Thread: Spent lather

Kerry hot water wont roll or bend the edge but it can reduce the sharpness of the edge,i'm not sure exactly what happens but if the water is too hot to hold your hand in it will begin to effect the edge about 90 degrees c,most household taps aren't really hot enough but commercial ones are and it just takes some of the keenness the longer in it the blunter they are but i've never seen any big change to edge geometry,leave the blade in there for a good length of time it can break when you bring it out specially at higher temps,most people don't believe it until it happens to them and some will be adamant the hot water didn't do although they did themselves,as for wiping i have a hand towel over the edge of the sink full of water and wipe the gunk off then dip my blade in water then do another stroke,there's no danger of hitting anything and i save water too

The hot water heater in your faucet does not get hot enough to effect the edge of the blade. The microstructure of the steel won't begin to change until it reaches around probably 300 to 700 degrees depending on what temperature the blade was tempered at. If your faucet is getting to 300 degrees F, then that is a beast of a water heater you got there! By the way, I just finished a class on alloys in my engineering program so this is all still fresh on my mind lol.

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Not only a beast of a water heater but water that defies physics by still being a liquid at 300c plus!

By the way, while we are on the hot water subject...I have found that if I use water that is too hot the blade will heat up and when I put it to my face to make a pass, the hot blade almost feels like the blade is cutting me. I guess since I am still new to all of this, it is easy for me to mistake a burning sensation for a slicing sensation. For this reason, I rinse my blade in cold water. Has anyone else experienced this?

Originally Posted by ladavis89

By the way, while we are on the hot water subject...I have found that if I use water that is too hot the blade will heat up and when I put it to my face to make a pass, the hot blade almost feels like the blade is cutting me. I guess since I am still new to all of this, it is easy for me to mistake a burning sensation for a slicing sensation. For this reason, I rinse my blade in cold water. Has anyone else experienced this?

yes.... this is the reason i use a sponge and a towel... i wipe the lather off on the sponge... then dry the blade on the towel and take another swipe.... sometimes i have cold/warm water running and i will do all 3.....

I read somewhere here that the old barber training manuals recommended rinsing the blade in warm water before starting the shave. I'm guessing this was only a consideration for the comfort of the shavee. However one gets the used lather off the blade is a matter of choice and convenience for the shaver. So long as you don't run the edge into something, it's a moot point: fine for discussion, but for the blade, it matters not.

I prefer to dip the blade in water as it warms the blade which I like (not super burning hot). However, since the plug in my sink leaks, water will only stay in 2 minutes tops. So I just wipe it on a damp towel to save on the water bill

I wipe the razor on the back of my hand like I'm stropping. I got this from watching barbers on youtube. If they don't need water to rinse the razor then why would I?

But if you use both hands to shave, wiping the blade on the back of one hand creates a mess when you switch sides.

Originally Posted by pcg

But if you use both hands to shave, wiping the blade on the back of one hand creates a mess when you switch sides.

Only a small mess. The spent lather stays in place on the back of the hand until you finish a pass. After I finish a pass, I rinse the back of my hand off, dry it and lather up again for my next pass.
Ernest