Insanity, you say? I just want a hot towel.

[Splat_NJ]

OK guys I think I officially went overboard on the shaving accoutrements. "That's kinda insane..it's just for shaving?" said a female friend of mine. Maybe you guys'll understand. I just got done setting up and using my new small microwave in my bedroom. It's strictly for heating towels for shaving. Maybe in time I'll use it to heat up a cup of coffee or whatever since my computer is also in the bedroom but for now it's my towel-heating device. I have to admit the shave went better than my old routine of showering and then shaving. This time I showered, hopped out and heated up a towel, applied to face for about a minute or two and then shaved. Only 1 weeper compared to my 3 or 4 and almost no neck irritation. Same razor, blade, products, and technique applied so I guess the towel definitely helps. It may be overdoing it but I'm glad I did.... now how can I top this?

 

[SpEe1113]

It may be overdoing it but I'm glad I did.... now how can I top this?

Ha, overdoing it? I don't think so...I'm currently using a coffee mug warmer to keep my lather warm all shave long and love it (instead of a scuttle, I know, I know...).

Perhaps the question is (if your hot water doesn't naturally do the trick), how can you get the towel hot but by using a smaller device that takes up less space??? Without starting a fire of course!

 

[Whiskey Badger]

I am not judging. I still want a towel steaming cabi for my bathroom, but that'll remain on the wishlist till I get back to the main land... A small crocpot is a decent substitute.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

I remember a few years ago almost every sushi restaurant would offer you a steamed (in the micowave) towel to wipe your hands before the meal. No one thought that was overdoing it, everyone seemed to love it! It seems the custom has dropped off in the last few years, at least in my neck of the woods.

Scott

 

[Steveareno]

I've seen small, single-serving crock pots that might do the trick. You could wet the towel, put it in the crock pot, and maybe have a hot towel waiting when you got ready to shave (I'm not sure how long it would take one to heat up a towel).

I shave in our basement bathroom, and it's very small, so I don't have room for either a crock pot or a microwave, so here's how I get my hot towel:

I have a stash of inexpensive, terry cloth hand towels I got from Target. I fold one in half, spray it with a mixture of peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils (1 tsp., 1/2 tsp., 1/2 tsp. respectively in a two ounce spray bottle filled with distilled water; shake well before spraying). I roll the towel up and put it in a small thermos (it's really a sort of aluminum insulated soup container I found at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Heat up some water in the microwave until it's just at the boiling point. Pour a little more than a cup of water over the towel and close the thermos. I shower and by the time I'm ready for my shave, the towel is nicely steamed and fragrant.

 

[Lotus Driver]

Unless you have a fully reclining barber chair in your bathroom, I think the bedroom is the best location for a towel warming device. That way you can lie down and properly relax in bed while the moist heat from the towel softens your beard. Just don't forget to set the alarm or.....

 

[one cut]

THAT is what you need! fully reclining barber chair in your bathroom, with a barber named fritz.

 

[JazzyJ]

There's no such thing as going overboard. And how can you top that? This is from a different thread, but if you really want the barbershop hot towel experience...

I have an electric water kettle. All metal, lifts off from base, holds 1.7 liters I think. It will take that amount of water to boiling in five minutes supposedly. If it is not that fst it is very close to that fast. Got it at Target for $22 on sale, as I recall. Best wet shaving investment I ever made. Hot water at my house is not nearly hot enough for my purposes and it is safer and easier on eneryg use, etc., to get the hot water at a moderate temperature. The water in the kettle stays very hot for a long time even though the kettle kicks off after it boils. (Had a Rival or Protor Silex 1 liter Hot Pot before that, which various folks have recommended. I found that one unsatisfactory. It is corded, which way more annoying than one might think. A gap developed between the plastic and the metal element along the bottom, which leaked boiling hot water all over the counter. Not very durable in general and kind of cheap looking. The metal kettle has essentially a seamless bottom. The Hot Pot wide opening, really made for hearing up canned spagetti and the like, not simply water and water is all you need for shaving, made for a messy and hard to direct pour. 1 liter is cutting it close on the amount of water one wants to have and filling the Hot Pot to the brim to get a full liter made it very awkward. Do yourself a favor if you get some kind of on counter water heater and get a real electric water kettle for a few more bucks. These are amazingly fast and good appliances, by the way. Based on my experience with it as a shaving tool, we got one for the kitchen. Lots easier and faster than bothering with a kettle on top of the stove. Make me more likely to drink tea or make coffee, too, which is all good!)


