Thread: Cold water shave is the best & worst ever

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

Still, I thought this can't be right if barbers use hot water and all these guys on YouTube showing us how to do it followed suit. I went back to hot water shaving twice.

I wonder if some of what barbers did in the course of shaving someone was just to make the customer feel they got their moneys worth. You know "the royal treatment" so they would come back. Not absolutely necessary just a bit of luxury that everyone enjoys.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I wonder if some of what barbers did in the course of shaving someone was just to make the customer feel they got their moneys worth. You know "the royal treatment" so they would come back. Not absolutely necessary just a bit of luxury that everyone enjoys.

Bob

I'll be honest with you, Bob. If I lived in Canada it would be much harder for me to warm up to a cold water shave. I live in a semi-tropical climate here in South Louisiana and for the most part the winters are considerably milder.

To be honest my house is normally 21C year around using a furnace and A/C so the outside weather has little bearing on the water temp I use for shaving. Now living in an igloo would be an entirely different story I am sure.

Bob

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

I'll be honest with you, Bob. If I lived in Canada it would be much harder for me to warm up to a cold water shave. I live in a semi-tropical climate here in South Louisiana and for the most part the winters are considerably milder.

Pretty sure water, from underground sources, has a relatively consistent temperature. I've lived in 3 different provinces in Canada and haven't noticed any difference in the difficulty of producing hot water. Turn on the tap and go.

Originally Posted by BobH

To be honest my house is normally 21C year around using a furnace and A/C so the outside weather has little bearing on the water temp I use for shaving. Now living in an igloo would be an entirely different story I am sure.

Bob

Don't you guys have the seal hunt and polar bear scares up there in Thunder Bay?

I decided to try the cold water shave today. I refuse to turn the AC on yet and didnt want to be sweating all over the place. I will say it was a nice shave I my stick with this during the warmer months and switch back to hot water in the winter.

I had been struggling with hard water for a few weeks, my lather would do OK, but only if a loaded my brush to a 200 count or so. As a remedy, I got a gallon of distilled water and started using that. A huge improvement in both my ease of lathering and lather quality. It would be waaaay too much of a pain to heat the water before I use it, so I've been using cold water. The results have been pretty amazing so far. As I shave post shower, there is no issue with the cold, the shower was plenty warm.

Sometimes I use cold water for shaving.
Cold shave leaves my skin less irritated for sure. On the other hand, the shave is not as deep as it is when using hot water.

I wonder if some of what barbers did in the course of shaving someone was just to make the customer feel they got their moneys worth. You know "the royal treatment" so they would come back. Not absolutely necessary just a bit of luxury that everyone enjoys.

I suspect you're onto something there Bob

I will have to give this a try, but just by putting my scuttle in the freezer tonight for use in the morning and see how it works out. Seems interesting.