Boiling water when shaving?

[Gilles77]

I use this kind of recipient with a brush stand in it.



I am pouring boiling water from my kettle directly in it, and let it soak two or three minutes, no more. Only the tips of the hairs are in contact with water. Then I am emptying the water content in the sink, preparing the lather in it, and putting it on top of similar recipient filled with the same boiling water used at the beginning.

I am getting this (I have used a GFT sample, in case you are wondering why it is so pink...).



Very warm lather and brush, but not unbearable on the skin, in fact it has a very nice feeling. I have used this technique during all winter, and I haven't lost more than one or two hair from my shaving brushes.

 

[GreekGuy]

There is a certain element of YMMV to this hobby. What soap is better, what blade is more comfortable, which brush is ideal. That is perfectly fine. Some things are not variable. To make an analogy, changing the oil in a new car is not absolutely required for it to run. But in the long run, nobody would ever recommend not changing the oil.

Using boiling water is bad for brushes, period. Maybe the hot lather is enjoyable, maybe a user doesn't care if the brush knot falls out or breaks down. But using water that hot for a shave is inadvisable at best. In the long run it will ruin brushes, and I can only imagine how painful it would be to use water that hot to shave with. I'm sure someone has some anecdotal story about how their uncle used boiling water to shave with for 30 years and the brush never broke. In the end everyone can do what they want, but some outcomes are more predictable than others.

 

[BRITD]

I usually microwave a half cup of soft rainwater/distilled water for 40 seconds in a Microwave safe bowl and then let it sit for a few minutes to cool a bit while brushing teeth. I learnt the hard way what happens when you heat water in a microwave using a vintage old spice mug!

 

[Taproot]

The old house I'm in has extremely not-hot water. I usually shave at night and start a kettle for a cup of tea. The left over water fills my Scuttle- but I don't put the brush in there right away, i wait for it to cool a bit. My rule of thumb is that if it is too hot for me to stand putting my fingers in it is too hot for my brush.

 

[Musikmann]

Several other have expressed concern about harming the brush and that's my take on the subject and would never do it.

 

[Aristeros]

I have a cheap little electric kettle for coffee purposes, and happen to need hot water at around the same time, so I pour a bit on my soap/brush to facilitate the shave at the same time, or pour some in a cheap steel bowl that the brush is already in. Not sure if that's why I have these small, hairline cracks on the plastic of my Omega travel boar, but I suspect it is.

 

[DonaldSwafford]

I've used freshly boiled water for 40+ years ... I use/rotate 7 non-stupid expensive badger brushes (all matching Parkers... theys be pretty on their shelf) please don't be disuaded from using boiling water and the sensual benefit of truly hot lather ... your brushes will survive their probably tougher than you are

 

[Snookledon]

I put boiling water in my scuttle. It's still very hot when I get out of the shower, and at the end of the shave, it's still hot, but not so much that it burns, so I use it to rinse with (followed by a cool water rinse from the faucet).

 

[BadDad]

Boiling water can break down lather. It's just too hot, in my opinion.

I use the hottest tap water I can get (usually around 130*F) in my scuttle. Nice, very warm lather for a full 3 pass shave. I did the same with my DIY scuttle before I broke down and purchased and actualy scuttle.

The key, for me, is to soak the bowl/scuttle in the hottest tap water for several minutes to warm the ceramic, then empty and re-fill with the hottest possible tap water again. This second hot fill *should* stay quite warm for a standard shave of about 20 minutes or so...

Of course...YMMV...but this works for me...

 

[Merle]

When I first started, I had a Breville 1 liter pot which I could set for 160F and it would automatically stop there. I used it to heat my face cloths and scuttle well. Great for face and warm lathers!

As to the brushes; they may be sturdy if given gentle use, but I've noted some of the actions I'd used when learning the process of shaving were not the most considered. Having discovered better habits; at least, as I increase the valuation of some of the tools I now and will use in the future... I'm pleased I have the opportunity to better conserve them. I'll still get good use and know all equipment ages, wears down, and is set aside in it's time. (or, given new consumable components and renewed!)

Did that help?

 

[BSAGuy]

Not for me. No way, no how. Takes too much time and overkill from a temperature standpoint. YMMV.

 

[emwolf]

My bathroom is upstairs, my kitchen is down. I suppose I could get a hot pot and boil the water in the bathroom. But my tap is pretty hot, so I use that in my scuttle.

 

[GoneRetroInOH]

To date I have never used boiling water. If ever the power went out a few days and the hot water gone, then I would likely improvise by boiling a pot and using it to fill a basin. People did that kind of thing before running hot water was universal.

 

[GoneRetroInOH]

I usually microwave a half cup of soft rainwater/distilled water for 40 seconds in a Microwave safe bowl and then let it sit for a few minutes to cool a bit while brushing teeth. I learnt the hard way what happens when you heat water in a microwave using a vintage old spice mug!

I remember vintage old spice mugs before they became "vintage". I also remember that post-prototype microwave ovens came along many years later. There was no such thing as "microwave safe" when the mugs were made. If there are any microwave-sensitive materials or tiny air bubbles, it could be toast. Any container that gets hot after a one-minute test in the microwave is not microwave safe.

 

[pyrrha1]

Boiling water can break down lather. It's just too hot, in my opinion.

I use the hottest tap water I can get (usually around 130*F) in my scuttle. Nice, very warm lather for a full 3 pass shave. I did the same with my DIY scuttle before I broke down and purchased and actualy scuttle.

The key, for me, is to soak the bowl/scuttle in the hottest tap water for several minutes to warm the ceramic, then empty and re-fill with the hottest possible tap water again. This second hot fill *should* stay quite warm for a standard shave of about 20 minutes or so...

Of course...YMMV...but this works for me...

This is exactly what I do.

 

[ShaveWok]

I recently moved to a new apartment and the water is luke warm at best.

I decided to embrace cold water shaves and I was not enjoying it (given its 20 degrees outside)

So i had enough, It was not cutting it , while coming from a previous sink with 'boiling hot water" - not literally but will burn you hot.

So I went Waltart and bought a cheap kettle to boil water. ( I never did this ) and was hesitient that it would damage my brush/burn the lather.

Proceeding I put the boiling water in the scuttle , loaded up the brush and stuck the brush in the scuttle where you would normally do a bowl lather ( I did not put it in water , but on top of the scuttle where you would normally bowl lather).

While I was prepping my face, getting the razor ready, the loaded brush was heating up.

Once I went to face lather, to my amazement the lather was so warm I could have lathered all day.

I normally would do 2 passes, but now with the warm lather I switched to 3, because it feels so darn good in this freezing weather.

Now I hope the brush hairs will withstand this type of use, time will tell.

So yes i use a kettle to heat my water, given my current living situation.

Like anything it took a bit of trial and error to get it just how I like it.

Cheers

 

[rodrigaj]

I voted never, because I have a 2L tea pot that keeps water at 175 degF for me all day long. I'm a green tea / oolong drinker. So that is what I use.

Why not look at the spec of the cement that is used?

Why not ask the knot builders?