Thread: Just say NO to pre shave prep.

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.

Personal opinion...you may have the right of it for some folks.
~Richard

My prep is simple. Hot brush, hot water, wet face , lather , shave. I would use cold water but I am one of those that take 15 minutes to get into a pool :<0) I hate the shock of cold water.

There are many opinions about how to shave. The trick is to find one way that works for you by experimenting.

Me, I started shaving well over 40 years ago using hot water, a brush (probably a boar), some cream and just splashing my face, face lather and shave. There was no prep involved.

Back a few years ago when I wanted to learn to shave with a straight razor I tried pre shaves and they did nothing for me. I tried using a scuttle to make warm lather and that did nothing for me. I did try cold water shaving and that seemed to help. Short story long, I am back to where I started except I now use cold water. Splash, lather and shave works for me.

That does not mean it will work for everyone. That is the funny thing about being individuals.

Bob

Barbers were throwing hot towels upon their customer's faces long before you were born, Frederick Lad.
It works, plain and simple. Esp over lather!

Well this is one of the areas where we all have our own skin, whiskers and theories. There is an expression you see often here, your mileage may vary. Some are minimalist shaver, some cold water shavers, some run the whole gambit with tons of prep and hot lather, tons of towels. We all claim to get great shaves and we are all doing it right.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Well this is one of the areas where we all have our own skin, whiskers and theories. There is an expression you see often here, your mileage may vary. Some are minimalist shaver, some cold water shavers, some run the whole gambit with tons of prep and hot lather, tons of towels. We all claim to get great shaves and we are all doing it right.

Yeah! Especially ME with the hot-towel-over-lather prep!

I'm with you Bob haven't had a hot shave this year since December (6 months) but winters coming & it may change again LOL

That's a great little book, many, if not most, have read it here.

Personally, for me, what the book says is pretty much my routine, but the great thing about this hobby is that you can change things up as you feel like.

That little gem was posted here on SRP February 2010 (it's free!), if not earlier, and with most things, it's a YMMV case:

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

Welcome to the forum!

Originally Posted by Substance

I'm with you Bob haven't had a hot shave this year since December (6 months) but winters coming & it may change again LOL

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

Bob