What's new

Cold water shaving- it works

I read the first 300 posts to this thread before asking my question :)

So far, I only saw one guy talk about doing a combo of warm/hot and then cold.

Almost everyone talked about getting a tug / pull with cold water shaving on the first pass - I started to think it would make sense to do the first pass or two with warm / hot water, and then do the ATG pass with cold water.

Anybody out there doing this?

So many times in life, the solution is "AND" not "OR"....

Also, would love to hear from folks that have been doing CWS for 6 months or longer....
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
To quote from a 1957 article from ModernMechanix:
First Aid for Problem Shavers. If you have followed the suggestions we have listed, and find your skin is just as irritated afterwards, try using cold water for the second lathering’ and use a shaving soap or cream containing menthol. Some men use cold water for everything but the first wash and rinsing the razor. One fellow even obtained a patent on a system for sensitive shavers: wash, lather and rinse entirely in cold water but use a hot razor head and razor blade.
 
So what about cold water lathering? All the conventional wisdom seems to be "keep the lather warm" but then I'm reading now that it doesn't make a difference...
...I'm getting superb cold water results though and the irritations on my neck have vanished!
 
So what about cold water lathering? All the conventional wisdom seems to be "keep the lather warm" but then I'm reading now that it doesn't make a difference...
...I'm getting superb cold water results though and the irritations on my neck have vanished!

During the hot and sticky summer here, I use "cold" water exclusively to shave--from brush soak and lather through rinse. It works very well for me--I find it refreshing and there's less irritation. I put the cold in quotes because when it's 104 F there is no such thing as truly cold water, unless it's kept in the fridge.
 
I read the first 300 posts to this thread before asking my question :)

So far, I only saw one guy talk about doing a combo of warm/hot and then cold.

Almost everyone talked about getting a tug / pull with cold water shaving on the first pass - I started to think it would make sense to do the first pass or two with warm / hot water, and then do the ATG pass with cold water.

Anybody out there doing this?

. . .


I am. And I love it.

A nice hot rinse and warm lather for the first pass, and everything else is nice and cold. On top of getting a solid, irritation free shave, the chill is quite refreshing and really wakes me up.

-
Jim
 
So what about cold water lathering? All the conventional wisdom seems to be "keep the lather warm" but then I'm reading now that it doesn't make a difference...
...I'm getting superb cold water results though and the irritations on my neck have vanished!
True cold water shaving means cold lather.
 
I'm pretty new to wet shaving and I'm thankful that I stumbled on this thread early on. Cold water shaving has greatly improved my overall shaving experience. Yes, I use ice cubes in my sink water and rub one on my face between passes and it works for me. It eliminated the stinging and burning. Then I changed to an AOS unscented product and the blotchiness has gone away. Besides, the ice cold water is quite refreshing in hot humid florida.
 
Since reading this thread a few months back I've gone exclusively cws. From soak to prep to rinse and it's made all the difference. I would never switch back.
 
Preach on, Brother! I had been shaving with warm water all of my shaving life (30+ years), and recently gave cold water shaving a try. The result: closer, less irritating shaves and - during the hot & humid NC summers - a bit of cool refreshment for my face as well.:w00t:

During the dead of winter (if there is such a thing down here...) I might go back to using tepid water, but never back to that face-scalding heat that I used to use. It's better for the environment, cheaper, and the results speak for themselves.

I know that YMMV is a truism for most things shaving, but here's an experiment that won't cost you a cent, and might dramatically improve the quality of your shave.:thumbup1: Give it a try and let us all know what you think.

John, I love me my warm scuttled lather. An opinion?
 
Too cold now for cold water shaving - for me, anyway. Tepid all the way! I'll go back to cold in the summer though, for sure.
 
When I tried pure cold water shaving, I had blood all over my face. My whiskers are so coarse that they need a lot of soaking before I am able to shave. With cold water, the soaking time is too long, and because of the tugging and pulling from too little of soaking, it became a bloody attempt.

My skin has nothing against cold water shaving, and it is something I could do at any time after a normal warm shower. The key to success for me is well soaked beard, which is difficult with cws.
 
I think the consensus has to do with experience, and it doesn't. I used cold when I was a novice. Now temp means nothing to me. To be fair, temp doesn't either. I like cold, because my rinse is faster cold. I lather hot and rinse with whatever. Blade angle and prep are what matters to me.
 
I prep and lather warm. If you got cuts, then rinsing hurts more with warm water. The final rinse I'll do with cold water, to tighten up the skin.

I recently found that the razor slides better of the skin when the razor is slightly warm (as opposed to cold).
Anyone else experienced that last part?
 
yes i find that just slightly warm is best for my skin. i used to shave with it fairly hot but my skin was far too irritated. i tried cold, but it would dry the cream too fast and wouldnt slide over the skin as easy. tonight i had the best shave in a long time just using warm to lather and rinse the blade in
 
Top Bottom