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I was looking through an old book called 'The Young Man's Guide,' first published about 1830, and in it the author relates a story about a father who said 'the most useful thing you can teach a young man is how to shave in cold water without a mirror'.
Needless to say, my pride has been roused and I'm up for the challenge. Would anyone have any experiences to share or advice to give?
Cheers,
Robert
At least one thing about using cold water is it will help hide the nicks and stop them bleeding so much, And to be honest i think lots of rural people would have used cold or tepid water for there daily shave due to lack of hot water and not having time to warm it up on the stove.
I have shaved with cold water when in a rush once and it was not that bad but could not imagine a shave without a mirror if i did not miss parts I am sure I would cut myself but it sure would improve the skills of the hand!
I think it will be possible and satisfying with a lot of practice.... good luck, and keep us posted!
I had read, or heard, somewhere that one should rinse their razor in cold water. I thought I'd give it a try; so while I was doing the cold water thing, I did the whole shave with cold water. The shave was quite wonderful! My skin afterwards felt very smooth and lacked any irritation at all, of course most of my shaves are just that (irritation free).
I wont do this again, but if I go camping and don't have hot water, I know the shave experience will be just fine.
Steve
Good luck, on your self imposed challenge. I don't think if you peeked it would be considered cheating, if it means avoiding a big gash in the neck or lip. Are you planning on practicing with you eyes closed on little sections of your face, every day, before you go for the full no mirror shave?
nate
One of the things you have to ask yourself is "why do we recommend and use hot water then"?
It is always recommended that we pay particular attention to preparation when shaving. That prep consists of very hot towels laid on the beard and then again with soap applied we lay the hot towel on again. So why do we do this?
The hair folicles are covered with a protective outer shell called Kerotin. If you were to look at a hair under a microscope you would see this. It looks somewhat like the skin of an Armidillo, running the length of the hair folicle. When we apply the hot towel to the beard, we essentially cause these to open up and allow the inner core of the hair to absorb the warm water. Thus softening up the hair itself. When we do it again with lather applied, we create a situation where the inner part of the hair can absorb the oils and softeners and thus make the hair folicle soft and more easy to cut with a razor.
Can we shave with cold water? Sure we can. In fact if we rinse with cold water, you will almost never have razor burn. But shavig with cold water will most likely never allow you to get that BBS shave you are looking for.
Ray
Great explanation Ray.
When the book was written hot water was not a faucet-turn away. Mirrors were expensive, and not always obtainable as the "local" Target was more than a short buggy ride yonder. It was reasonable to suggest that you ought know how to shave sans these luxuries.
I spent two weeks in a 500 year old farm house in the French country-side this summer. I only had straights and while I had warm water, the mirror in my bath was small and at an odd location. I shaved largely without its benefit.
I posted once before that I find myself closing my eyes and going by feel and muscle memory. This isn't intentional and I look more than not, but found it useful at the farm house.
Oh, for the record. I really hate to go without piping hot water and lather. I'm a scuttle fan. J
You do it, and let us know. I'm pretty sure I'm willing to live this one vicariously.
:lurk:
An old master around here :jedi: (who shall remain nameless) told me early on that I should stay with the razor that I was with and perfect my technique until I could shave with it blindfolded before moving on to something else. I'm sure that it would have certain advantages.
Regards
:gl:
:bow
In the 1830s using cold water was a practical matter for most. Hot water was a luxury.
As said on the hot water from me too dude, cold is fine if you have to or like a challange which you indeed seem to, as for the no mirror bit: post some pics just after please?..lol
I always always rinse my razor with cold water when I shave, a long time ago I was told the cold shrinks the edge ever so slightly and makes it smoother on the skin, I am not sure how much an edge shrinks under cold water, but it certainly makes a difference to my face, I also always do my final rinse with cold water and rarely get any burn, so the only area I think you will feel any downside is beard prep, heck what did they have in the 19th century? no Taylors of old bond street then! did they even have soap? I dont know but I doubt it? are you gonna go the whole hog and only use the materials they had back then?
