Thread: Pre-heat razor

If I were laying the blade flat on my face without any lather under it, I might consider warming it. The contact seems minimal otherwise, how could you determine the temperature of a teeny tiny apex that touches your skin?

Originally Posted by WW243

If I were laying the blade flat on my face without any lather under it, I might consider warming it. The contact seems minimal otherwise, how could you determine the temperature of a teeny tiny apex that touches your skin?

Maybe in colder cilmes it is more apparent bill. Living where I live cold isn't really that cold. The family had a fire the other night because it was getting down to 11 degrees.

Originally Posted by WW243

If I were laying the blade flat on my face without any lather under it, I might consider warming it. The contact seems minimal otherwise, how could you determine the temperature of a teeny tiny apex that touches your skin?

I tend to shave with a really low angle... 5 degrees, maybe? So I definitely feel more then just the cutting edge. If I dont dunk my blade, I can feel it's cold! Especially in the winter months (like now) when I am using a scuttle to get warm lather.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Maybe in colder cilmes it is more apparent bill. Living where I live cold isn't really that cold. The family had a fire the other night because it was getting down to 11 degrees.

That's 52 degrees to us Yanks! In some states, people would still be using their swimming pools at 52 degrees!

I guess that I don't see the point. Aside from the fact that getting the blade wet increases the likelihood of corrosion and dings, it seems to me that the heat is going to dissipate from that edge so quickly that it is not worth the bother.

For those reasons, the only blade heating that I do is stropping.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Maybe in colder cilmes it is more apparent bill. Living where I live cold isn't really that cold. The family had a fire the other night because it was getting down to 11 degrees.

I don't think you would notice even in a cold climate like ours. Homes have central heating and our temp is 72F/22C in the house during cold weather. Razors should be at the ambient air temperature.

Bob

I'v enever heated op my razor, besides from warm water from the faucet to rinse off the lather.
It might indeed be a climate-based issue, but in teh fairly moderate Netherlands I feel no need to heat my razor any more.

Ok let's think about this logically. Razors are metal, metal expands with heat and contracts with cold. So, microscopic chips would get bigger with warm water causing more skin damage (harshness) and running the blade under cold would tighten the chips or cracks.

That said you would want warm water on your face to soften the hairs, and make them expand, and when they dry, shrink. And a cold blade to reduce harshness. YMMV.

The more I think about it, it may just be a habit that carried over from DE shaving.

Yes it is habit , mine too, along with swishing around in the sink to clear the DE. But I finally just got me a high rise sink faucet for the shave den , I did stop the swishing though !!

Tc

It doesn't matter. The temperature of the razor, in the range we're talking about (tap water) has no effect on the razor's sharpness or cutting. Wet or dry don't matter either. You have lather on your face. A dry razor will get moist in contact with the lather. This actually is the kind of issue beginners over-think. Strop, lather, shave.