Thread: Pre-Shave Prep help?

Well, where I stand is with decent shaving soap (I always prefer soap to cream) and some Taylor of Old Bond Street pucks in the mail, because my current Glycerin soap dries out too fast. My question is how to get a decent prep for my shave.

My standard process is that I do NOT shave straight out of a shower. I live on campus, so the mirror is usually foggy at that time, and it's just too loud for me to focus, so I always shave later in the day/early at night. Now, my usual prep is to splash very hot water on my face -hot as I can stand- and while doing this, let my brush sit for 3-5 minutes in a mug of hot water. After that I get my mug of soap lathered (I always keep the puck at the bottom of the cup, I get richer lathers that way) I keep the sink full of steaming hot water, and leave the mug, soap and brush of lather all in the steaming water, so it keeps hot. While doing this, I keep my face warm and wet (just by splashing/patting hot water onto my face) Next, I apply the lather, Let that sit on my face until it cools (while it is cooling, I strop my razor) and once the razor is stropped, I apply a second coat of warm lather, and start in.

My lather still dries out, and, while I don't get much tugging, it's still there. My question is, Would putting a damp, hot hand towel over my face help any, and are there any other tricks you guys can advise for a better shaving experience? Lastly, for those of you who use the hot towel method, how do you keep the towel on, and still do normal prep/stropping? Basically, what is your preferred prep routine.

Thanks for the help.
Jeremy

how long does it take for the lather to dry?

Your prep sounds quite similar to mine. I might have some nuances to yours, but you may do this and just didn't mention it.

I usually shave pretty close after a shower, but when I don't I soak my brush in hot water for about 5 minutes. I splash hot water on my face and lather up. After letting the lather sit for a few minutes, I actually rinse it off rather than lathering over the top of it. Leaving my face wet after rinsing, I lather again. When I finish a pass, I rinse my face, leave it wet and lather again for my next pass. When I say I leave my face wet after rinsing, I mean dripping wet.

I've been lathering with a brush and soap and using a DE for a while now. This is my typical routine. I am a newb to straight shaving. Since I don't have my technique down on the straight, I take a lot longer than I did with the DE and I do notice my lather dries out mid-pass. I don't worry about it. I just rinse and re-lather the areas that dried out before I got to them.

I used to use towels, but IMO, they were too much of a pain.

I hope this helps.

Put some of your glycerine soap on the mirror, and then buff it off with dry paper towels. Glycerine on the glass will prevent water vapor from sticking to it, and your mirror won't get foggy.

You'll have to re-apply the glycerine treatment every couple of weeks.

Another approach is a chamois-style sponge, like these, that will de-fog (and clean!) a mirror pronto. Available at auto parts stores. I use mine almost daily.

The prep you're doing sounds more than adequate, by the way. If anything, you may be letting the lather sit too long. One thing to try might be to *not* build the lather completely to perfection in the mug - leaving it a little on the watery side - and finish it on your face instead, shaving afterwards without any waiting.

In other words, washing well first and then face-lathering for at least a minute or two is enough time for hydration and whatnot of the whiskers (in my experience).

Originally Posted by gugi

how long does it take for the lather to dry?

I'd err on the side of 20 minutes, but It may well be more -although, certainly not less-

I shower at night and shave in the morning, so I always have to do a full prep before shaving. The process I use has worked for me for many years. I start out by letting the water run until it's at its hottest, then I plug the sink and let it start filling. While it's filling, I have my brush sitting in the sink and I soak my beard area with a washcloth kept hot by dipping it in the sink full of hot water. It takes about 1 and one-half minute for the sink to fill. Next, I put a half-dozen dabs of shaving cream on my face, then I work up my soap lather in my shaving mug using the hot brush and water. I then finish building the lather on my face, working the cream into the soap. The result is a very rich, creamy lather. I let the lather soak while I strop my razor, after which I reapply the lather and start shaving. During the shave, I periodically refresh the lather by dipping my lather-loaded brush in the hot water in the sink -- but I just barely touch the brush to the water because I don't want to wash the lather out, I want to get just enough water to keep the lather on my face the consistency I want it. As I said, this approach has worked well for me for many years, so you might want to give it a try.

p.s. My shaves routinely take about 30 minutes from the time I walk into the bathroom until the time I walk out.

That sounds like a good method, sans the shaving cream -not saying the shaving cream is a bad part, just a part I don't include-

So you're saying that you use the time when the sink is filling and your brush is soaking to do the towel treatment, then let the lather soak while you strop... I used the towel while I stropped, while my brush was soaking... I like your way, breaking it into two steps...

I'll try that with my next shave. Thanks a lot