Everything I thought I knew was wrong! Cold water.
Well, it's not quite as bad as all that. I forget the exact user, but in a thread about cold water shaving, someone made a comment last week about their personal reasons for using cold water over hot. They said that hot water was actually burning their skin, increasing razor burn and irritation.
Now, I've always had a problem with irritation. My skin doesn't get red, it's just uncomfortable for most of the morning. I can feel the skin is a little raw after every shave, be it with cartridge or straight, and regardless of my level of prep.
I've recently been using steaming hot towel treatments as a pre-shave and very hot water during the shave to help soften and loosen up my beard prior to shaving. I had never given thought that that could be a cause of the irritation, but this user's post made me get to thinking about. So, yesterday, I took a nice luke-warm shower, soaked my beard, and then did my normal shaving routine using cold water from the tap rather than steaming hot. The difference was amazing. On three days growth, I got an incredibly comfortable and close shave. I was shocked at the difference. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, I gave it another go this morning. Just a little bit of irritation, and I did nick myself, but nothing serious, and still very comfortable post shave.
I don't think cold water shaving is going to be my only approach, but I am definitely losing the scalding hot stuff directly to the face. I am officially a believer in the benefits of cold water shaves!