The use of hot and cold water, and the preparation of the beard, book excerpt, from an Household guide 1869.
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The use of hot and cold water, and the preparation of the beard, book excerpt, from an Household guide 1869.
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Interesting. I had not thought of warming the razor.
I've switched to cold water shaving about 100 shaves ago and don't see going back.
Cool/cold water face wash or a cold water "James Bond Finish" shower.
Lather and then a vigorous face massage with fingers/palms. Cold water rinse, pat dry and fresh lather and shave.
Warm/hot final rinse and then ice water towell for a bracing finish.
Brush soak and lather build using ice water.
Give it a week trial...
I would be hesitant to use my armpit. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Pyrateknight
I've been happily shaving with cold water and very little prep for a few years now. Since a member , Lucky Cynic, posted a thread on a book called "Shaving Made Easy.." You can find a link to the 1905 booklet (PDF) here .
In the summers months i keep a glass full of ice with water and dip the razor in it while shaving feels great and refreshing.
I will have to try this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
I've recently switched to cold water myself. I do love the sensation of the warm leather and rinses, but I'm getting far better results with cold water. I still use warm water to keep the blade warm as I really do not like the sensation of a cold blade on my face.
I can't think of going back to warm water in the short term...
Jimmy can you expand on your little prep and use of cold water?Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
Sure Martin. In that 1905 booklet the author recommends lathering (cold) and rubbing it into the beard vigorously. That is my total prep, and IIRC , is what the book recommends. I lather again and do a pass. Lather once more and a second pass. On rare occasions I may lather my neck a third time for a third pass on the neck only.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
The booklet also recommends doing WTG on each pass. He says ATG causes irritation. I've tried that but decided I like WTG followed by ATG and as long as I only do two passes, which is all I really need, I don't get irritation.
Most times I could actually get by with the one pass. Especially on the cheeks. The neck and chin would be acceptable but not BBS. I normally do the two just because I like lathering and shaving.
I enjoyed the hot water, vigorous face washing before lathering, along with the warm lather from the Moss scuttle, but I save so much time, and get such good shaves with the cold water method that I couldn't see myself going back to hot.
BTW, I'm coming up on 3 years of cold water shaving now.
I've just finished a shave where I washed and lathered (with some vigorous face-scrubbing) with cold water but making sure that the blade was kept hot—three passes on cheeks (WTG & XTG both ways) and two on the neck (WTG and a mash-up of ATG and XTG); followed by alum, wash (still with cold water) and then GFT Skin Food for good measure.
I appear to have a bit more razor burn on my neck than I'd normally expect but I'm not actually sure whether that's the cold water or just overzealousness with the razor. I was specifically focussing on maintaining nice light strokes, today, but I did keep revisiting certain neck-areas to get bits I wasn't happy with. And, in hindsight, I also trimmed the rest of my beard with clippers, beforehand, which could have added to irritation...
That seems to fade away pretty quickly, though, and the overall quality of the shave seems to be just as good as with hot water. I might go as far as to say that the act of shaving, itself, felt easier with cold water than with hot—the razor glides better and cuts hair more easily, and (as a face-latherer) I think I was able to build a better lather with cold water, too; but the end result is currently uncertain.
I think I'll try this again next time and see how it goes, probably with a different razor.
Here is my version!:D I agree with JimmyHAD that the hot water etc. can be enjoyably but time is required isn't worth it most times.
My sink takes time for the water to get warm in the morning. I turn it on slow and get the brush started with soap. Face lather while the faucet is still on slow. Set my brush aside. Strop my razor or whatever else is needed. If something unusual happens and i feel the lather is dry i will relather. Not often. By that time the water is hot and i rinse the blade to get it wet before starting and then do one pass rinsing a few times. I don't worry much about with or cross grain but more about how i can cover enough area. My cheeks are usually XTG on both passes and my neck is WTG the first and ATG on the second. I relather with the brush that has been sitting there cold and do the second pass. The warm water by that time cleans the soap from the blade much better and by the time I am done the blade is warm to help dry. Then I take my shower that is on the same water line and is hot as soon as i get in and ready to go.
