Blade Heat

[LarryAndro]

Ran into a reference to John Verhoeven's experiments on blade sharpness on another thread... Experiments on Knife Sharpening - John Verhoeven. An absolutely wonderful read!

What is common wisdom, and also have there been any similar studies about the effect of the heat of the shaving blade on the quality of the shave?

As an aside...

There are heating elements that are used to keep a cup of soup or coffee warm. Yesterday, I clipped the element to the side of a coffee mug, filled it with water, and while shaving (carefully) dipped my razor in the hot water. The warmer than usual blade was quite pleasant to shave with. Got me thinking about the above question.

[gssixgun]

Although I don't quite go to the trouble that you did, Yes I do warm the blade before each pass....
We have no little feet running around our house so honestly I have the hot water cranked to the max!!!! I always dunk the razor and let the blade warm up before I shave and repeatedly dunk it during my shave... I am all about the comfort of the shave....

[Lynn]

I also keep the hot water runner during the shave and rinse and wipe after every full stroke or area. Never even thought of it as a comfort factor. Veeeeeery Interesting.............

Thanks!!

Lynn

[JimmyHAD]

I definitely believe that running hot water over the blade before the first pass and to rinse between passes helps give the shaver an edge. (pun intended) Here is an old thread with a poll on the topic.

[LarryAndro]

JimmyHAD, thanks for the link to the poll. It seems like most of "just rinse" without thinking much about it.