Thread: Cold water shave is the best & worst ever

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

John,
I'm looking forward to the day when you tell us you are using snow instead of water.

Or shaving inside one of those industrial walk-in refrigerators!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Thanks to this 1906 pdf posted by LuckyCynic in this thread here and to forum member Frankenstein pointing out the instruction to use cold water to prep I gave it a try and got the best and closest shave with the least effort that I have ever had.

At the same time it really was a drag doing all of this with cold water. Still the results were so great that I am going to suffer though it and put my scuttle away making cold water shaves my default. It really is unbelievable but truly superior.

makes sense

I tried cold shaving today and i must say it was my best one yet with my straight razor.

I'm hooked and now I won't go back to the warm water.

Wow. Some guys are hardcore. I just enjoy a moist/heat pre-shave prep to soften, then cold rinse from the tap, lather up again (as first is for the hot towel) and go to it. I don't care about the temperature of the blade, I just use cold tap water to not waste the hot water electricity. It does kind of make me look forward to cold winter air again, though. Shaving in lower 50s may be a good thing.

the only time i use cold water is after im done shaving. i might have to try cold water shaving, but im a little scared to be honest

noob report here: I'm trying cold shaves since my 3d shave (am now at my 5th). FWIW, I never succeeded in getting a good shave with cold when using mach 3 etc. Always had my neck cut open by the blades.

WIth the srtr8, I have no problem at all, even with cold water. I might be overshaving, since I've done the last 2 within 36 hours and my skin is a littlebit irritated. I'm amazed that cold shaving even works
Not that it is saying anything in this discussion though since I don't have too much xp in str8 shaving

Since the whole point of using cold water and cold lather is to prevent the hair from softening up... Do you allow your cold lather to sit in and soften thr wiskers or do you apply and shave right away?

Originally Posted by Dups

Since the whole point of using cold water and cold lather is to prevent the hair from softening up... Do you allow your cold lather to sit in and soften thr wiskers or do you apply and shave right away?

I do as the 1905 booklet recommends and lather, rub it in well with my fingertips and then lather again and shave.

Originally Posted by Dups

Since the whole point of using cold water and cold lather is to prevent the hair from softening up... Do you allow your cold lather to sit in and soften thr wiskers or do you apply and shave right away?

I don't believe the goal is to prevent the hair from softening; it's to make the skin surface contract, holding the whiskers upright (normal to the skin surface) and keep them from being pushed down flat. If the theory is correct, it is still helpful for the hairs to be softened, because this makes them easier to cut. Rubbing the soap in should strip the oils from the hairs, allowing water to be absorbed, softening them. It all sounds fairly plausible. I do wonder about how temperature affects the blade, however.

I usually start with a warm lather and finish with a cold water ATG. Best of both worlds?