Thread: About that coldwater shave...

The secret to cold water shaving is not to skimp on the prep. When you use hot water your beard hydrates faster. When you're cold water shaving, you either need to let your beard soak longer, or prep with hot water and shave with cold.

Originally Posted by puketui41

The secret to cold water shaving is not to skimp on the prep. When you use hot water your beard hydrates faster. When you're cold water shaving, you either need to let your beard soak longer, or prep with hot water and shave with cold.

I don't know, I just splash my face with cold water and immediately start to face lather. I don't know if most people would consider splashing your face with cold water and face lathering up much if any kind of prep. Everyone finds their own way that works though.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I don't know, I just splash my face with cold water and immediately start to face lather. I don't know if most people would consider splashing your face with cold water and face lathering up much if any kind of prep. Everyone finds their own way that works though.

Bob

This is basically my prep. I build lather in the bowl actually, but splash my face and work it until I like the consistency there. But it's splash & go unless I showered before shaving. Showering kind of adds to the prep time because then I have to splash a few times with cold water to make sure the skin tightens back up.

Monday morning, I figured I would give this a try again.

Three days growth is my usual test for new edges, new shave soaps, etc... keeping variables to a minimum.

Cold splash or two then stropped my Puma 50 laps.

Another cold splash and rubbed on some Tabac. (always, always works with warm/hot water)

Normal shave method.

Shave was every bit as good as a warm/hot shave.

In my previous test I must have dropped the ball somewhere. Inadequate prep, mediocre soap, razor not 100%, or something.

I'm a believer, maybe a convert.

Here in the desert, a cold water shave is a little more eye-opening than a warm/hot shave.

Glad that worked out for you this time round. Now you have more options.

Bob

Originally Posted by JackeHj

I was thinking of coldwater shaves this morning while I was shaving. A know several guys here shave with cold water. I have tried a few times a while ago, and I didnt get good results at all. Is there something extra to keep in mind while shaving cold? And what would the advantages be, exept less time for face prep and such. And I can se how a cold shave cold come in handy while travelin, when hot water isnt always available...

The second thing I was thinking of was the history of shaving. I remember reading a pdf posted here two years ago. It was a book made in the begining of the 20th century (I think...) on how to shave. One point they made in the book was that hot water softens the beard and makes it more difficult to cut, while cold water makes the breard stiff so that it is easier to cut off... I will try to find the file in question and post below. Was shaving cold commony used back in the days? I would think so, since folks didnt have running hot water inside... And how about barbers?

I think the argument about cold water mekes some scense, but my experience says the opposite... I would like to hear your thoughts and comments on the matter.

JackeHj

I am totally sold on cold water shaving. When I first heard the idea of such a thing, I thought it was nuts. Then I tried it and it was great. But the idea still seemed strange to me and I hot water shaved for another year. Then I tried cold water shaving again, and have been doing it exclusively for at least the last five years. JimmyHad is the first one I heard suggest it. If you think Jimmy is nuts, his method of shaving isn't.

If I experience pull or other irritation while cold water shaving it is usually because I didn't mix enough water in my lather. Very infrequently, it's because my blade needs a touch up. The slickness of the lather makes the razor glide over the whiskers like a knife through butter. Making sure the lather is slick is my only prep.

Well just did my first cold shave. I honestly have to say not bad and may just take this on regular.
My lather was lack luster bit that's all on me.
Normal prep: hot shower or hot water lather and shave nothing fancy. But tonight cold water and a freshly honed to 8k new acquisition Geneva. I say it was a nice shave I'm gonna keep this up for a bit but thanks for getting me to try something new with this thread.

After three days of this, I can say that my only problem is with removing the soap from the blade after a pass. It seems to rinse easier with hot water. Not a big deal. Three different razors. Three different soaps. Three great shaves.

Originally Posted by BobH

I don't know, I just splash my face with cold water and immediately start to face lather. I don't know if most people would consider splashing your face with cold water and face lathering up much if any kind of prep. Everyone finds their own way that works though.

Bob

Everyone's beard is different. Your beard sounds like it may be finer than mine. Your beard takes a splash of cold water and its hydrated, or doesn't require hydrating at all to be easily shaven. Mine takes four minutes of hot water soaking and eight minutes of cold water soaking. Someone else may take five and ten respectively, or whatever. The physics though, doesn't change. A beard (above a certain coarseness) must be hydrated to make shaving easier and that hydration will always be faster the hotter the water. Once hydrated, the use of cold water for shaving, I imagine, takes some of the limpness caused by the heat, out of the whiskers while still leaving them fully hydrated. To me, that is the optimum state for shaving.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

I am totally sold on cold water shaving. When I first heard the idea of such a thing, I thought it was nuts. Then I tried it and it was great. But the idea still seemed strange to me and I hot water shaved for another year. Then I tried cold water shaving again, and have been doing it exclusively for at least the last five years. JimmyHad is the first one I heard suggest it. If you think Jimmy is nuts, his method of shaving isn't.

Took a while for the idea to grow on me too. I was kind of an easy convert once I actually tried it though. I tend to shave in the evening, and was working in a shop that didn't have AC at the time. So the cold water splash was kind of refreshing on a hot summer day. And the shave noticeably more comfortable. Jimmy was definitely onto something there.