Eliminating the heat from a metal DE...how?

**waliguy** · 12-30-2007, 05:12 AM

If there's a short list of the things I don't like about DE wet shaving, it's the heat I get from the metal DE, after rinsing the DE in hot water after a shaving pass.

I use an adjustable Gillette 1963...and the metal absorbs the heat. I will touch that metal to my face to start a pass...and it's hot. Almost too hot.

Any suggestions? Is it as simple as rinsing the blade after a pass with medium temp water?

**Straight Arrow** · 12-30-2007, 05:15 AM

Use cooler water.

**JerimiahC** · 12-30-2007, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by Straight Arrow

Use cooler water.

Um...no offense but I agree with Straight Arrow...rinsing with cooler water is the easiest solution. I know what you mean. I use a bigger bowl outside my mug I lather in to keep my lather/brush warm. The water I use in the outside bowl is almost at boiling point. I've dipped my razor in before shaving just to warm it up and it felt like I was burning myself with the first pass.

**TonyO** · 12-30-2007, 06:59 AM

I happen to like the feeling of a warm razor touching my face, but I remember reading a thread on here that someone keeps a glass of icewater for dipping the razor in after rinsing in the sink to cool it down.

**OldSchoolYoungin** · 12-30-2007, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by Straight Arrow

Use cooler water.

+1

**gps** · 12-30-2007, 08:58 AM

Ditto cooler water.

Rinsing with water that's too hot does give new meaning to the term "razor burn", though.

**thirdeye** · 12-30-2007, 09:12 AM

Yep, Just cooler water.......

**Peppery John** · 12-30-2007, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by TonyO

I happen to like the feeling of a warm razor touching my face, but I remember reading a thread on here that someone keeps a glass of icewater for dipping the razor in after rinsing in the sink to cool it down.

In theory this practice should give you a closer shave because cold steel is sharper.

**JerimiahC** · 12-31-2007, 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by Peppery John

In theory this practice should give you a closer shave because cold steel is sharper.

Possibly, but I just like the feel of a warm razor on my face. Part of the whole zen thing. I tried using cold water and went back to warm the next shave.

**camelman0075** · 12-31-2007, 05:06 AM

Hey if you like the warm razor feeling try kepping a mug of hot water on the side of the sink so then all you have to do is rinse the razor with warmish water in the sink and then dip the razor in the mug, that way you can adjust how warm you want the razor to be

**TonyO** · 12-31-2007, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by Peppery John

In theory this practice should give you a closer shave because cold steel is sharper.

So I googled it, and couldn't find anything about cold steel being sharper than warm. I'm certainly no metallurgist - how is it that the temperature makes a difference? The icewater thing just doesn't sound appealing, but if there are performance gains to be had, perhaps I'll give it a whirl.

Thanks!

**Peppery John** · 12-31-2007, 07:36 AM

Due to the coefficient of linear thermal expansion, a cold blade will be fractionally sharper than a hot blade.

**TonyO** · 12-31-2007, 07:49 AM

Aah. So the blade will be ever-so-slightly smaller, and thus the edge will be sharper. Got it. Thank you, sir!

Hmm. May have to try the icewater thing out tomorrow. Might be nice on the final pass, just before the cold water rinse.

**daveesq** · 12-31-2007, 08:01 AM

It will indeed make it ever so slightly sharper. Everything expands as it warms and contracts as it cools within the same phase, e.g. staying solid. Heck, that applies most of the time between phases; the foremost (and possibly only) exception being water ice, which is larger than liquid water for the same mass.

The percentage difference of length in any direction of a substance divided by the degree (celsius) change in temperature gives you the coefficient of linear thermal expansion for that substance. Coefficients are essentially "fudge numbers" to make things easier (in this case to get rid of all the ugly math with bond energies).

The thing is, however, that these coefficients are really small. Moreover the actual edge of a razor blade - where both bevels meet - is exceedingly thin. We're talking measurements in picometers here. Then you take that really small measurement and you multiply that by another really small number times the number of degrees in change (maybe 40) and you get a number (the distance change of that edge) that's quite possibly in the nanometer scale.

What I'm getting at is that with something that thin, no one would ever notice the change between hot water and cold water in thinness (i.e. sharpness) of a razor blade without an electron microscope.

**TonyO** · 12-31-2007, 08:07 AM

Ah, but would those poor mindless whiskers notice the difference?

**Peppery John** · 12-31-2007, 08:14 AM

I have tried this in the past, a tumbler of water with ice cubes added to plunge your razor into after a normal rinse, makes for a really cool shave especially in the summer. Whether or not it makes any actual difference to the shave is debatable. However, it's something different try and de shavers are adventurous by nature.

**rickw** · 12-31-2007, 11:58 AM

Let's define warm. My hot tap water is probably about 130 degrees. If yours is much higher then you should probably turn down the water heater. If you run the hot water over the head of the razor, the heat will dissipate down the handle after a few moments.

As far as coefficient of expansion, steel is 6 micro inches / inch / degree F. Not going to make much difference.