Thread: Using cold water instead of warm

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.

An old master around here (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

In the 1830s using cold water was a practical matter for most. Hot water was a luxury.