Thread: Cold water shave is the best & worst ever

Tried it this morning too. Similar results. Very close shave...very unpleasant experiences. Definitely highlights where I am on the "learning to hone" curve.

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.

I know I'm answering a post three years old, but cold vs. hot water is one of the more stimulating topics on the forum. Your post captures my first impression. I get equal quality shaves with either hot or cold water, but the cold water is a matter of convenience for me since I have my hot water heater at a low setting and it takes forever for the tap water to warm up.

Just got home after 60 days on the road and got a lot of stares at the truck terminal from people seeing me shave with a straight.

I saw one Hispanic gentleman shaving with a Gillette Fusion without any soap on his face. Naturally I had to ask him about his technique. He told me that while working on a farm in Mexico he killed a pig, then put it in hot water to shave all the hair off of the skin. It surprised him how easy the hair shaved off. Because shaving was very irritating for him, he decided to apply the same principle of shaving without canned foam and just hot water. Immediately he got close, comfortable shaves, and never looked back.

Yesterday my barber, who no longer does shaves, told me that he was taught to soften the beard with hot towels to make the hairs limp. Of course, Shaving Made Easy teaches us that we want the pores closed and the air brittle to shave. I asked the barber in so many words if hot shaves was just kind of a gimmick to make the experience luxurious and he said No. He really believes you are supposed to soften the whiskers before whacking them off.

Really interesting to find out the different schools of thought on shaving.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

Really interesting to find out the different schools of thought on shaving.

Well sure and we each experiment with different methods and come up with what works best for us individually. I went from hot to cold water shaves, stropping 50/50 linen leather before the shave, to 20 leather only after the shave.

I went from a long complicated pre shave preparation to rubbing the first lather in , relathering, and shaving. From face lathering to bowl lathering, and now I am back to face lathering.

Trying these different techniques and settling one those that work best for me. So I'm not saying one way is 'better' than the other for everybody, just that we have to try 'em and see what works best for us alone.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Well sure and we each experiment with different methods and come up with what works best for us individually. I went from hot to cold water shaves, stropping 50/50 linen leather before the shave, to 20 leather only after the shave.

I went from a long complicated pre shave preparation to rubbing the first lather in , relathering, and shaving. From face lathering to bowl lathering, and now I am back to face lathering.

Trying these different techniques and settling one those that work best for me. So I'm not saying one way is 'better' than the other for everybody, just that we have to try 'em and see what works best for us alone.

+1 to JimmyHAD's post

Exact same for me!

Only now, I'm into using the scuttle (thanks Ryan82), leaving my soap in the fridge (thanks Ed), cold water, lathering, rubbing / working the lather in, lathering again and off I go.

Onto about my 5th time using the MWF, and starting to really see the marvel this soap is, the lanolin, the texture of the soap, is just supreme for shaving and for the skin.

Right now, this is great for me, but I'm sure I'll change things up again in awhile, but cold will remain the base for me at least!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Well sure and we each experiment with different methods and come up with what works best for us individually. I went from hot to cold water shaves, stropping 50/50 linen leather before the shave, to 20 leather only after the shave.

I went from a long complicated pre shave preparation to rubbing the first lather in , relathering, and shaving. From face lathering to bowl lathering, and now I am back to face lathering.

Trying these different techniques and settling one those that work best for me. So I'm not saying one way is 'better' than the other for everybody, just that we have to try 'em and see what works best for us alone.

You said the magic words to me, "long complicated pre shave preparation." As I was learning how to shave with a straight I was "preparing" myself into oblivion, to the extent that I didn't have time to shave. Thankfully I was able to eliminate some steps that were unnecessary for me. I like to bowl (or mug) lather at home, but on the road I'll use a more portable means of lathering up.

Yea, same story here about prepping myself into oblivion with a complicated routine. With a complicated routine I found it makes it difficult as a newbie straight shaver to figure out what exactly was working and what was not in giving me a comfortable and close shave. So I started eliminating things and finally pared it down to wet face, face lather, shave, some alum block followed with AS. All this done with cold tap water. Now I know I either pooched the lather, my shave technique or the razor is too dull making it pretty easy to figure out who the culprit is. Then again each to their own ways.

Bob

I tried all the various ways to prepare for a good shave, but as I became more proficient with the straight, I started to get curious about how much of it was really necessary (for me) to get a good shave. As I started eliminating things, I was surprised by how great the shaves still were. I finally went all the way down to no preparation at all, lathering up with Dawn dishwashing liquid and shaving. The shave was just as good as the ones I had on which I had spent half an hour on preparation. Now I splash warm water on my face four or five times, lather up and go. To be honest, I don't know why I even do that, probably just habit. If you have a truly sharp blade and good technique, preparation, for me at least, is just a waste of time. If you like doing it, fine. I have found it is unnecessary for me.

Not sure why, but this topic always makes me think of the movie "Once Upon a Time in the West" where Cheyenne is shaving toward the end of the film.

I prefer hot shaving after a hot shower. My skin feels more sensitive while cold shaving, for some reason. It isn't unpleasant, and the end result is the same but the act itself feels different in a way I don't like. The closest thing I can compare it to is a pulling sensation without the pulling. I just feel the razor more vs a hot shave where I don't feel anything.

Originally Posted by Xury

Not sure why, but this topic always makes me think of the movie "Once Upon a Time in the West" where Cheyenne is shaving toward the end of the film.

I prefer hot shaving after a hot shower. My skin feels more sensitive while cold shaving, for some reason. It isn't unpleasant, and the end result is the same but the act itself feels different in a way I don't like. The closest thing I can compare it to is a pulling sensation without the pulling. I just feel the razor more vs a hot shave where I don't feel anything.

I just had a shave, another cold one, and finally tried something I'd read here a few times, applies whether hot or cold, and really took the shave up a notch (I guess of course it will with another pass) but splashed on just some tap water (it's cold here), and did a light water only pass, felt great and was a nice clean up!

I've been cold water shaving for a year and a half now. It was the only solution for my razor burn and irritation. Now I've been lathering the one time for the first pass and any other pass or touchup is done with water, cold water.