hot towels with mini-rice cooker

[Pricklycactus]

For those who like hot towels with their shaves I thought of using a mini rice cooker to steam up your towels. I used to get hot hand towels at Japanese restaurants before they served your food but alas not anymore now at any places I go to. They would take them out of the cooker with tongs.

I think they have a little rack to put a rolled damp towel in the rice cooker and then take it out with some tongs. You could add EO if you want it make it scented.

 

[col conk]

An inovative idea.
You would have to get the towels started 10-15 minutes ahead of time. My rice cooker ( I use it only for that use-cooking rice that is ) takes about 10 min. before it gets hot enough to produce steam.

 

[The Knize]

I have tried a rice cooker in the past it got the towels way too hot! Pretty effective.

 

[CEFranklin]

And then add the hot water to your shave scuttle! Brilliant! Better than my coffee pot idea!

 

[ChaosSix]

I just boil water and put the towel over the steam to get it nice and hotI know I don't need it for my baby fuzz but it sure feels good

 

[ceebee]

To avoid having yet another piece of paraphernalia in the shave den, I experimented with using our microwave oven to heat the washcloths for steaming. After a few trial experiments, I optimized the time, microwave setting and wetness of the cloths. Basically, I found that a standard washcloth works best. Its wetness should be ample, but not dripping wet. If the cloth is just humid/moist, most of the moisture will be driven off during the microwave time. Once uniformly wetted, I fold over once and then roll up. I usually roll up 3 cloths and place them on a microwave-safe plate. In my microwave (1500W), I generally use 60-90 sec to prepare 3 washcloths. I then bring them to the shave den, and after the soap and water routine, the cloths are at the perfect temp for a great beard-softening hot towel experience. The advantage of the microwave is that the cloths are ready when you are, even if you are in a bit of a hurry. There’s no need to wait for a steamer, kettle, etc.

 

[_JP_]

Instead of a rice cooker you might want to try a thermo pot for boiling water. Mine has settings down to as low as 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which should be comfortable enough for hot towels.

 

[njpaddy]

To avoid having yet another piece of paraphernalia in the shave den, I experimented with using our microwave oven to heat the washcloths for steaming. After a few trial experiments, I optimized the time, microwave setting and wetness of the cloths.

My hot water heater is set pretty high so I just use water from the tap to heat the washcloth. But since I have hard water and microwave a cup of bottled water to soak the brush in, I may try your method of nuking washcloths to see if that works any better. A minute in the microwave I could handle, but I wouldn't have the patience for cookers & such. Plus SWMBO frowns on me using anything from the kitchen for shaving purposes.

 

[The Knize]

Hot towels are something I have written about extensively on this forum, so I am not going to repeat myself here. If anyone wants to know where I have ended up after quite a bit of experimenting, search it up. Happy to respond to any questions, etc. and to otherwise kibbitz. Be very careful with that rice cooker, though! Very, very hot and towels will burn you, benefit from my negative experience on that one!