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Don't Clean Your SR With Hot Water?

Worked fine for me, except for a rams-horn TI that warped. Had to give it a good coating of neatsfoot oil, close it and leave it again on the decoder for a day to straighten it out.

I'd be careful doing this. I have an irreplaceable 8/8 Wade & Butcher that had the toe broken from the scales warping in this way.
With the crack in the toe I am in the process of making a 8/8ths shorty. I've cut the blade and am currently at the sanding stage.
 
Likely the same reason why the bottom of pop bottles have a stamp saying "Open other end". For some people hot water might mean out of a boiling kettle. Or hair dryer set on high heat. Both would damage scales and likely cause burns.
 
You get crazy advise from manufacturers sometimes. Simpson saying don’t swirl your brush. Of course you will.

I recently bought an iron and it said that under no circumstances should you iron clothes while wearing them. Come on guys. How else are you going to do it?

Believe it or not, on the venerable Boeing 727 there was a decal between the throttles with a forward-pointing arrow and the text “This way to increase thrust”.
I kid you not.

Rather this was an attempt by the manufacturer to ward off lawsuits if some dimwit pilot should not advance thrust when it was necessary and his lawyer then arguing in court that it was up to the manufacturer to explain to the pilot which way to increase thrust.

Nothing comes from nothing…
Sad.


B.
 
The main reason some manufacturers recommend this is because hot water can affect the blade edge at the microscopic/molecular level and cause it to dull faster. With a straight razor this might not be as noticeable, because the stropping somewhat helps keep the edge. It can dull DE edges faster.

According to sharpologist.com on using cold water to shave:

The Sharpologist quote you mentioned refers to a Wilkinson Sword safety razor blade.
I am not convinced that the concept can be applied just like that to straight razor blades that not only have a different (if you like ‘duller’) geometry, are usually stropped before each shave, and that most of us would have no problem honing, if required.

What applies to a safety razor blade edge thus may or may not apply to a straight razor edge and - as any microscopic deterioration of the edge is easy to fix - it is in my book not worth the discomfort of a cold water shave.

If cold water shaving were truly the key to razor edge longevity, it would be surprising that in the last 200 or so years it has not become more widely accepted or recommended and I rather assume that other, well-known factors play a far more dominant role here.
Or maybe this whole ‘Friodur ice-hardened’ thing actually refers to the pre-shave routine and not the manufacturing.
Have to ask Herr Friodur at the next occasion we meet… ;)


I do however agree that excessive heat can do damage to a razor, in particular the scales, but this would be at a temperature range that I would not be comfortable to hold the razor with bare hands.


B.
 
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@Brutus oh I wasn’t saying I agree with the premise, I was just stating that as a main reason. I had this discussion with a couple SR makers years ago when I went down a “make my own razors” rabbit hole. It’s thought to apply also to SRs as prolonging the time between hones. Until someone does a scientific study we’ll all just continue to speculate.

Also, I think many things we do today regarding the care, use, etc. of our razors and paraphernalia are unnecessary and overkill as evidenced by how they’ve been used for the past 100+ years. Marines shaving with cold water out of their helmets seemed to work just fine for what they needed, though I don’t think they were after that BBS.

I, for one, find cold water shaves to be refreshing though honestly. That first splash is a wake-up call, but after that, I love it. My neck loves me for it afterwards too.
 
@Brutus oh I wasn’t saying I agree with the premise, I was just stating that as a main reason. I had this discussion with a couple SR makers years ago when I went down a “make my own razors” rabbit hole. It’s thought to apply also to SRs as prolonging the time between hones. Until someone does a scientific study we’ll all just continue to speculate.

Also, I think many things we do today regarding the care, use, etc. of our razors and paraphernalia are unnecessary and overkill as evidenced by how they’ve been used for the past 100+ years. Marines shaving with cold water out of their helmets seemed to work just fine for what they needed, though I don’t think they were after that BBS.

I, for one, find cold water shaves to be refreshing though honestly. That first splash is a wake-up call, but after that, I love it. My neck loves me for it afterwards too.

I can attest to the demonstration of cold water shaving techniques deployed by over zealous military soldiers in the field. I once had to demonstrate the proper way to 'dry' shave, because I just was not smooth enough for a particular piece of equipment that day.

This of course has a very serious back ground and reason as anyone who has had to participate in equipment confidence and proof of concept in a 'Gas' chamber can attest... Your gas mask will not seal to an unshaven face !

Remove the seal soldier and state your name, rank, and serial number !
 
This topic was brought up here in 2010.

At that time, @Chimensch stated, "Hey, it's not just hot water ... it's any running water. Look at what running water did to the Grand Canyon! If it can wear away a mile of rock, it can certainly dull a straight razor ... in a few million years".

The general consensus at this forum and other shaving forums has been that this is just folklore. And a false belief in folklore may change one's behavior permanently - and for no good reason. Better to focus on other things real and important, such as honing, stropping and shaving technique.

twocents.jpg
 
I can attest to the demonstration of cold water shaving techniques deployed by over zealous military soldiers in the field. I once had to demonstrate the proper way to 'dry' shave, because I just was not smooth enough for a particular piece of equipment that day.