I've never heard of the benefit of rinsing the blade in cold water. Anyone else do this? I'll try it and see. J (a skeptic for now)
Out of necessity, I've done a fair amount of cold water shaving and it definitely is possible to get a good shave out of it. The trick is to go overboard on the beard prep (cold water will take more time and quantity to properly saturate your beard) and then sticking to super short strokes whilst shaving; I would also suggest you wipe the blade clean while shaving because cold lather tends to stick on the blade and cold water doesn't rinse as well either.
Good Luck!
IMO, it does not really matter.
Thanks for the replies, guys. cubed1, thanks for the advice. Since the op I've tried rinsing the blade in cold water as I go but found it started to shudder - maybe I was trying to do strokes which were too long.
Have been practising the no mirror part - and it's going well. I start off with looking in the mirror but then move away and check again after I've finished.
I have some important meetings this week so don't want to butcher my face up too much - will try the full routine this weekend.
Rob
Good Luck Rob!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankenstein
Good Luck, Man.
For your next feat of derring-do will you be shaving whilst on fire, blind-folded, and driving?
:D
Cheers!
Concerning no mirrors, I was immediately reminded of my fly-fishing experience. I spent days and days trying to get the routine and feel of a fly pole with minimal results. One day I started fly fishing in the evening after dinner. Soon the sky started to blush and fade to cobalt then black. Straining to see the fly and line I finally gave up trying to pick it out of the dark. That was a turning point for me and I started to really get it. I could feel the line and the pole working.
I wonder if straight shaving is anything like that. I'm still very new at this. But maybe I should close my eyes a little during the shave and listen and feel the right angle and pressure rather then just looking for it. Or I could be quite bloody wrong. The pun was intended.
C. S. Budzi
Do a normal hot-water shave, then after rinsing well with cold water try touching up the neck area where needed. For me, this consistently gives the closest results on the neck. It may work by shrinking the skin back from the hairs a bit.
I've done a ton of cold water shaving without a mirrior but always due to being left without other options. Heck, we just called it "Field Shaving," ... and its doable but you don't get nearly the same shave no matter how much practice you get. And I must say, I've never and will never do this with a straight. All of my field shaves were done with a Mach III and gillette shaving goop.
Cold water gives a good shave, but hot water gives a much better BBS shave. Done both.
The cold water shave was done during warm and hot weather. I have not tried it during the winter time though.
Pabster
Cold water is not a big deal. Shaving WITHOUT A MIRROR-now that's a challenge I'll pass on.:beer2:
I think it's mostly directed at teaching the young man to look his finest in the rough. IE; a march for a soldier where they haven't the convienence of hot water or a mirror but are still required to be presentable. I could be mistaken, however.
Along those lines, it would seem if you can get a good shave under less than ideal circumstances, you'll be a better shaver for it. Not to mention you would never take conveniences, like mirrors, for granted ever again.Quote:
Originally Posted by tampajason
Cheers!
It does not say to teach your son that he should shave with cold water, etc, but that you should teach him how to do it, perhaps in case of needing to do so?Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankenstein
I think it falls under the "spare the rod, spoil the child" category!:)
Some where along the line, I heard to rinse the blade with cold water too. I understand this to be a chemical thing. Warmer temps will raise the activity level of molecules, where as colder temps mean less molecule activity. At the fine edge of the razor less molecular activity (cooler temp) means a more stable, consistent edge. Higher activity (warmer temp) would bring more variability, and hasten a curling of the "fin".
Two cents.
Dubs
I'm not sure about that - I tried rinsing in cold water but using warm for my face and I didn't like the results at all. But, cold water on the face and blade seem to work well.
I did it again this morning but used the mirror. I have to say although the shave was great, the experience wasn't nearly as good. I'd really encourage everyone to try it at least once; it's a great feeling and I think you can say it's good for your general technique too.
:)