Thread: Conflicting Information

Originally Posted by shooter74743

My prep is pretty much a good face scrubbing with hot water & body soap...typically in the shower, shaving immediately after toweling my head & body off...not the face. I want it to stay very hydrated. Follow that with good shaving form and a sharp razor and you will end up with a great shave. Take any one of the three I just listed and the shave will suffer.

Thats the routine I use too. Its either that, or sit @ w/ a hot towel on my face which is out of the question for me.

I have done both hot and cold prep....BOTH work.As some have said already ,experiment and see what ya like.They both have merit,it's really comes down to preference.Remember Straight shaving really is a primitive if not very effective thing.It's pretty straight forward and you can make it as simple or as complex as you want to. I am a cold shaver and love it,but as I said I've done both and both work fine IMHO. Good luck to you and good shave ! "You're a daisy if ya do ". ~Doc Holliday~

Originally Posted by Rome

removing oil and grease from hair would harden it, and this particular source claimed that the various shaving soaps/creams/w.e had alkalines that would do precisely that, in order to make shaving easier

It is my understanding that if you removed the oil/grease, and then let the hair dry, then it would become stiffer.

However, when we clean/lather, we are removing oil but also hydrating. The removal of oil actually helps the hydration process, thereby softening the hairs, not hardening them.

Originally Posted by BladeRunner001

+1 on this...

As for the scientific evidence:

Heat and alkalinity allow for breaking up the hydrogen bonding that occurs in the Keratin proteins of hair. These proteins confer hair the structural stability it possesses for normal function. Breaking up what holds hair together (think glue) will make it easier to cut them.

As for oil...The main reason you remove "old oil" is because it is the site where dead cells, bacteria, skin secretions (toxins and such) end up in. This hardens throughout the day, plugging up the pores (through which your hair is sticking out). Plugged up pores mean less "breathing" of the follicle and moisture retention of your skin/hair. Exogenous oil is not used to soften the hair, per se...it provides lubrication. Oil bonds to hair's protein (H-bonding and hydrophobic - or oil loving part - interactions) and is used to effectively allow the creation of a barrier that helps your skin better retain it's moisture...well, I can see why people think that is softens hair . Removal of oil does not harden hair directly...it leads to effective breathing of underlying skin cells and moisture loss, which causes dryness and "cracking".

Now, what cremes/soaps do is provide you with 1) oil (fats etc...), 2) glycerin (moisture retention), and 3) alkalinity (H-bond breaking). All these factors and heat play a role in softening up hair and getting it prepped for cutting.

IMO, the reason that people report having closer than normal shaves with cold water is because in the presence of cold water, the skin around the hair follicle retracts/shrinks, effectively exposing more of the hair to cutting...after shaving in cold water, your skin will return to your normal temperature of 37ºC, thus engulfing more of the hair...this leads to a closer shave. Personally, I prefer a warm lather than a cold one.

I hope this helps,

Better explanation than mine

Actually some very good info...thanks!

I give up on the "science"....I don't know what's
happening at the microscopic/molecular level.

All I know for sure is that if I prepare my face properly,
with cold water, and use a really sharp razor, I get a
great shave, without irritation.

Not so with hot water, hot lather. It must be my skin
type, or perhaps some other variable that eludes me.

I don't recommend it to anyone else, but it does work for
me.

Cheers,
Paul

I guess pre shave cleaning used for dirty skin, pre shave oil used for dry skin.