Thread: Rinsing the blade: with hot or warm water ?

Hot for me as well but my tap water is not hotter then i can comfortably wash my face. FWIW, one of the barber manuals (honing and stropping) in the SRP help files says to wet the blade with hot water before making your first pass. I have been doing this. Can't say it is better but it ain't worse.

Heat can affect the temper of the blade, but it has to be higher than your water heater is capapble of. Most water heaters are set to around 120 degrees F or so, and won't do a thing to your knives or razors.

What if the temperature outside got to be 120 degrees, as it can sometimes get in the desert? Would we all have to throw our useless knives and razors away? No.

Rinse with the hottest water you've got. It's no big deal.

As an engineer I have to say that metal isn't very malleable at the low temperatures that the water comes out of at the faucet. A quick rinse doesn't give the blade much time to heat up or deform. It should just rise the later right off. And at 150 degree, which is only 80 degrees above a standard room temperature of 70, the metal isn't going to become appreciably softer.

I have rinsed it in tap water and haven't found any change in the blade.

i have extremely hot water as i have my hot water tank maxed out it does not seem to effect the sharpness of my blade as of yet

I rinse my straights off with the hottest water I can get out of my tap.. and I set it high!
I also clean my muzzleloaders with the hottest water I can (boiling) as this will also help dry the blade/barrel better than using just warm water.
The residual heat from the water has a drying effect

This might sound silly bit I have to be careful of water temp. I usually shave with a wedge and after the third rinse or so the blade starts to retains a lot of heat. Twice (slow learner) touching the hot blade to my face has caused my hand to jerk. Thankfully I have no been cut.

Originally Posted by jszabo

i have extremely hot water as i have my hot water tank maxed out it does not seem to effect the sharpness of my blade as of yet

Yikes! Hope nobody flushes while you're in the shower

I have always filled the sink with hot water then folded a shave towel and dipped it in the water. I then place the folded towel over the edge of the sink so that sits across the edge and lays back into the water. This towel I use to wipe the blade. I never see the point in constantly running the tap to rinse the blade when a towel works great and doesn't waste energy.
The hot water after the shave is used to rinse my face off then flush the towl. No other water is used except if I use a hot scuttle, which I fill at the same time as the sink. I leave the filled scuttle in the hot water in the sink while I strop my razor. This heats it up just fine ready for the lather. Water from the scuttle is used after the shave to rinse the sink clean of stubble left from the towl rinsing etc. all ECO freindly

PuFF