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Replaced Hot Water with lukewarm water... amazing results!

So here goes, I've been shaving with a DE for the past few years using nothing but slightly warm water (i.e. shaving in the shower with no soap/lube etc, shower set to slightly warm/lukewarm water) and haven't had a problem. No skin irritation, bumps etc.

Upon rediscovering traditional wet shaving I started experimenting with soaps and using really hot water (not boiling but hot enough to be 'scald' my hands a little). I started adopting the Kyle's prep, soaking my towel in really hot water as well.

However, my skin was always turning red and I'm a chocolate skinned brother here! I had lots of irritation and burn.

Yesterday, as I had very little time to catch up on sleep, I decided to do away with the Kyle's prep and start my shave immediately with slightly lukewarm water instead.

I was amazed, I did my usual 2-3 passes but had no irritation even when blade buffing a little on my 3rd and final pass. I also found more tactile feedback when shaving, instead of having it glide through limp hair and not cutting anything at all.

After my 2nd pass I needed to relather but this time accidentally turned the tap on too high on the warmness setting. Had decently hot water coming out and soaked my brush in that. Immediately when I started to lather my skin started screaming a little. Washed out my brush with lukewarm water and lathered again - problem solved.

Is this a precursor to cold water shaving? Gonna try it soon though it would be weird to shave with cold water.

Maybe it's because my Gillette Tech is mucho gentle, so a well-hydrated beard is making it difficult to get a decent shave?

I'm not too sure though. In any case my skin feels a whole lot better now.

Anyone else found this to be true?
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I think people basically misunderstand the term "hot water" in relation to wet shaving.
I read posts here where people are using hot pots and electric heaters to boost the water temperature up.
Hot Water means not cold or ambient temperature water, not to the point where you could scald or hurt yourself.
I would agree that using water hot enough to cause discomfort to your hands is TOO HOT.
The hands are much less sensitive than the face, and how does human tissue respond to this assault? It puffs up and gets irritated.
Turn the hot water heater down so that no one gets scalded in the shower and just use tap water from the spigot, it works just fine.
Conversely, the knee jerk reaction to go to cold water doesn't make sense to me either.
Is it possible? Why yes, it is.
So is using a battery operated 5 blade monstrosity or a razor sharp machete, but I wouldn't enjoy the shave with those either.
 
+1 on the tactile feedback bit. I've found I get much better feedback with tepid or even cold water.

Ditto on feedback! That was the biggest difference I felt when I switched to a DE those few years ago. I still remember my first shave vividly! That sound! Ah what manly music to the ears!
 
I usually use warm , not hot water. In really hot spells in summer , I have used room temperature water and it all works fine.
 
+1 on the tactile feedback bit. I've found I get much better feedback with tepid or even cold water.

I think people basically misunderstand the term "hot water" in relation to wet shaving.
I read posts here where people are using hot pots and electric heaters to boost the water temperature up.
Hot Water means not cold or ambient temperature water, not to the point where you could scald or hurt yourself.
I would agree that using water hot enough to cause discomfort to your hands is TOO HOT.
The hands are much less sensitive than the face, and how does human tissue respond to this assault? It puffs up and gets irritated.
Turn the hot water heater down so that no one gets scalded in the shower and just use tap water from the spigot, it works just fine.
Conversely, the knee jerk reaction to go to cold water doesn't make sense to me either.
Is it possible? Why yes, it is.
So is using a battery operated 5 blade monstrosity or a razor sharp machete, but I wouldn't enjoy the shave with those either.

Exactly sirleanalot! After seeing all these hotpots etc, I've come to believe that really hot water is the standard for shaving.

This goes against common sense of course - to an extent. Facial skin is definitely more sensitive and the use of extremely hot water just put skin wellness in jeopardy.

Not too sure about the cold water method of shaving as well. No reason to go to the other extreme but all the talk about it makes me curious as well :blush:

Ah sometimes I just want to keep away from the Internet and shave on my own terms but ah where would the fun be in that??? :biggrin1:
 
I do boil my water, but that is just because i find that it helps with the hard water. I boil it, put it in my mug and by the time I'm ready to shave it's nice and warm, but using water that freshly boiled is a tad insane but YMMV :laugh:.
 
I find myself using very hot water for lack of a scuttle to keep my lather nice and warm. I have a large latte mug I lather in sitting in my filled sink with hot water.

After I get a proper scuttle perhaps I will turn down the temperature some. I don't like my razor feeling hot or cold on my skin just warm is ideal. I have my eye on a dirty bird scuttle.
 
I've never said it before for fear of attack but I ditched Kyles Prep as well. I think that some guys do so much pre-shave, hot towel, hot water prep and they get their skin so tender that shaving irrates the skin.

Here's my shave:

I soak my brush in hot tap water. (About 120 degrees hot while I wake the kids up, start coffee)
Lather
Shave WTG, splash face with warm water
Lather
Shave XTG, splash face with warm water
Lather
ShaveATG, Rince face and apply after shave OR get in shower.

On cool mornings/special occasions, I use a scuttle to heat the lather which at that time, I use hot water from a kettle. (In the scuttle)

My skin looked the healthiest when I stopped with hot shower, hot towel etc stuff.

of course.....YMMV
 
I like really hot water from the hot pot for pre-warming my brush scuttle (for face lathering with soap) or my regular scuttle for bowl lathering with a cream. That gives me warm, not hot, lather for 3 or 4 passes. If you leave the scuttles out of the equation, then I would agree that warm water works just fine.
 
