Thread: In Hot Water

Originally Posted by Rhinelander

a clean, wet towel out of the microwave is my weapon of choice. One minute or so on the face is just enough for me to soften those stubbles without making the epidermis too vulnerable for abrasions.

Yes exactly Rhinelander, I have yet to experience the hot towel method but my understanding is that it is very pleasant and works well. Probably better than sticking wet face into microwave.
There are some really cool facial wrap towels available at "West Coast Shaving" that somehow got on my wish list.
Ralph

Originally Posted by BDRebel

Just to be an a$$, it dropped al the way to the 70's here last night
Even so, I love the hot shave in the morning.

We are probably neighbors and I didn't know. Very chilly 75 degrees F (23 C) in Corpus Christi this morning.

Straight west on 59 (Laredo).
Getting a "cold" front tomorrow -- supposed to drop to the 40s.

Originally Posted by Raol

Yes exactly Rhinelander, I have yet to experience the hot towel method but my understanding is that it is very pleasant and works well.

When I started out with wet shaving I used to do the whole shebang – extensive showering, face washing and soaking, hot water splashing, pre-shaving and what not. Had terrible razor burn almost every time, even after the smoothest shaves with the sharpest blades. When I went to a Turkish Barber one day he just placed a hot towel on my face for a couple of seconds, lathered it up real quick and started to shave immediately with a straight razor. I was about to jump out of that chair, since this just had to end in a disaster.

I'm glad I didn't. It was one of the best shaves ever - no bumps, no nicks, no razor burn at all. We started to talk about my shaving problems and he told me that I was actually overdoing it with my extensive pre shave routine. The outer layer of my skin got so soft that it was simply scraped off during the subsequent shave. From then on I started shaving before showering using his method - couple of splashes and rubs with warm water, hot towel, lather and shave. Works perfect - and the hot towel on your face feels fantastic. If the lather is right and the blade is sharp, any pre shave oil or cream on top of that just makes the whole thing greasy and messy.

As for the hot towel: I soak it, fold it, put it on a plate, maybe put a second plate or a lid on top of it to keep the heat in there while I lather up, heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds or so - that's it. The WCS ones look nice, but if it's not for the style, any fleecy cotton hand towels or big wash clothes will do just fine.

Originally Posted by Raol

minus 20 celcius here in Cowtown plus wind chill.
Think i'll stick my wet face in the microwave.

Use a towel. Easier on the face. But I seem to remember opening the doors to our wood stove after a shave 'in the early months' to let the infra-red heat cook my face to halt any razor burn. Worked like a champ though.

It is certainly possible to over-do the hot water prep. A few years ago I used to hot water rinse after every pass but I eventually found that this was irritating my face. I stopped the in-between pass rinsing and it solved the problem. Not only that, but I found it was watering down my lather during the subsequent passes as well. Haven't looked back since

I picked up an SRD scuttle last year. I love the warm lather. Best part of shaving now.