What is a good temperature for a hot towel?

I know that this depends on the person, but I want to bring my wife a hot face towel when she's in the tub to help her relax, so I need a safe but hot temperature as a starting point that I can adjust from there on future dates. Is there an industry standard? I know she likes her bath water hotter than I like it. I'm thinking of bringing her 2 towels the first time at different temperatures, so she can start off with the one that's not too hot until the other one has cooled to just where she likes it, then taking a temperature of that. I know from looking online that commercial towel warmers for dry towels keep them at 176f, but water transfers heat far more efficiently than air, so this could potentially burn skin with a wet towel.

I have an insta-hot tap on my sink that heats water to 180f and and instant-read thermometer, so I'll use a mixture of insta-hot and tap water to get to the temperatures I want, and then soak the towels at different temperatures. But any tips for a couple of ranges to try would be most appreciated.

Maybe doing something like that makes me sound a little whipped, but with my wife home all day with 2 infants, I recently discovered that the doing little things for her, especially to help her relax, like warming her bath towel in the dryer, will eventually pay off very nicely.

By the way, I just found this site while researching hot towels for shaving. Now I want a straight razor. Man I love a good shave.

General rule of thumb I go by is, if it hurts my hands to wring them out they are to hot....

Spin them around in the air a few times to cool them down a bit and they usually come out perfect.....

Oh yeah if yer trying for good husband points, wait till you start real shaving, and make her real lather to use on her legs :)


Welcome to SRP

I keep thinking of an old 3 stooges movie where they are working in a barber shop and apply a hot towel with the steam just pouring out. 180 degrees is way too hot. I would think 160 is the limit and even that is about the temp you cook chicken at.

By the way your hands are very sensitive when it comes to temp. Much more than your face.

I would probably start with 140 and see how that is.

+ 1 one on that! :) I seldom use a hot towel myself, but if the towel is too hot for your hands, it's too hot for your face. I'd say the ideal temperature would be the limit of confort for your hands. the face is less sensitive to heat so, that way, you cannot miss! Good luck!

BTW... now that you made it here, why not stick around, get a razor and strop and join the club of the REAL shavers? ;) :p