I think people basically misunderstand the term "hot water" in relation to wet shaving.
I read posts here where people are using hot pots and electric heaters to boost the water temperature up.
Hot Water means not cold or ambient temperature water, not to the point where you could scald or hurt yourself.
I would agree that using water hot enough to cause discomfort to your hands is TOO HOT.
The hands are much less sensitive than the face, and how does human tissue respond to this assault? It puffs up and gets irritated.
Turn the hot water heater down so that no one gets scalded in the shower and just use tap water from the spigot, it works just fine.
Conversely, the knee jerk reaction to go to cold water doesn't make sense to me either.
Is it possible? Why yes, it is.
So is using a battery operated 5 blade monstrosity or a razor sharp machete, but I wouldn't enjoy the shave with those either.

+1 on all this.

If water is too hot or if one uses too much water to prep, the skin will get waterlogged. Skin soaks up water and swells. That's a sure fire guaranteed method to get razor burn.

What you want is to prep just enough to get the hair to soak up water to soften the beard, but not to get the skin to be waterlogged. Warm water I find, does the trick much better than very hot water.

In my case, I minimized my water use rather significantly, and I use Proraso pre and warm water. Works for me much better than very hot water.
 
Exactly sirleanalot! After seeing all these hotpots etc, I've come to believe that really hot water is the standard for shaving.

This goes against common sense of course - to an extent. Facial skin is definitely more sensitive and the use of extremely hot water just put skin wellness in jeopardy.

Not too sure about the cold water method of shaving as well. No reason to go to the other extreme but all the talk about it makes me curious as well :blush:

Ah sometimes I just want to keep away from the Internet and shave on my own terms but ah where would the fun be in that??? :biggrin1:

Well...I think the use of Hot pot has been misrepresented here...I use a Hot Pot and it has been extremely effective at keeping my lather warm...I have never used it but never to boost the temperature per se...just enough to keep the water warm for the duration of the shave. Anyone that is using it to boost the temperature beyond warm is going to find soon enough that the lather foams and bubbles...not a good idea for a good prep. If used properly, the hot pot (or other item) can be used to very effectively keep lather warm.
 
I agree with the OP.

Tepid water or lukewarm (at the hottest) is best for shaving.




(I still use pretty hot water when showering, though. Can't help it, 'cause I love it.)
 
Not too sure about the cold water method of shaving as well. No reason to go to the other extreme but all the talk about it makes me curious as well :blush:

On a really hot day, proraso shave cream + cold water is pure bliss. The cold water accentuates the menthol hit and instantly wakes me up. Follow this up with a splash of proraso AS (i even spike it with menthol crystals on particularly hot days) and its HELLO WORLD :a50:!!!!!
 
I think people basically misunderstand the term "hot water" in relation to wet shaving.
I read posts here where people are using hot pots and electric heaters to boost the water temperature up.
Hot Water means not cold or ambient temperature water, not to the point where you could scald or hurt yourself.
I would agree that using water hot enough to cause discomfort to your hands is TOO HOT.
The hands are much less sensitive than the face, and how does human tissue respond to this assault? It puffs up and gets irritated.
Turn the hot water heater down so that no one gets scalded in the shower and just use tap water from the spigot, it works just fine.
Conversely, the knee jerk reaction to go to cold water doesn't make sense to me either.
Is it possible? Why yes, it is.
So is using a battery operated 5 blade monstrosity or a razor sharp machete, but I wouldn't enjoy the shave with those either.

A BIG +1. Really hot water is much over rated.
 
My dad (82) always insisted that he wanted hot water to shave with, consequently the water at my folks' house is hot enough to scald right out of the tap. I can only surmise that good and hot water was a rarity when he was growing up.

H
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
I just bought one of those $5 electric warming plates atv Wal-Mart. You know the ones for warming candles & potpourri. I set it on the counter next to the sink when shaving.

I have a small porcelain bowl sitting on top of the warmer that I put my lather loaded brush in between passes. when I relather on subsequent passes, the brush & lather is nicely warm. Should work well this winter.
 
I've never said it before for fear of attack but I ditched Kyles Prep as well. I think that some guys do so much pre-shave, hot towel, hot water prep and they get their skin so tender that shaving irrates the skin.

Here's my shave:

I soak my brush in hot tap water. (About 120 degrees hot while I wake the kids up, start coffee)
Lather
Shave WTG, splash face with warm water
Lather
Shave XTG, splash face with warm water
Lather
ShaveATG, Rince face and apply after shave OR get in shower.

On cool mornings/special occasions, I use a scuttle to heat the lather which at that time, I use hot water from a kettle. (In the scuttle)

My skin looked the healthiest when I stopped with hot shower, hot towel etc stuff.

of course.....YMMV

Absolutely +1

I've just said something similar in another thread. Too much prep causes problems for me.
 
Try talking to or PM'ing user beardo on here. He actually ices his water before use, and has a really sensitive neck with super thick hair.
 
+1 on the OP... I use to boil my water with a kettle and fill the sink prior to my shower... After spilling boiling water all over my hand, I made the change to just Lukewarm water and haven't looked back since... Quality of shaves have been quite remarkable!
 
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