Thread: Just say NO to pre shave prep.

Originally Posted by BobH

Come on now, man up. Your winters are like our summers.

Bob

Good one, I saw what you did there...just like their lather goes down the sink the other way around.

I have tried hot towels, showers, pre-shave oil, and no prep at all. Showers or towels make my shave. Without some beard softening, my razor, no matter how well prepared, leaves my skin irritated.

If it works for you, great. Me, I am sticking to my relaxing hot towels every morning. After all, we are attempting to enjoy what we once endured.

Great read on that 1905 tome.
I too tried preshave oils and softeners in the early days of this wet shaving experience.
All I found was a messier sink and slippy fingers. No improvement to shave or skin post shave feel.
I do like my skuttle, but that's more because, like 10pups, I am a warm water lovin gent.
Cold water pre or post shave affects how quickly I wake up, but not my shave.
Best preshave routine I have found is still the hot water soaked facecloth over an initial pass of lather on a face freshly washed with musgo real soap. Followed by a good puck, or cream soap, warmed in the skuttle.
Skuttle and washcloth being the luxury components. The musgo soap, and whatever trace cleaners they use is the real deal starter for me. Wifey bought me the first one as a gift and I find it adds just the right lubricity, without softness to my routine.
Cheers.

Also got the book. It also recommends no atg pass if I remember right. Think for against the grain it probably is of benefit to soften the hair a little so it doesn't drag the razor too close. Just my thoughts on it.

Originally Posted by Frederickdav

I am a Newbie even though I am 63 years old. When I decided to start this self torture, I went to Amazon and bought a book titled The Art of Shaving or Shaving Made Easy- What the Nam Who Shaves Ought To Know. This book was first published in 1905 by an unknown author. For an 80 page book it is pretty much loaded with information. In the chapter on Soap the author explains thusly "The popular impression is that the soap is used for the purpose of softening the beard, in which condition it is supposed to be most easily cut. This is a mistake. The soap is used,not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect-namely to make the hair stiff and brittle ,so the they will present of firm and resisting surface to the razor." Italics his. He goes on to explain that if the beard is oily and or soft the blade will slip over the hair or cut into it lengthwise all the while pulling and making for a miserable shave. The author even suggests avoiding the use of hot water for the same reason. According to the book a good shaving soap has alkali, potash or soda which when applied to the beard in the form of lather unites with the hair oil removing it and leaving the hair stiff and brittle. Like I said, I am a new comer at this so I haven't done a lot of trial an error. What this author says seems to make sense.

Welcome to SRP. Great little book. I've been practicing what the author preaches for 5 years. That book was the source of this thread here ;

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...orst-ever.html

I've yet to experience a noticeable difference when changing my prep although that's mostly for DEs. The real difference comes in how well my lather is so I try and focus on that aspect although now switching over to straights I'll pay closer attention and see if it's the same as DEs.

What you all don't realize is that book contains material stolen from a guy locked away in an insane asylum ever since he was arrested for murder. They called him the Bay Slasher as he used an oversized W&B to slit the throats of his victims. He'd break into their homes and tie them up and apply liberal amounts of shave soap to their throats before doing them in.

He actually had a huge beard and never shaved in his life period.

Writing that book was his therapy. it was a work of fiction.

I've never had a hairdresser put oil in my hair to make it easy to cut but plenty have washed it pre cutting.

I believe pre shave oils are about the skin, not the stubble.

A cold water shave did nothing for me. I managed to get an ok shave, but nothing else. I'd rather use hot water. Works better for me. Not saying some could benefit from cold water shaves. I'm just not one of them.

I agree with Omni, preshaves help the skin stay soft and pliable during the shave. They can also provide slickness and a little more protection for those that need it.

Hot water for me. The thought of cold water puts me off shaving completely. That might be different if I lived in a hot climate, then I can see how the cold water could be very refreshing. Anyway, I live in cold and wet Wales, so hot water it is! I had to use cold water quite often when I was in the Army and out on exercise, and I remember how much I hated it.