I also have a small plastic cooler, a six-pack size I would say. When I go into shave, I fill the kettle from the jacuzzi-size tub facet, which is extremely fast, put it on its base and press the little lever to start it up. I have a stack of medium size towels nearby and, frankly a drying stand that sits in the tub. I often spray some witch hazel I put in a spray bottle down the length of the dry towel (I love witch hazel and a witch hazel hot towel facial is a very old school baber shop thing to have), I fould the towels in half length-wise, roll them up, and put them in the cooler, so each is "exposed." Two towels is usually enough, you might want three.


Very shortly the water should be very hot if not boiling. I our water on top of the towels. You learn to gauge how much. I want the towels plenty damp, but not dripping, and this controls the temperature, too. If the towels are absolutely dripping, they may be too hot and difficult to handle. I then close the lid of the cooler, and whip up some lather in a smaller bowel, pre-heated with water from the kettle, which when I am down I put in a larger bowel of hot water. Kind of a home-made scuttle. But it seems very easy to deal with, etc.


I then take a shower. If I am being real good, I slaver on some kind of cream like Lucky Tiger menthol vanishing cream, or Corn Huskers, or even some kind of pre-have oil, and lather up. I grab a hot towel, and lean back in a very light weight and fairly compact open mess lawn chair my wife got me, I handy item to have around I have found. When the towel gets cool, I relather, and shave. Again, if I am being real good, after the shave I slaver on some cream or whatever, and do another hot towel, and maybe another after that if I am being luxurious, maybe after a big witch hazel splash on my face and/or on the towel.


With practice you should be able get towels already to go when you want them at absolutely the perfect temperature and perfect dampness. If you need to bring their temperature up a bit, pour on some more water. it will still be very hot in the kettle. Same thing if you want to reuse a towel. (Too hot, of course, open the towel up and wave it around a bit. They do cool down fast outside of the cooler. I am intrigued at the idea of doing something to help keep the temperature up when the towel is on the face. The cooler does an amazing job of holding the temperature.)


Even if regular tap hot water were hot enough to do towels, I would find it annoying to do it that way. First, I do not want to take the time right in the middle of a relaxing shave to prepare an individual towel. I want it ready to thrown on my fact when I am ready. Second, my hands really get dried out being under a lot of hot water for all that time.


I really find the hot towels one of the nicest parts of shaving. Very relaxing. I think very good for softening the beard and good for facial skin generally, but where you shave and where you don't. Helps with puffy eyes and such.


None of this takes long or is a lot of trouble by the way. After I am done, I rinse the cooler out with the rest of the kettle water. Don't want any mold or anything growing in there. Also I leave the top of the cooler open so it will dry out. I thrown the towels on the drying rack that is in the large tub. I admit that that last part is not so satisfactory. it is not all that aesthetic having a drying rack in the tub, but it is convenient. I do not necessarily use fresh towels every time. I am only using these towels on my face after I have had a shower and washed my hair, and there is nothing else I am using that makes them dirty. On the other hand I doubt that I use any towel more than twice.


I came very close to buying a towel warmer, but this seems to work pretty well, a towel warmer seemed to take up a lot of space, and m method seemed faster. A towel warmer with lots of towels seems like a nice luxury though.


Hope this helps.

 

[Splat_NJ]

Well, this is pro'lly one of the best small things I've done for myself. The hot towel treatment is fantastic. I can fall asleep if I let myself.... My shaves have definitely improved. One thing I haven't done which I'm going to do today is lather up, then place the hot towel over that, blot off the lather and reapply and shave. Actually looking forward to shaving is something I never thought could happen.

 

[seanusa]

Insanity.....no, I say genius! Insanity would be using a toaster

 

[ktang]

Alternatively, setting up a shaving mirror in the kitchen.

 

[Chadao]

THAT is what you need! fully reclining barber chair in your bathroom, with a barber named fritz.

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