Cold Water Shavers. How did you start?

[gus1942]

We have had many threads about cold water shaving vs hot water, but I'm curious as to whether any of you started with cold water at the beginning of the DE shaving experiance. Probably most of you transitioned slowly to cold water or still do some warm water and cold water shaves. I switched to cold over a period of 1-2 months because it has been better for me and the physiology of of the hair shaft and follicle makes more sense for cold water methods. However, it is not a religious experiance and the only strong feelings I have are avoiding extreme temperatures, hot or cold. Does anybody know what % of B&B members cold water shave? Please let me know. I have never suggested cold water shaving to a newbie. They have enough to think about.

Gus

 

[cromio]

Against every opinion I ever herd, I have beter results using cold (many times) or warm (fewer times) water instead of hot.

 

[mftoms59]

Gus, I've been CWSing since November of 2010 after participating in this Thread; http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...shaving-it-works?highlight=cold+water+shaving

First, there are no rules set in stone, experimenting is crucial to comfortable shaves, I use cold water to; Soak my Brush, wet & rinse my Face and clean my Razor. The Brush water is used to build my lather after showering, this puts the water temp around room temperature. The fact is no matter how you shave, hot/warm or cold water, the hotter your water is for building lather the less stable the lather will be, breaking down quicker. If using room temp or warm water helps you build a better lather , than do it.

I also believe extreme temp variation is not needed, just a difference of 10-15 degrees should do, I believe the cooler water does "lift" Whiskers and warmer or hotter water "relaxes" the Whiskers, no scientific data, just what I've experienced in 15 months of CWS. It somehow affects the face as well, though your pores don't actually close or open, I believe the cooler water somehow tightens it, reducing the tendency to receive weepers or nicks & cuts. I've received exactly 4 cuts or nicks since CWS and one was by moving my blade horizontal while it was on my face, Don't ever shave while groggy.

Doing Cold Water Shaves during the Summer, I put 8-12 Ice cubes in my sink water since the Cold water will not run very cold and gets warm fairly quickly. I'll also rub a cube quickly across my whiskers prior to the application of my initial lather, strictly a personal preference.

 

[Dusty1]

I started cold water shaving to save time. I didn't have time for a shower, and didn't let the faucet run too long, yet ended up with a good shave. Did this a few times and didn't think it was the water until I read about it on here so started to experiment. Not sure on the percentages though, I would assume pretty small, you should do a poll!

 

[flight567]

i did it because it was faster than hot water, because i couldn't get my water to stay hot (pilot was set to low) and it was just overall to much work for not enough return. but aside from that, it just kinda happened... i never really though about using hot water.

 

[turbo tom]

I tried cold water shaving not long after my return to DE in November. After reading a thread about it, where it was stated that cold can stand the hair up better than hot, I thought "that might actually be true." My neck hairs tend to grow horizontal and have always been my biggest problem. After one try, I was convinced.

I shower in warm water, washing my face with bar soap. I often turn the shower cold for the last 10 seconds or so, but that is more to wake up and doesn't really effect my shave. While in the shower, my brush is soaking in a mug of warm water...which is fairly cool by the time I get out of the shower. The cold water shave starts with a cold splash while half filling the sink (cold water of course). Lather with cool/cold water...shave....cold splash between passes...witch hazel....maybe some Neutrogena after shave cream, or not. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

 

[gus1942]

Good pts. mftoms. I not going to repeat my old posts regarding the anatomy and physiology of the hair but cold water stimulates the erector pili muscles of the hair follicle producing an errect hair that cuts better. i agree with room temperature tap water that might need to be warmed slightly in the winter. I think you can build lather with cold or tepid water; I face lather very successfully with cold water. The most important preshave requirement is moisture.

 

[mftoms59]

gus1942, during the Winter months my water temp won't be ice cold but very cool and during the Summer I'll use the cubes which feels more soothing and refreshing. I think most newcomers to CWS think in extremes, Ice Cold all the time with rigid CWS protocols for a proper CWS. To me it's like buying a suit, everyone needs something a little bit different; wide or narrow lapel, tapered at the waist or a more boxy fit, but the end result is it's still a suit. No matter how you choose to shave the main goal should be comfort and with improved Technique and a few tweaks in your approach, a DFS or better will occur naturally.

 

[JDTTO]

I tried it and had a great result at the end but it did take the comfort part out of the shave itself. I do not need the water to be very hot either. Just lukewarm water for the shave and a thourough could rinse after.

 

[dfigz]

I just enjoy the cold feel on my face. Being fair skinned and sensitive to boot ... it is really easy for my skin to get irritated. When I used hot water, I had major nicks and weeper with the most mildest of razors and the touch of my skin feeling like I had sunburn. By using cold water, this has eliminated these issues 95% ... and now with winter ending, the water is still somewhat frigid and makes a soothing comfortable after shave wash. I do wash my razor, brush and lather bowl in hot afterward to rinse out any lather that is leftover. The Cold just works so well for me.

 

[cryhavoc]

I started doing it in the Army because we never had hot water in the field. Now I only do it in the summer time

 

[Artimid]

I live in Florida.. it is hot. Hot towel + high humidity + and 80 degree temps = suck. I use cold water because I am usually already sweating from the shower, and hot water really just makes life worse. With a choice between high electric bills or cold water, I went with cold water. I made that change on my second shave.

 

[Malcolm Grundy]

And here's Ol' Middle Of The Road Malcolm saying "Neither Hot nor Cold".

Room temperature. Does that translate to RTWS (Room Temperature Wet Shaving)?

I find my lather builds quite fast and lasts much longer.

 

[BCN]

I also use cold-room temperature water. If i use hot water my skin get irritated. Also the lather is much better if i use cold water.

 

[VladTepes]

Oh no I wandered into a thread full of freaks.

Must leave before I start thinking this odd way.......

 

[gus1942]

You are right Vlad, but give it a try. B&B members seem to be open minded; seem to like and discuss different methods. The older I get, the more I become a minimalist. No pre shave junk on my face, just cold water and face lather. I had some lousy shaves over the years but good things have evovled. I think most of the cold water shavers probably are experianced DE shavers but I'm hearing some of the new guys are doing it. I have not seen a poll but will look back through the threads. By the way I saw a post last week stating that, since one of the posters only had a few posts, that he might lack experiance. There are many long time guys with great technique that have {lurked} for a long time. I said that I have had a lot of poor shaves, but not in recent years. I think I'm at about 16,000-17,000 shaves and it's getting more fun.
Gus

 

[HoosierTrooper]

I also started in 2010 after reading the thread mftoms59 linked to and have never looked back.

 

[KeithTheSnake]

I did some cold water shaving when we had no hot water and I didn't want to take the time to heat up a kettle of water. I found it refreshing. That was years ago, and I was using a triple-bladed disposable and bar soap.

I think I'll try a cold water shave this morning with a double edged and a puck and brush.

 

[DougieB]

Shortly after joining B&B I read a post about the benefit's of the cold water shave. I tried it and it worked for me. I use cold water exclusively. Works for me. I have no expectations that it will work for other members. I often suggest it as a way of lessening irritation. That seems to be the main benefit to me.

YMMV.

 

[craig87c]

I usually do cool-water shaving- going to the extremes in temps each direction doesn't really give me good shaves. I prep with warm water, shave with room temp, and rinse with cool water.

Just started doing it after reading about the CWS thread mftoms59 linked here (like a lot of others). Once I realized that the water didn't need to be super hot, my shaves and skin improved.