Thread: Cold Water Shaving

Just a newbie. Could not get a good lather with cold water. Just more pratice need?

I would say yes , more practice. I haven't noticed any difference in temps on any lather I've made. ,, keep working on the water ratio and the whipping. Tc

Originally Posted by artp47

Just a newbie. Could not get a good lather with cold water. Just more pratice need?

In a word yes. Water too hot may kill a lather but normal hot to cold as tap water will work. Shaving with cold tap water going on 2 years now, I think, and no problems making a lather.

What are you using, soap or cream, and how are you attempting to build a lather?

Bob

Proraso and Talor load brush in soap bowels then build lather in shave mug.
Will try again later tonight thanks for the quick response.

I prefer to keep my soap in bowls rather than bowels...but to each his own!

Some soaps lather more easily than others. I find Tabac and Cella to be very easy to lather. I can simply run my brush under tap water, shake it out to reduce water load, and lather right off the puck of Tabac and Cella in my mug. If you are not getting lather, wet the brush a bit more and work the bristles on the cake longer. I usually mix with my brush for about 30 seconds to a minute to raise good lather.

Both hot tap water and cold tap water work OK for me. However, when I use hot water in my scuttle, the lather dries and thickens more rapidly in the bowl and needs to be rehydrated by dipping my brush tip in water and remixing the lather more often. I rehydrate in my bowl and reapply lather to my face as often as I need to keep the hairs on my face moist. I find that when lather residue starts sticking to my SR near the edge while its being rinsed under the faucet with hot tap water, the lather is getting too thick for best shaving results and needs rehydration. Lather of the right consistency for me rinses off the SR blade 100% and very easily. Extra time spent rinsing to get all the visible residue off the blade near the bevel means the lather on my face is getting too thick for my best shaving and needs to be thinned by reapplication of a thinner lather from my bowl. I sometimes simply dip my brush tip in water and remix on my face to thin out the lather.

Some report difficulty lathering when using water with a high mineral content (hard water). My water comes from a lake and is not very hard compared to some artesian well water. It is possible to test the impact of ones tap water on lathering by buying a gallon of distilled or deionized water from the super market and using that water to soak ones brush and mix lather. The water without minerals should lather very easily. If it does not, the answer is probably in ones technique or the soap being used.

HTH

Worked out much better this time around

Fmfao bowel bowls

Originally Posted by BobH

In a word yes. Water too hot may kill a lather but normal hot to cold as tap water will work. Shaving with cold tap water going on 2 years now, I think, and no problems making a lather.

What are you using, soap or cream, and how are you attempting to build a lather?

Bob

I came back to "Wet Shaving" Oh I would say a little more than 18 months ago. I have been Wet Shaving off and on all of my life except when I did give a Damn how I looked or what people thought of me. Then when I got an on the job injury and of course they sent me to a Rehabilitation, new job training you name. I had to buy a suit and a Tie. (the last time I wore a tie was when I got Married). Any way I went a grew a beard (I also went to my doctor and got a written excuse not to shave,because of psoriasis) .

I started shaving again, but used a "Wet & Dry" Panasonic Cordless Electric. Then I decide to start using a DE/SS Razor I had in my Bathroom Cabinet. I have found that if I use Hot Water it seems to make the lather very runny. If I use lukewarm water just about the same effect. When I use "Cold Water" and I mean Cold Water I get a very Excellent DFS/BBS Shave. I find that my WD Brush seems to lather the best. I have several brushes that are in my rotation, but my WD Silver Tip seems to give the most consistent results be I shave Hot or Cold. But I always get a greta shave using cold water.

Trying out different ideas is great, but keep doing what works best for you.

From this forum, I started cold water shaving in January of this year, and have not gone back even once. After spending time and money trying out all the pre-shave recommendations, and prepping my beard with a warm shower, washing it, pre-shave oil, glycerin, etc., I now do this: I stumble out of bed, splash cold water on my face (no washing), face lather (currently with cella soap), and shave. Two passes (WTG, ATG). Then I take my shower. After my shower I will splash my face with either Witch Hazel or Clubman Aftershave. That's it. No irritation, just as fine a shave. The routine is much, much easier and faster.