Thread: How I Prepare My Beard

I like a hot lather shave myself, once in awhile I break out all the fixin's and have a shave parade, pre-shave treatment, hot shower and towel, boiling water in the scuttle and some steaming hot lather, fantastic, but it take me an hour to go through that entire routine, so it's a once in awhile thing.

Cold water shave, from start to finish maybe 20 minutes tops.....

Gentlemen,

In Vietnam, I shaved with cold water out of a steel helmet, used Army-issue canned goo for cream and an Army-issue disposable plastic razor. OY! I promised myself that if I ever made it out of the war alive, I would never, EVER, shave with cold water again. I have not, and do not intend to. Some gentlemen swear by the cold water shave. To each his own. For me, as I noted in my original post, a hot shower followed by the proper preparation and plenty of hot water is the magic. After all, my Hollywood face deserves nothing but the best.

I tried the cold water shave. I found I need the hot towel over lather. If I don't do it, my beard is like a wire brush! Indeed hot towels were the norm for barber's use for a loooong time!
Oh! And it feels so nice!
As has been said, all of our skin and beards are different!

Originally Posted by ecormier

no, but it feels great, so I don't care about closeness of shave, I started this to spoil myself and my face!

A 'better' shave isn't always dependent on how close it is....

Yeah, I can't disagree with that. For my years of DE shaving, I felt the same way.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I tried the cold water shave. I found I need the hot towel over lather. If I don't do it, my beard is like a wire brush! Indeed hot towels were the norm for barber's use for a loooong time!
Oh! And it feels so nice!
As has been said, all of our skin and beards are different!

So you lather up your face, then place a hot damp towel on it for several minutes? Then what? Do you wipe the lather off and reapply? Or just go straight to shaving?

When you rinse your blade during shaving, do you rinse under running water? Hot or cold? Or do you just wipe the blade?

Originally Posted by Phrank

I tried cold water shaving after about three months in and have never looked back, it's the only way to fly for me. It's refreshing, and I find I get a much better shave and far less irritation.

Here's a link to a book from 1905 called, "Shaving Made Easy", that puts some context around it. Also, keep in mind that we take hot water for granted these days.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...made-easy.html

I was too lazy to go look at that book the first time you posted it. I just spent some time on it now, and I have to say it is quite solid. Very good information, presented in an easy to understand manner.

Can't bring myself to stick with the cold water shave, tried it and I can certainly see the benefits. It's just not as relaxing of an experience for me, I should give it more of a chance...
A hot towel brings my stress levels down and then I want to take a nap LOL

Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen,

In Vietnam, I shaved with cold water out of a steel helmet, used Army-issue canned goo for cream and an Army-issue disposable plastic razor. OY! I promised myself that if I ever made it out of the war alive, I would never, EVER, shave with cold water again. I have not, and do not intend to. Some gentlemen swear by the cold water shave. To each his own. For me, as I noted in my original post, a hot shower followed by the proper preparation and plenty of hot water is the magic. After all, my Hollywood face deserves nothing but the best.

I do not swear by cold water shaves only that it works for me. Everyone has to find out through a bit of experimentation what works/is magic for them. If I had someone else's face and previous experience the magic would quite likely take a different form.

Bob

Originally Posted by Smyth

So you lather up your face, then place a hot damp towel on it for several minutes? Then what? Do you wipe the lather off and reapply? Or just go straight to shaving?

I just apply some more lather and go to it!

Originally Posted by Smyth

When you rinse your blade during shaving, do you rinse under running water? Hot or cold? Or do you just wipe the blade?

Therin lies the bonus! I take my previously-used handtowel, squeeze out the water, fold it 4 times and lay it beside the sink. I strop the lather off the blade onto the towel as necessary. No running water, no faucet dings!