Thread: The use of hot and cold water, and the preparation of the beard, book excerpt 1869.

I did a fun little experiment this evening.

I went outside and got a big plastic cup of snow. After stropping I put the blade into the snow. The cup was heavy enough and the snow thick enough it didn't tip over. I waited a few extra minutes and then did a cold water lather. As I shaved I dipped the blade in the cup with the spine out. It didn't clean the blade as good as rinsing but worked fine. I then left the blade in the snow and did a hot water lather prep for the next 2 passes.

I got a good shave but wasn't worried about that. I was more interested about how it felt. With the cold blade I could feel a difference but slight. It wasn't until the warm prep that the chilled edge showed. The contrast was interesting and in my opinion worth a try.

But I am not going to run out and get a cup of snow before my normal morning routine!

An interesting combination to be sure! Was the pass with the cold blade and the hot lather more difficult or easier than the first? I have just had my nice and HOT shower and shave and I love it! I cant imagine doing the whole cold lather thing but I reckon I will have to give it a try one of these days, most likely without snow as we dont get much of it in Ireland

I would THINK that shaving with a cold razor, for me, would be better since I typically hone with cold tap water... If I were to go to hot tap water, would it not change the dynamics of the cutting edge? Maybe I should try honing with hot water and shaving with hot etc etc to see if i notice a difference? OR one of you could?

Originally Posted by Kefka

An interesting combination to be sure! Was the pass with the cold blade and the hot lather more difficult or easier than the first? I have just had my nice and HOT shower and shave and I love it! I cant imagine doing the whole cold lather thing but I reckon I will have to give it a try one of these days, most likely without snow as we dont get much of it in Ireland

I didn't notice any difference in the difficulty but I was concentrating more on the sensation of the chilled blade. I was wondering if enough was touching my skin to even be felt. I had already shave in the morning so this wasn't a test of shave ability.

If you like hot showers and shaves I think that the cold blade would be interesting. You should be able to get ice water in Ireland? We have plenty of snow in Minnesota.

Originally Posted by 32t

I didn't notice any difference in the difficulty but I was concentrating more on the sensation of the chilled blade. I was wondering if enough was touching my skin to even be felt. I had already shave in the morning so this wasn't a test of shave ability.

If you like hot showers and shaves I think that the cold blade would be interesting. You should be able to get ice water in Ireland? We have plenty of snow in Minnesota.

You're just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Fargo :P

Originally Posted by brooksie967

I would THINK that shaving with a cold razor, for me, would be better since I typically hone with cold tap water... If I were to go to hot tap water, would it not change the dynamics of the cutting edge? Maybe I should try honing with hot water and shaving with hot etc etc to see if i notice a difference? OR one of you could?

I glanced around and see that the thermal expansion of steel is in the range of 0.000006 inches per inch for every one degree F. even with an 8/8 blade I don't think it would make much difference.

Originally Posted by brooksie967

You're just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Fargo :P

Two hops-skip-and-a-jump.

Originally Posted by 32t

Two hops-skip-and-a-jump.

Man, say you don't own a tree chipper!

Bob

After reading this the other day I was wanting to give it a shot, but the thought of cold water put me off.

This morning I went for the cold shave also rinsing the blade with cold. Definitely made sure I was awake before the shave and I don't feel the shave was as close as to using hot water. The main thing I found with hot was that I always got a bit irritation on the bottom of my neck but with the cold not a mark left behind. It might take some time to adapt to the cold but I'll certainly do it again. After all a less than perfect shave is worth it for an irritation free shave.

Chris

This goes against everything they teach us in shaving. I want to try. Rule breaking time.