This of course has a very serious back ground and reason as anyone who has had to participate in equipment confidence and proof of concept in a 'Gas' chamber can attest... Your gas mask will not seal to an unshaven face !

Remove the seal soldier and state your name, rank, and serial number !

learning to reseal and clear was no fun but still found it amusing. I'm a sick sob.....i remember (chuckling on the inside) at the young ones that obviously didn't grasp the gravity of the situation before hand.

camo
 
I am with the other folks about it being the lawyers.

Perhaps they are worried about the customer who is rinsing their razor under hot water accidentally spilling their piping-hot cup of coffee that they are holding with their other hand causing a chain reaction.
 
"snip"
Rather this was an attempt by the manufacturer to ward off lawsuits "snip"

Nothing comes from nothing…
Sad.


B.

This is where my money goes. Like silica pads "Do not eat". Well no kidding. But some one, some where, sometime has or will do something stupid and companies must protect themselves from a "I am going to sue!" society. Common sense, or any sense really, is dying off amongst the human race.

Strange thought.....When we ruin Earth and move to Mars, will we still be humans or will we be Martians? Hmmmm
 
I heard some YouTuber (a vendor banned here so I won't link) make some claim about stripping "natural oils" from the metal, but I have no idea what they were talking about. I don't think the manufacturers were using any "natural oils" on the metal, but maybe the oils from your skin and residue from fats and waxes in your shaving creams and soaps might provide some protection from oxidation? Of course, these tend to be corrosive so that wouldn't be a good trade-off in my estimation.

I think the main issue would be oxidation and corrosion from the water and chemicals, such as fluoride and chlorine, so minimizing the water contact might slightly prolong the life of the blade, but I'm pretty sure that if you rinse and then wipe your blade dry it will be fine.
 
This topic was brought up here in 2010.

At that time, @Chimensch stated, "Hey, it's not just hot water ... it's any running water. Look at what running water did to the Grand Canyon! If it can wear away a mile of rock, it can certainly dull a straight razor ... in a few million years".

Interesting thread. I wonder what Chimensch is up to these days. I'm sure that he is still shaving with that 7-day Thiers Issard LGrelot set and whipping up some Cella every single day, but I digress. I was thinking about how I use very hot (not quite boiling but quite hot water) to rinse my blade after each stroke. I usually wipe my blade on a sponge in the sink (back to Chimensch) and then do a quick dip in a deep Japanese teabowl filled with the aforementioned hot water before proceeding with another swipe acros my face. I like the feel of a very warm blade on my skin. Does this practice dull my blade a tiny bit each time I dip it in the bowl? Perhaps, but probably not on a level that would effect my blade sharpness to the degree that I would feel it. Then again, I was thinking about cryo-treated metal in razors such as the Filarmonica Sub-cero. Some claim that the shave feels different, the blade feels sharper. Of course, cryo-treated double tempered blades are undergoing extreme temperature changes during forging. Perhaps, this is comparing apples to oranges or at the very least, it is a matter of degrees...
 
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Interesting thread. I wonder what Chimensch is up to these days. I'm sure that he is still shaving with that 7-day Thiers Issard LGrelot set and whipping up some Cella every single day, but I digress. I was thinking about how I use very hot (not quite boiling but quite hot water) to rinse my blade after each stroke. I usually wipe my blade on a sponge in the sink (back to Chimensch) and then do a quick dip in a deep Japanese teabowl filled with the aforementioned hot water before proceeding with another swipe acros my face. I like the feel of a very warm blade on my skin. Does this practice dull my blade a tiny bit each time I dip it in the bowl? Perhaps, but probably not on a level that would effect my blade sharpness to the degree that I would feel it. Then again, I was thinking about cryo-treated metal in razors such as the Filarmonica Sub-cero. Some claim that the shave feels different, the blade feels sharper. Of course, cryo-treated double tempered blades are undergoing extreme temperature changes during forging. Perhaps, this is comparing apples to oranges or at the very least, it is a matter of degrees...

Very much like I do, except I hold my blade under a running tap to rinse. Cold water just doesn’t do anything to soften my whiskers and hot water feels so good.


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I’ve been using hot water and hot air for over 2 years. I don’t use hot air unless I get water I’m the scales. There has been absolutely no adverse affect.

I shave with hot water and I don’t see myself changing. I keep my hair dryer moving, so it’s not hot enough to burn my scalp, so I doubt it changed the temper of metal.


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I’m with you. On the rare occasions I’ve had to bring out the hairdryer I just use it on the fan mode without hot air. I’ve never had any warped scales from using a hairdryer on fan mode only.
 
Steel melts at 2800°F. Quenching happens at about 1600°F. I doubt that water at 140°F has any affect at all, other than microscopic expansion and contraction. On the other hand, beards are highly damaging to steel razors. So if you really want to retain that edge, run hot water on it but never use it for shaving.
 
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