Water Temperature Theory

Forgive me for starting yet another thread regarding hot or cold water shaving.

It is just that I have noticed an angle that hasn't been mentioned yet and thought it was worthy to reflect upon.

All of us here have generalised (and theorised) on which temperature of water best. And we were all talking from a personal perspective.

Could it be that it all depends on our 'starting' temperature so to speak?

I mean, when I was living in Egypt I could only shave with cold water because hot water / after shower prep etc used to give me red spots all over. Now that I live in London, I can do with warm water without too much damage. And once I was in Boston in the winter and could use even hotter temperatures..

So what I am saying, is that it is NOT necessarily one temperature better than the other and neither is it that each person is different, but rather depends on our outside environment's variance with a human body's status quo.. if that makes any sense lol

I will give the above some thought and get back later:)

It might be a consideration if you don't live in a climate controlled house. Our temperate climate has temps ranging from +30C to -30C but my house stays in the +18 to +22 range year round. I use cold tap water year round but could use warm or hot water if I wished to.

Bob

Of course you also have to factor in your exact body temperature and your blood pressure and oxygen saturation.;)

uhmmmm............No.

I believe it's the same water, they heat it in Boston where it gives an excellent shave, pipe it over to London, lukewarm but still good.
How it ends up in Egypt I haven't figured out yet, might be gravity since Egypt is pretty much right under London.

IMHO....There may be another variable which needs to be considered, besides temperature,
which may affect skin condition: the quality/purity of the water.

When we lived in Tonga, all of our water was captured rainwater, stored in tanks. It was very
"soft" and not treated in any way. All of my shaving soaps and creams produced excellent
lather, and I had no skin irritation problems, regardless of temperature.

Here in California, we now have "city" water: drawn from a river, highly mineralized, heavily
chlorinated, and distributed through iron pipes. Now it's difficult to make a decent lather, using
the same products and brushes that I used in Tonga; and skin irritation is a problem, no matter
what water temperature I use. Same skin, same products, same brushes, same razors, same
temperature ranges, but entirely different results.

Its gotta be the water.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PaulKidd

IMHO....There may be another variable which needs to be considered, besides temperature,
which may affect skin condition: the quality/purity of the water.

When we lived in Tonga, all of our water was captured rainwater, stored in tanks. It was very
"soft" and not treated in any way. All of my shaving soaps and creams produced excellent
lather, and I had no skin irritation problems, regardless of temperature.

Here in California, we now have "city" water: drawn from a river, highly mineralized, heavily
chlorinated, and distributed through iron pipes. Now it's difficult to make a decent lather, using
the same products and brushes that I used in Tonga; and skin irritation is a problem, no matter
what water temperature I use. Same skin, same products, same brushes, same razors, same
temperature ranges, but entirely different results.

Its gotta be the water.

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Conclusion; life is easier in Tonga! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Conclusion; life is easier in Tonga! :)

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:) Yes and no, but that's another discussion altogether.

Our water is drawn from Lake Superior and is treated before distribution also. It is chlorinated and treated with God knows what else before being distributed through pipes of various materials possibly even lead in rare cases. The water is soft water for all that. It lathers all shave soaps and creams well.

The biggest problem in in making a good lather is still water hardness. Skin irritation might have something to do with other chemicals also in the local water.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I believe it's the same water, they heat it in Boston where it gives an excellent shave, pipe it over to London, lukewarm but still good.
How it ends up in Egypt I haven't figured out yet, might be gravity since Egypt is pretty much right under London.

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I told my Husky to stop digging those holes in the backyard before she digs clear through to the other side. I guess she made better progress than I thought.

So.. umm.. yeah.. it could be the water's characteristics i.e. soft/hard, mineralised etc that prescribes an optimal temperature combination. Would be interesting if we can start discerning something such as: with soft water, warm shaves are better and with hard better to have a cold shave..

I guess what I am thinking is try to deduce whether we are best served using hot or cold water depending on where we are rather than to just say every man is different etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ffarouki

And once I was in Boston in the winter and could use even hotter temperatures.

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I'm just north of Boston. I switched to cold water shaving this summer, after many years of hot water shaving. I've been getting better shaves with the cold water. The water here is slightly on the hard side.