or maybe two passes.

I think Ed has a point there in that it may not suit everyone. Peoples skins are different and respond differently to the same things. Personally, I do no prep, no double lather too but 4 passes with little to no irritation, that is unless my technique is off or I really fudged the edge up honing. The 4th pass is in lieu of touch ups. For me it is just as easy to lather up and do a quick light XTG pass as fiddle around touching up here and there. You just have to find out what works for you and what does not by elimination.

Bob

+1 to BobH and Ed

I've been trying to shave every day this week, no point yesterday, just nothing there.

But I've found if I shave more frequently, I just splash the cold water, no prep, and 1.5 passes.

With shaving more frequently, I just do one WTG pass, and one mini-pass ATG under my jaw line and end up with a DFS.

Today will be the same, only trying Ed's idea of leaving my Proraso Red soap in the fridge over night....but yes, the cold shave isn't for everyone, but for me, it's a superior shave.

So last night I went home and tried a cold water shave. Didn't really do any prep (ie shower etc). Just filled the sink with cold tap water, rubbed my face down with the cold water, lathered up with my DR Harris Arlington soap, and hit it. It went surprisingly well. I didn't notice anything really much difference except maybe the tiniest bit more effort on the razor to start but really that may have been in my head. The shaving soap seemed to dry quite quickly compared to when I am shaving out of the shower but again that didn't seem to pose a problem. If anything I found it easier to get BBS smooth on those hairs that grow in a weird swirl on both sides of the adams apple...

I didn't really notice much of a difference in the hours after in that my skin was still quite comfortable and not irritated, although I never had any problem before while shaving with hot water. All in all, I think I will try this for a bit and see how it goes long term!

Originally Posted by Sirtexan

Is there a trick to cold shaving.
......

Perhaps... the most important goal for me is to scrub my whiskers clean
so water can penetrate and soften them. For me in the gummy days
of summer this means a boar brush and face lather. I often let a second
lather rest on my face long enough that I need to freshen it to shave. It is
possible that the razor scratched

We all have different skin and tap water but for me Kirks soap in the shower
to wash my face goes a long way. I can get the same result with multiple
passes and face lathering with a quality old school hard soap.

I do have some of the emollient rich skin care body wash stuff in the shower
and have been known to take a quick warm shower after shaving and use
that fu-fu stuff when I have not had my regular bacon/ other rich food resulting
in dry skin lifestyle.

The one thing I like to avoid is an over soak. As any swimmer or bath taker
knows the skin will take up water and get thick and wrinkled (pruned fingers)
with too much soak time. The thickening makes it hard to get a close shave
and it also results in skin that a razor can get into giving ya a rash. So quick
but clean is key for me.

All of us are different so "the trick" is to find what works. Try things......

My skin seems to react badly to water that is too hot. So I try to keep my shower luke warm at its hottest, and I always shave cold. I'll have to try putting my soap in the fridge. For me, a nice cold shave feels great, and doesn't produce any irritation.

I hestitate to revive an old thread, but yesterday was hot here, and I couldn't stand the thought of hot towels, etc for my shave. So I use cold tap water, used a Cella soap and Semogue boar brush and went at it cold, after washing my face first with warm water. I got a DFS with no drag or pull, and some of my usual "problem areas" like my chin and neck went much better. All in all a good shave. I'm going to try it again.