Thread: Wipe or rinse?

When you are SR shaving, what is your preference: wiping the lather off your blade on a towel or rinsing it under running water? Is one way better than another? If so, why?

I rinse during each pass. Between passes I also wipe the blade.

I used to always rinse under the tap, but in the past month or so I've switched to wiping with a paper towel. I keep it in my stretching hand, and so far so good. I've always kept my eye on the blade, whether on my face, or under the tap, so damaging the blade hasn't been a concern. I just decided to try wiping and prefer it. Of course I rinse the blade after the shave.

I rinse just the blade in running water and then wipe the excess water off on a towel to avoid having any water drip down to the forward pin of the scale where it will be tough to dry.

Is one way better than the other? One was is different than the other - the end result and goal is the same. Folks who wipe the blade on a towel instead of running water over the blade to rinse it are doing their best to avoid getting water on locations of the razor that are tough to dry. Wet steel stains or worse, rusts. There is less chance of water reaching these tough spots if you never run your blade under water from the faucet - hence the wiping. We use water to lather our soaps, so any way you look at it - there is water getting on the blade whether you wipe it or rinse it. There is simply less chance of water getting into tough to reach places if you wipe and don't rinse.

Like mainaman - I do both.

Adam

I rinse under the faucet when the razor gets filled with lather. However, I've been doing this a while. It's a little risky because a moment's inattention can result in hitting the faucet and damaging the blade, so wiping is actually a smarter way to go.

I've been wiping my SR's on a towel, tried a sponge and still prefer a towel.

I prefer to rinse. I also have a gooseneck faucet which makes it easier. Rinsing under a short faucet there is always a chance of nicking the blade on the faucet.

Rinse. Point down, spine raised. Doing it for years never had a mishap. Tried wiping. Just more washing to do

I use a damp sponge in a similarly shaped soap holder on the counter top to strop off the blade when it gets loaded with lather. I rinse the blade under the tap only when finished shaving and then dry it. The sponge gets rinsed in the shaving water, wrung out and left to dry for the next day. Just helps eliminate the number of times there is a possibility of dinging the blade on the tap and yes I have done that once before changing to using the sponge.

Whatever way works for you.

Bob

Rinse during a pass, then rinse and wipe on my palm inbetween passes. I'm pretty stubborn about making more things for me to launder as I have to pay per wash and dry load.