Thread: Cold water shave

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I wouldn't even think of shaving with hot water anymore. The cold is so nice and very effective in the results IME.

What JimmyHAD said!

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

I think you should try running YOUR razor under cold water and see if you feel a difference,if you do than no matter how small your measurement is..it works,thats all Im saying,however YMMV,and I assume it will.

I cold shave every time I shave, and switched permanently because it is easier on my skin, and I get a better shave. I don't chill my blade any more than it gets cooled when rinsing lather off, and I don't think it would do anything to make the razor shave any better. In respect to why it works, I think the specific effect you are looking for is called by the name placebo Really though, if it works, it works; shaving is more of an art than a science(unfortunately...), in my opinion.

Ok, I decided to compromise and take a leaf out of both hot and cold books last night.

I applied the hot towel for a little while on my dial and mixed up and applied some warm lather but I decided to take the cool blade phenomenon to the extreme and had it soaking in a plastic jug of ice cold water with a large amount of ice cubes floating around in it.

During my shave I rinsed off the blade by stirring it around in the icy water but still applied the warm lather to my skin.

To tell you the truth I loved the icy cold blade on my face more than I did the warm lather and it was a great feeling to have the icy blade slice through the warm lather and touching my skin in the process.

My shave (being a beginner) was not any better or worse and I was still left with a fair amount of stubble so at this stage all I can add to the topic is I love the feeling of an icy cold blade against a warm lathered face.

Hopefully when I become more proficient at straight shaving I can make more of a comparison.

Just went cold for the first time: no shower first, just brushing on the Taylor, waiting a few minutes and then shaving. No hot water, no heated blade.

I'll be darned. It works! Easy, quick, smooth, less messy than my old time-consuming ritual. Very cool! I keeping learning. You guys are great!

Originally Posted by pcg

I'll be darned. It works! Easy, quick, smooth, less messy than my old time-consuming ritual. Very cool! I keeping learning. You guys are great!

This is what I feel too. I used to stand in the shower for a few minutes with my face under the cranked up hot water. I had even tried using conditioner before I got out of the shower. Sure, this only added another 5 minutes, but when you wake up only an hour before the start of the work day, shower, shave, and drive 20 miles, those prep minutes add up. Now I can shave whenever I want. Often I will shave right before bed and live with a small amount of stubble in the morning (although my wife loves my face smooth at night). I would say the total shaving time has gone from 10-13 minutes down to 5-7.

I must add that the cold water shave has another benefit so I hope in time I can perfect this method, it’s not the lesser time element that I am referring to but my electricity bill would be reduced significantly.

When I am performing this hot water shave preparation and then hot lather production through the course of my long winded beginners shave I must use gallons of hot water and I am dreading my first straight razor shave electricity bill due in a week or so.

So if I can perfect this cold water shaving method and it proves better in all respects of course I will adopt it and therefore surrendering a little hot water luxury in winter.

Shaved a second time this morning completely cold. I simply can't see a downside. As a noted yesterday, easy, quick, smooth, less messy. Washed off at the end with cold water. It's invigorating and the shave itself seems absolutely as fine as anything I've had following the lengthy hot-water rituals.

I was extremely skeptical about cold water shaving, but I tried it today. I did zero prep, lathered up quickly with cold water, shaved quickly, and the shave I got was exactly what I was getting with extended hot water prep. I was really surprised.

I find that if i use a half decent soap or cream and just work the lather in for a minute or so, I get a good shave, hot or cold water. I have been quite surprised to see that people use hot towels, oil, conditioner etc. But everyone is different, whatever works is good.

There's no way I could give up my hot lather shaving scuttle.