My routine with the shower takes about 10 minutes on average. If I was in a BBS contest I might change a few things but it works great for my normal day!
I've noticed this as well. At least with a Williams puck. For me, the lather gets creamier and thicker more quickly with cold water than with hot. I'm still sorting out other variables, but this jumped out at me too.Quote:
Originally Posted by PigHog
I remember when I switched to cold water shaving a few years back, and have not once used hot or even warm water since. I myself am a bit of a nut about it tough,- I prep and finish with ice cubes. YMMV
Well my neck is really sensitive this morning. Rubbing against my collar is making it quite sore. I'm still not sure whether it's because of the water or my technique but it's not normally like this...
I've also recently dabbled with ice water recently and found it to be quite nice. The faucet here, even when ran at the full cold setting still comes out about lukewarm. To remedy that I simply load a huge beer mug with tap water and as much ice as it will hold and let it sit while I gather my gear. I then run a bit of tap water into the sink then dump in the ice and water from the beer mug. Pre-shave wash, lathering, rinsing and post shave was are all done in iced water with a follow up of witch hazel or some other aftershave.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC
Great Article!
I will definitely try this method on my next shave.
Try some Thayers unscented non alcohol witch hazel with aloe instead of the Alum.The witch hazel is great for razor burn and can be used liberally before and after shaving. Very skin friendly with no residue of any kind.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by PigHog
I love the part where it speaks of face lathering and its benefit over 'box' (bowl) lathering. It makes good sense...Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Since I use Proraso in the tub container,my mug has been relegated to a soaker bowl for my brush and I just face lather.Seems to work better actually and I also have hand massaged the soap into my face before which also seems to work well and it feels pretty good too .
That is interesting, I will give that a try when summer comes back around!Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
I definitely get BETTER shaves with the cold water but when time allows I really enjoy the feeling of hot lather on my face!
Well, I've tried the cold shaving for about a week now, and, I've gone cold on cold prep and shaving. It's just not working for me. Not enjoyable, not as comfortable of a shave and just "too dang cold". I'm back to hot!! Generally I'm for anything that will speed up the process, but unfortunately, for me, this ain't it. I know its working for a lot of you, I'm glad, and enjoy. But, for me, here's to cold shaving. :td
In the A.M., I'm back to hot & comfy!!! :D
Well you gave it a good try and it didnt work for you, that said i do enjoy warm lather but in thinking in the summer the cold shaving could be wonderfull i will definately try it for sure!Quote:
Originally Posted by SirStropalot
This?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightblade
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thayers®-Uns...7402590&sr=8-3
Yes! Exactly!Quote:
Originally Posted by PigHog
I think I'll give it a go!
Just completed my 4th consecutive cold water shave this morning. The routine was, no prep, fill sink with cold water, swirl the brush in the water and shake out, load the brush with soap, splash face with cold water and face lather then using a freshly stropped razor do a 3 pass shave. No problems getting a good lather from creams, soft soaps or sticks with both a boar and a 2 band badger brush. The razors used were various grinds. All shaves have been smooth, comfortable and close so far. My only conclusion is that it works for me and quite well too. It keeps things simple.
Bob
Yeah, I was hoping it would work for me, but as the article says some beards like hot and some cold. I rehoned the razor and tried everything I could think of, but my beards a little tough and after the cold prep it's really tough. First time I've ever really had any razor burn. Went back to the old prep with hot this morning and everything's good again. Fun trying something different though, and I love reading the old articles....Thanks for posting them!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Regards,
Howard :)
I used a mug for lathering when I first got my DE and badger brush but stopped as I found face lathering to be far more effective and quick!
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! :D
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? :)
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kefka
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? :D We have plenty of snow in Minnesota.
You're just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Fargo :PQuote:
Originally Posted by 32t
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by brooksie967
Two hops-skip-and-a-jump.Quote:
Originally Posted by brooksie967
Man, say you don't own a tree chipper! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by 32t
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.
